In case no one read the last post this guy is someone I met and went out with last weekend. For the sake of having something to call him by, I'll call him Husky since he reminds me of one. I also don't have his permission to use his name anyways. :P We hit it off pretty well and found out we share a lot in common, including a love for climbing. So he invited me on a climbing trip this past weekend. It was incredibly, unbelievably amazing.
I pretty much spent my entire week waiting for Friday. There were a few good points here and there though, so it's not like the whole week was a drag.
I drove out to his city Friday evening. Husky showed me around a bit, though most of the places were closed by then. It's weird that none of the buildings in the city are allowed to be higher than the Capitol, but the shops along the State Street area were really cute. We went to a Japanese place for dinner, so my tummy was happy and ready for the next day.
Saturday morning we all headed out to a place called Devil's Lake. It was really pretty for being only 45min out of the city. And from then until 4pm we climbed. It was awesome. I used to climb a lot in Europe but since moving back to the US I just haven't had much opportunity. I love being so far away from everything; either on the water, on a cliff, or wherever. I feel like I can just forget everything about civilization and imagine this whole new world around me. ....and wish I could fly...
It's a real rush when you're so high up and you're still climbing even higher. At some point your brain goes through moments where it panics and wonders what it is the body is doing. I would get this right before jumping in a bungee jump too. The adrenaline rush at that moment is exhilarating and worth every bit.
Yeah, the body usually ignores it...
Except, of course, until you're climbing with a bunch of fucking hornets. I think I mentioned before that I also have a phobia of bees, hornets, wasps, etc. I can't exactly explain it to others who haven't experienced a phobia first-hand, but it's pretty bad. I know it's illogical but I just can't seem to remember that in the moment of panic. I was belaying for Husky when he came down and informed me that, that particular climb might not be optimal.
I paniced the whole way up. And the hornets didn't exactly let up either. But at that point I realized if I went back down I'd have to go back through the hornets I'd already passed and I was too scared to do that at that time too. All I could hear was my uncontrolled breathing and thoughts screaming at me to run away. I started clinging to the rock, not sure whether to go up or call for Husky to let me down. I know it was probably only 10 seconds but it did feel longer when I suddenly heard him call up to me.
He talked me through most of the rest of the climb, either through encouragement, telling me where to go to avoid the hornets, or when to wait for one to pass. As soon as I could touch the top I called out to him and he had me back down faster than I think I could have just outright dropped. Lol. Luckily he had on his gloves.
Honestly, it was probably the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I'm not sure I could do it again but I'm kind of proud of myself too...though at the same time I feel like it was incredibly insane...
That evening we all gathered around the fire for food stuffs, stories, jokes, smore makings, and general camping fun. After a while he asked me if I'd like to go see some stars. The prior week we were both discussing how we grew up in the country and how the stars were the one thing I missed the most, so of course I was up for seeing some. We gathered a few others and headed down the trail. Honestly, I've seen the Milky Way tons of times. I grew up seeing it in my back yard every night, and yet, every time I see it again my breath is taken away as though it were the first time. I don't even remember what I was thinking as my mind went completely blank when we stepped into the clearing. It was truly a sight.
My picture will never even come within 1-tenth of giving the real thing justice. My face pretty much stayed that way until we left back for camp.
The next day we all got up for breakfast and discussed where we could climb. I scored some leftover beer brats from dinner and roasted them over the fire for an awesome breakfast sausage to go with my eggs. Eventually I was roasting some for others too. I don't blame them. Fire makes everything taste better.
Unfortunately, I can't take all the credit for that idea. Husky was the first one to do it the previous night for dinner. They were still delicious though.
Climbing that day was great too. I managed to do a particularly hard climb for my level, though there were moments where I doubted myself and wondered if I should give up. Glad I didn't. The feeling of hitting the top felt really great.
I even managed to get a teeny bit lost with 2 others, while trying to find the trail where everyone else went. We ended up doing some bouldering down and around the mountain, trying to get back up. It was a little nervous at first but we all spotted each other and figured we'd eventually run into something. Turns out our absence was noticed and Husky came looking, so even if we hadn't found the path he would have probably found us. Eventually we made our way to the trail and back up to the others, only to repel down to the site and realize that our adventure literally lead us right under where everyone actually was.
I didn't come out completely unscathed, from the weekend, however. Not sure if it's the muscles or tendons in my arms but they tightened and hurt after the 1st of my 3 climbs. After rest they would stop, only to pick back up after another climb. I called it after climb 3 but it was ok, as I was pretty pleased with myself by that point. They're still sore today, as are my left leg muscles which I over-worked on the hike back down. It was all totally worth it though. I really enjoyed every minute of it and am really happy I had the chance to go. Now I'm just wondering how I'll adjust back to normal life after such a fun adventure.
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