I’ve been relatively silent for the last couple of months.
Thus, it’s time to play catch-up.
Here is what has been going on between April and the present.
I had been looking forward to May 31st for a long time. Canyoneering (also called Canyoning) is a sport involving technical descents into canyons. Karl, of Extreme Things organized an introduction to the sport for a few of us to try. In our case, Canyoneering would mean rappelling down waterfalls ranging in height from 15 feet to 90 feet.
We met our guides that Saturday morning and headed towards Mount Baldy. For the next six or so hours, we would make our way down 6 waterfalls, each with its own personality. Rappelling is an exciting sport for a variety of reasons. You must fight some of your natural survival instincts. Each descent begins with a backwards walk over the edge of a cliffside. You stand at roughly 90 degrees pushing yourself away from the mountainside. Your only support is a rope sliding between your hands and safety gear. Your body naturally wants to collapse and pull itself towards the cliffside. You have to fight that urge, otherwise your descent will be highly uncomfortable and difficult.
The views were beautiful. The rappels were exciting, often frightening. The water was ice-cold. Our third descent brought us beneath a torrent of frigid falling water. It was exhilarating, disorienting, cold, and scary. It was a triumph, the sort of activity that teaches you about yourself and boosts your confidence. Erika had difficulty with the first two rappels. This one was the most treacherous—90 feet through an ice-cold waterfall. She was scared, reluctant. After conquering it, her morale soared and she started to really enjoy herself. Three more falls to go, a dropping Sun, and dropping temperatures. We were all looking forward to them.
We would end the day cold and drenched.
I can’t wait to do it again.
