Second Time Closer to Nature

We were lucky with the weather again. Especially since there was a storm on Tuesday I thought the bad weather would hold on until the weekend.

We took our van and drove for 45 minutes until we finally arrived at our destination. We passed a couple of little towns on our way and besides those there was nothing but green. We were driving through woods, fields and a lot of grass. When we got very close to our destination, I remember going through a huge gate consisting of green things (trees, bushes etc). Because we went through this gate-like-figure on our way there, it felt to me as if we entered a different world. We also passed a small, narrow bridge which was another indication that this part of the world is separated from the rest of the world. Lastly, we rolled over some tracks bringing us back to civilization for a second but once we passed that we left it behind and were able tot indulge entirely into nature.

We parked our van on the bottom of the hill and hiked up for another 30 minutes until we found the gneiss that we were planning to climb on. On the hike up there, I passed tons and tons of leaves, a lot of moss and a gazillion branches lying all over the ground. Every time I took another step I felt like I am breaking something. There was always a little noise of "cracking" reminding me of the things beneath all the leaves and moss. The ground was soft and comfortable, the noise of nature was comforting and reassuring. We are not alone, the sun makes it through the trees once in awhile and shines us the way to where we want to go.

I felt as if we were becoming closer and closer to nature. But we were not equals. In some way, I think, we are using nature, taking advantage of it for our own benefit. We use it to flee from the modern world into a more comforting and remote world. It's not like we are always part of it, closer to it. Only when we get tired of the rest of the world, we come to nature and beg for refuge.

Compared to last week, our climbs were much shorter and a bit more difficult. I personally felt more comfortable this time because I knew what to expect and I also learned how to trust. I know now how to trust myself, my legs, the rock, the rope and the person belaying me. It's all fine if I fall, somebody will catch me at some point, I only have to trust, just as in real life. 

Chapel Ledge

This trip was a pretty good trip. I have never ever climbed outside in nature. Last week we climbed inside and I have also climbed once when I was really young in an indoor gym but an indoor gym is nothing compared to being outside.

It was awesome. I think I am a little scared of heights but I am not sure if that's an actual fear. Maybe, the scariness I have experienced is normal and simply a general discomfort that people experience when they are this far up a hill. The first time I got up there and looked down, my legs and hands started shaking. I don't know how much they where shaking out of exhaustion and how much they were shacking out of fear/discomfort; I think it was a mixture of both. But once I got all the way to the top, it just felt good, relieving, I felt proud, free and totally amazed of those feelings.

What I have learned today is probably the most valuable thing I have learned this far, I think I have learned a tiny bit how to climb and that's a good feeling.