Sunday was our rock field trip for the Scrambling class we are taking with the Mountaineers. The field trip was designed to get everyone in the class comfortable with all things related to going off trail: bushwhacking, slanted rock face walking, rock climbing "easier" paths that would not require ropes, basically choosing the best path to reach your final destination safely and with a thrill or two!
We arrived to the trailhead (just past the snow creek trailhead off of icicle creek road) at about 8:30am and joined up with one of the more challenging groups headed out for the day at about 9am. We were hoping to go moderate but all those groups filled up quickly, so we joined the strenous group with reservation. At the start I was really nervous I wouldn't be able to keep up and in a few places even Ryan was like "wow that was a harry crossing!" but overall we were well suited for the group, no one waited on us. Although the group was strenous and pushed us out of our comfort zone a little bit we learned a ton, and most importantly we learned that we are more capable than we have given ourselves credit for. At the end of the day our leaders were impressed with our group and the ease everyone had getting up the steep climbs our leaders chose. It was a pretty day but unfortunately Ryan and I only captured a few action shots and none of the view, we were pretty focused on our skills and weren't really enjoying the sight. Hopefully next time we make sure to stop smell the roses and enjoy the great views we are working so hard to reach.
Here is a picture of me practicing a descent with a rope in case of a situation where one wouldn't feel comfortable just climbing down on their own.
Here is Ryan attempting the same maneuver but from the side. The rope burns your arms and back a little bit this way instead of the way I attempted, but he sure looks cool doing it.
Here I am practicing downclimb techniques. A leader stood at the top and bottom to provide guidance and I just had to figure out my way down the rock wall.
This trip, just like our other Moutaineer experiences, has provided us with a few more skills to make us feel even more comfortable out in the woods. The sunny day and great company wrapped up this great trip nicely.
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