Ropes Course

I thought Guppy Gulch was going to be my favorite summer youth activity, but that was before we headed to this awesome ropes course outside DC. I had no idea what to expect, having never attended anything like this before. I guess I was imagining outdoor rock wall climbing? I'm SO glad I got to go because it was AMAZING. 

 

Gabe and Seth all harnessed up and ready to climb

Seth heading across his first course:

He made it a platform:

I actually didn't see too much of Seth. This place was so huge and there was so much leaf covering that I only caught glimpses of people I recognized as we climbed past each other. Seth spent his entire time climbing with Gabe, Jack and Benjamin.  Jack was out of his element and very nervous. The other boys were so patient and helpful. Bishop told me how impressed he was with Seth and the others as they walked along the ground under Jack, coaching and cheering him along, giving him tips and encouragement. He said that experience alone made the whole activity worthwhile for him. I'm grateful Seth has such good friends and is such a good friend in return. 

I spent a lot of my time climbing with Sani. She is one tough lady! Because she looks so young, strong and fashionable, I tend to forget that she's old enough to be my mother (literally-her oldest child is my friend Pohai). She was cruising along the courses faster than many of the youth! At one point we even accidentally got onto a pretty difficult course and were shocked by how hard the allegedly mild route turned out to be. It wasn't until later when I decided to give the more difficult paths a try that I realized what we had done. 

Me, not dying on the ropes course.

I knew that I couldn't really fall since the harness would catch me after a six inch drop. But my brain wasn't totally convinced of that and liked to freak me out occasionally as I gazed over a ledge. The worst was at the end of the tougher course we accidentally climbed onto. The only way down was to leap off a platform 15 feet in the air (while attached to a pulley--not free fall). There was no other option: it was leap off or stay up there forever. And so I jumped (yes, it took me a minute to get up the courage). And this is the picture Isabel took of me after I landed. 

Very happy to still be alive.

And actually kind of exhilarated because it really was fun after all!

(I did go back and repeat the course later in the day.

That time I jumped with no hesitation.

Maybe next time I'll try the higher one where you freefall for a bit first.)

All the youth who attended:

It was an awesome day.

I was so sore the next day at church...

Catherine was extremely jealous and has demanded a trip here for her birthday.