Rock Climbing!

Crazy! Amazing! Exciting! And so much fun!! 

A new adventure for me: ROCK CLIMBING! I honestly didn’t believe I was capable to get more than two feet off of the ground (if that!) but I really, really wanted to be! With excellent guidance from a Rock Climbing Rockstar... and a great deal of trust... I climbed up this wall three times and rappelled - without much fluidity or grace, I admit - down it twice (an enormous amount of trust needed for the latter!). The third time I went up and over the top! :) 

While climbing I kept my mind completely in the moment, only letting a little fear creep in once on my first climb up when I stalled, struggling to find a route. Encouragement shouted from the ground (“You’ll figure it out, Renny! You’re doing great!”) quickly refocused my mind and I continued on. I looked down a couple of times to hear what was being said to me but didn't focus on the ground or how far I was above it. Yikes. I touched the anchor at the top and then all of a sudden became concerned about how I was going to get back down. It was much steeper and higher than I realized. After another moment of hesitation, I heard more shouting from below... "sit back into the harness"... "hold onto the rope in front of you"... "trust me" (?!)...  "step backwards off of the edge" (O.M.G., are you CRAZY?!) but somehow I mustered up the courage and let go of my fears (and the wall)!

I stepped backwards off of that cliff, y'all!  ;)

I DID IT!!

It was such a GREAT DAY!! I now have a perma-grin! I'm filled to the brim with pride and joy! I can't believe I actually did it! haha I'm going to remember this day forever!! I can't wait to go again!

Now about those teeny, tiny, itsy-bitsy, extremely tight little things needed on your feet for rock climbing... OMG... OUCH!! They look and feel at least three sizes too small but I was assured they fit me perfectly! Yowza! My feet definitely prefer my clunky, trusty, dirty, roomy, COMFORTABLE hiking boots! ;)

But this adventure... 

THIS WAS AWESOME!!!

Horsethief Butte

Columbia Hills State Park

SW Washington / Columbia River Gorge

Our lifeline... literally

Checking the anchor and showing me how it's done...

Third time up!

Anchored to the top (instead of belaying from the ground) 

so I could climb up and over the edge! :)

 

Sitting on the top enjoying the view...

and feeling so, so proud!