tr for 5/17/01

[erik]

went out yesterday after work with my very dear friend. our objective was to have some fun while climbing some trees in the park. i will have to say that i love to climb trees and have many years of experience in the art. i have been climbing trees much longer then rock, probably twice as long.

headed over to ft. steilacoom park to climb some of the classics. upon leaving the parking lot i made a the decision that we should head over to the 3 hemlocks located closle to the lake. i have been up these guys several time and thought this would be a good first for trish. nice big limbs with some spectacular stances. i gave the tricia the option to lead up first, though she relinquished to me, citing nervousness and inexperience. i gladly took the chance to show off and scampered up the tree in good form. about 60ft off the deck i called up to her to follow me. with a little difficulty she made the first moves with nervous anticipation, shaky at first but with an underlying hint of excitiment. as she reached my perch, the clouds broke and we caught a glimpse of the olympics. really it can't get much better than that. girls, trees and mountains! after a nice little session high above all, we made the downclimb safe and quick. upon reaching the gorund i was recieved with a cheerful glee and a hug. "i have never been so scared and excited at the same time!" (it's working!)

after the first success i was addicted to bring her more fun. and her excitment only pushed me to find a big and better tree. after some simless wondering we came upon a big douglas fir with a nice lumbar stance about 50ft up.

without hesitation trish fired right up to the stance bypassing some of the stronger limbs to make her advancement up more graceful and direct. a natural! since the doug fir was tucked away in the forest the views were less then stellar, but anytime you can observe nature while being part of it, it is wonderful. the downclimb of this guy seemed to go a little slower, she forgot her sequences. upon reaching the ground, the excitment was building for the big one.

i had the right tree in mind. another spectacular douglas fir squirreled away in the forest. we made the quick approach through a poor example of native underbrush and signs of past logging. to come to the center piece of fort steilacoom. a large healthy 2nd growth doug fir. this tree presents some challenges as the first solid limbs start about 15ft up. the crux is climbing some deep hangin limbs. chimmany skills are a must. after the intial inspection trish backed out, citing that this was her first day. being the compasionate person i am(if we are climbing there is no backing down! bros!) i accepted her thoughts. so off to jaunt through the woods. after a nice little trapse with a few side trips into the underbrush we found ourselves nearing the truck. with an urgancy of a short lived excitment i picked out a medium sized cottonwood. an easy but nice little tree. upon reaching the crowning limbs, the poor tre started to talk under our weight. reverse mantel, reverse mantel and we were back on the ground.

tricia's excitment over the day really brought me happiness. i would have to say that these ast few weeks climbing with people who are less experienced has only made me want to climb more. wether it be trees or rocks. the simplicity of movement with out limitations is truly what we are about. the lack of ego or attitiude towards anyhting has reminded me why i climb.

bolts no bolts runout or sewn up it is all still climbing and we all share the same passion for it. some people express their feelings in different ways, but are all people. exceptance of the enviroment and all that exist in it, will be the key to enjoying our existance within it. love thy earth and covet all that belongs to it.

jah

 

[This message has been edited by erik (edited 05-19-2001).]

[Dru]

Nice TR erik. Well described affirmation of one of the more obscure and lesser appreciated branches of climbing (and it's all climbing - buildering, bouldering, trees, rocks, mountains, ice, choss, cranes, large animals, fixed ropes, out of bed, whatever)

What species is your girlfriend? Have you made the big step up to human yet?