Day 148: At The Crag
by sunny on August 30, 2011
Image via Wikipedia
After years of swearing I would never go climbing, I wasn’t quite sure how to answer when someone asked us to go climbing and I really wanted to say yes.
Lately I have been stepping out of my comfort zone. It’s hard to say exactly what has pushed me out; I suppose it was a combination of circumstances. Doing The Wild Bound Project has pushed me to actually do the things I have always said I wanted to do. Starting the paleo diet and finding out I have a gluten sensitivity has given me the health and energy that I couldn’t have imagined 3 months ago. Feeling healthy goes a long ways towards feeling adventurous.
Once we got to the crag, I was feeling a bit uncertain. I watched Brenton do a climb first. It was his first time out and he promptly earned the nickname “Spider Monkey.” He is a natural at rock climbing.
The climb started with a bit of an overhang. Once I got strapped in to the harness and attached to the ropes, I approached the rock and thought “Okay, what do I do now?”
It’s a lot more intimidating to watch someone else climbing. Once I got on the rock, I didn’t think much about falling or anything, just about the next hand hold or the next place to put my foot.
I managed to climb the part that was overhanging. Everyone there was cheering me on,”You’ve made it past the hard part, now it’s easy going to the top.” They were right.
I could see from my perch that there were more hand holds and wider ledges for my feet. I stepped up to the next ledge, pushed and pulled myself up, and then rested again. After a few minutes I reached to take the next step up. I pulled with my arms and pushed with my legs, but I was done in. My arms were shot, my legs shaky.
Perhaps I should have kept going until I fell. Even though I enjoy pursuing adventure and I like to push my limits, I have learned to pay careful attention to when my body and my instincts say “Enough.”
Next time…I will see the top.
I didn’t get any pictures of this adventure on my camera, but hopefully soon I will be able to make a new post with pictures from the crag.
