It is a good thing I didn't really know what I was getting myself into, I think. I mean, yeah I knew I would zip through the air on a thin cable, but I had NO IDEA I'd be doing it 10 times. It hadn't occurred to me that I'd be zipping across 1500 feet of tree tops and hard rocks 300 feet below!
Frankly, the outfit they make you wear should have been my first clue that I could possibly be in for it. Our guides Josh and April strapped us into approximately 10 pounds worth of gear and an annoying little hard hat. (Which was red, I found out later, so that can easily identify us should we happen to FALL. Ahem.)
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| Don't I look stylish? |
Part of the gear was this handlebar doohickey. My handlebar behaved itself and stayed out of the way. My friend, Martha's, however, didn't play nice and liked to stand out at attention. I can't tell you how much my inner 12 year old laughed every time I looked over at her and saw that sucker (HA!) sticking out like that. I am so destined to forever be a junior high kid.
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| Bwahahahaha... |
After we suited up, they led us out to this little baby for the ten minute trek up to 7200 feet and the first part of our adventure.
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| This thing really needed some windows. It's not very good at keeping the dust out. |
We got off of the truck a hiked about a mile uphill through the beautiful trees. We saw cute little Bubonic Plague flea carrying squirrels and saw lots of bear tracks. Charming, no?
I apparently have issues with nature.
And they teased me for wearing my jeans. Silly people. Who was the only one to not freak out every thirty seconds when some bug or another would bite her legs? Yeppers. Me! heh heh
We finally made it to our first platform and our 200 foot long practice zip. I saw. I zipped. I conquered!
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| They called this first trek a "short hike." Liars. |
The view from the top of a platform.
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| I can see for miles from here! |
Another looksy around...
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| Holy shit this is high! |
We also hiked over 4 suspended sky bridges like this one. (It's in the bottom right hand corner of the picture.)
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| It's still high, but I am starting to get used to it. |
Each platform was higher than the previous, and the zips got progressively longer for the most part. The longest zip, the 1500 feet line, took approximately 40 seconds to make it across from one platform to the other.
It was pretty awesome.
I wish I would have taken out my camera and took a few pictures while I was flying through the air...
but I was more than content to hold on for dear life. :-)
These last shots were taken by their staff photographer. I had no idea she was there. Had I known, I might have smiled. As it was, I was more than a little worried about ingesting a bug or two, so my lips stayed firmly closed.
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| Whee! |
On this one, my right hand was dragging on the bottom wire--otherwise known as applying the brakes. It sounds harder than it was.
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| Braaaaakkkkkkeeeee... |
My feet are reaching for the platform here. Yet another time it payed to have long legs. Everyone else had trouble making it all the way to the platform.
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| Whew. I made it! |
The photographer just scared the crap out of me.
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| Ack! Please don't let me have a bug in my teeth. |
Oh, God. She keeps clicking pictures...
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| Get me away from her! |
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| I had to fight the urge to rock the bridge. I think my friend in front of me would have crapped her pants. |
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| Cheese! |
The adventure ended with the last of the 3 rappelling experiences we had. They weren't repelling like you'd think, though. Mostly they were pushing yourself over the edge of the platform and sitting kind of experiences. You didn't even have to hold on to a rope.
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| I went down first. This is my friend, Martha, again. |
Shockingly, we're already making plans for our next zip lining adventure...
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