I Am Fearless

At camp, there was a 'challenge course' that consisted of 7 different events that combined physical and mental challenges - kinda like Survivor, I think.  Since I only went to half of camp, I missed that (and the canoeing!).  But the highlight of the course was the pole-walk leading to the zip line, and the leaders who missed it the first time headed up there on Thursday to try it out.

(if you look closely at the above photo you can see where the zip-line ends - at another log pole).

Anyway, to get to the zip line you have to climb up a large pole (I swear it looks short-ish here, but it was tall!  Like 25 feet or more) and stand on the cross-log - then walk across it!  You were 'on belay' so you wouldn't die if you fell off, but it would be scary and you could still hurt yourself, I'm sure.  This was the hardest part.

Once you made it to the other side, you climbed around to sit on the itty-bitty platform, where your cables were switched, and when you were ready you just jumped off and swung to the end - and partway back.  No handlebars, no swing - just the cable hooked to your harness.

That was the good part.

It was a short hike to get there, so it was quite a nice triumphant walk back to camp - I did it!  I acted tough, so most people didn't suspect, but I've always been afraid of heights.  Pretty decently afraid.  But I didn't overthink this (they said put on the harness, and I did, they said 'it's your turn' and I climbed).  I almost decided to come down before crossing the log, though - that was scary!  There was nothing to hold onto except the cable you're hooked to.

But I did it, and I'm proud of myself!

I am brave!  I am fearless!

p.s. these photos are not of me - I took these of other people - so 'technically' I have no 'proof' that I did this to show you - but there were plenty of eyewitnesses!

Comments

[heidi]

i am sooooo proud of you! that would terrify me to no end!

[jessi]

hooray for you! I love doing those sorts of things that make you feel alive!

[kellie]

did you form any alliances?

[AmyDe]

That's cool.

[Lil' d]

You should feel proud. I remember how hard it was for my husband to go abseiling / rappelling with me (he's scared of heights). Good for you!

[valerie]

I think that's the same camp I went to a couple of years ago. At least that very high, scary log looked familiar. I did it too. And it was VERY SCARY. I mean, VERY SCARY. It was so much harder than it looked!! So - way to go. I'm proud of you! That was SCARY!

[Ali]

Yay, we salute you, log conquering woman!

[Kate]

Well done - I hate high ropes courses - they totally freak me out!

[Katherine]

You're so brave! When I was younger I went to a camp in Minnesota called Wolf Ridge, and we had to do a ropes course. It got progressively harder, until at the end we had to walk across a wire (a WIRE!) and then go down a zip line. They forced us to do it, and I was petrified. I stalled forever before I went down the zip line. Turns out that was awesome, and I totally wanted to do it again, but unfortunately couldn't get myself across that wire again. It was terrifying!

[lera]

Good for you, Kirsten.

I don't know if fear of heights or fear of hurting my back would keep me from doing that. Probably a little bit of both.

[Mirre]

Yay, congratulations on overcoming your fear!

[Nicole]

U go girl! That looks like so much fun, how could you not feel comfortable with that beautiful surrounding forest? :-}

[Anna Y]

Hats off and a reverential bow. This vertigo sufferer got dizzy looking at the photos. Glad to see someone conquering heights for me.

[eva jorgensen]

good for you! it looks awesome!