As I walk up the tree-lined path, I reach my favorite place to spend time. Before I can even see it, I hear the cheers of encouragement sent from the belayer up to the climber as they make their way across the element. “You can do it!” “You’re half way there” hit my eardrums with waves of déjá vu of being the camper 40 feet in the air. The only thing beneath me is a quarter sized in diameter piece of wire and one rope on either side to hold on to. As I walk for what seems like eternity, I hear the squeakiness of the rope on the pulley. The rope attached to me and to my belayer that keeps me secure and helps me feel safe as I begin the gradual descend.
As I return to reality, I ascend the hill to the roofed area where we keep our fluorescent orange box of supplies. The harness, forest green strips of cloth about two inches wide that go around my legs and then connect to my waist, pulled tight clenches my stomach in.
Recommended for you
As I walk to the Catwalk, my well-worn pair of black and pink Sketchers sneakers through my neon color socks and ultimately my feet feel the ground underneath me go from damp long grass to rocky sand. The rope runs through my hand as I check to make sure it is smooth throughout with no frayed spots or knots, I try to get the sand-covered rope to attach to the small white rope used to hold our pulley in place. I feel the rope slide across my hand like a piece of medium rough sand paper as someone pulls down on the other side. Once it is up, over, and back down again the challenge begins. I pick up our pastel pink ATCs that look like pig noses and attempt to get the rope as a loop to go through one side of it. One trick is to put it slightly into your mouth to get it wet so it will bend more. The rope leaves that taste in your mouth like after you lick the seal of an envelope.
On the ropes course, even with 15 excited teenage girls, it is hard to get upset at anything or anyone. The trees with these green leaves all around give me a sense of peace. For me looking at each element and the challenges I faced on it give me a sense of accomplishment and what people call a natural high.
From atop the Burma Bridge, some 40 feet in the air, I can see the tops of those tall trees that from the ground seem to go up for a 100 feet. At the start, the staff member on the platform at the end seems to be an infinite distance away and like it will take hours to reach. In reality, the distance is only 50 feet and takes less than ten minutes to reach. As I reach the platform, the excitement inside accelerates as my turn on the zip line draws near. The zip line is a long cable with a device that slides along it and has a place for the harness to clip in. As I glide along, the noise of the friction like a cricket's chirp grows but becomes a sense of comfort like a warm blanket on a winter’s night.
Standing right outside the shelter, I can see some of the easier elements. Dangle Duo which looks like a giant’s wooden ladder with five rungs connected by a cable on the sides. Next to Dangle Duo, the Catwalk is a laid down, horizontal giant log like 30 feet in the air. It is not quite wide enough to put my feet side by side. As I walk across it, the goal is to be able to hug the tree that supports it at the far end. Using the same tree with huge staples as the Catwalk for a ladder, the element Two-Line comes at me like you want me to do what. This element has one cable that I stand on sideways and about three feet up from that a slightly looser cable I use to push forward on for support as I slide my feet across the bottom wire.
In its own little section of the course is the tower. It is a faded grey wood sided rectangular prism that stands thirty feet in the air. One side has a rock wall made of those fake rocks that are those colors that common rocks are not. Turning the corner, there is a wall full of wood planks slanted at a 15 degree angle. They are not all turned in the same direction making it look aesthetically pleasing to look at. Around one more corner, the self-repel side of the element awaits you. If you stand close enough you can tell the areas where many shoes touch. The rope feels like you are sliding rough sandpaper across your hand as you descend the wall. The last side is not solid throughout. It contains staples on one of the side supports that help facilitators get up to the platform at the top so they are ready to help transfer the climbers from one belayer that was used to climb up to the belayer that is used as backup on the self-repel side. From the platform you can see trees all around and gives you that sense like everything in the world will be okay.
Five years ago, I found this place not knowing what it would end up being to me. It has turned out to make me feel more at home than my actual house does.
