Gorge Scrambling

Yet again, I think I have found my favorite OP activity! Today was so much fun! I had a great time from the time I woke up this morning until this very moment. Today we went gorge scrambling, and you may ask what that is. Basically it is climbing up a big waterfall. It reminded me so much of my childhood playing around the crick with Josh and Joe. It was so much fun!

So the best way to describe the events are through pictures. You have to imagine yourself climbing up the most beautiful waterfall you have ever seen. Picture this waterfall in a beautifully wooded area with big boulders. The only downfall to the day was the fact that the water was cold. The weather was beautiful. It was a little windy but we really couldn't tell since we were in the woods. The sun was shinning and everyone was in great spirits. Basically we just monkeyed around and climbed up whatever way we found fit. Every so often Llion would give us a challenge such as the one you can see here. This picture off to the left represents our first obstacle. The two rocks put together there collectively make up the Elephant's Bum. What we had to do was shimmy through the crack and come up on the other side. Not too bad unless you are a little claustrophobic. We were crawling through the rushing water so that was fun too. Our first chance to really get wet, but don't worry, there would be plenty more opportunities.

This picture here is Melissa, Lauren and Riley just goofing around. We were waiting for the guys to finish climbing through the Elephant's Bum...

As you can see, the surroundings were so beautiful. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get a nice photo. Best part about the photo is the purple waterproof outfit from head to toe, the life vest (or buoyancy aid as they call them here) and the rockin' orange helmet. I know I look sexy, be jealous!

Our next adventure or obstacle was from this scene here. Llion rigged up some ropes to help us climb along this slippery (or slippy as Llion says) rock face. As you can see it was nice and wet which did make it extra slippery. Not to mention our wellies (boots) were not the best rock climbing shoes. So we got to play monkey on the ropes. We swung from one to the next while trying not to fall in. Most of us faired pretty well on the task and we had some great teamwork moments.

After monkeying around we got to play snake while thinking skinny. Llion challenged us to squeeze through some pretty tight spaces. It was a lot of fun and I was a little nervous. I really don't like being in places I can't get out of, but I took my time and did some deep breathing. I made it through the first one no problem, but the second one was just a little too small. I tried but I just didn't fit, but at least I tried!

After squeezing through some tights spots we got to feel the "power" of the waterfall itself. Our "challenge" was to stand under the waterfall and feel it's power. This wasn't as bad as it seemed, besides the fact that it was super cold. Like I said we had plenty of opportunities to get wet. The waterproofs actually did their job quite well. I stayed pretty dry while standing under the powerful waterfall.

 After some more climbing we came to yet another gorgeous shot of the waterfall. we decided it was time to get a group shot. We messed around and got some fun ones. but we also managed to take a decent one too. So front row starting with me then Melissa and Lauren. Back row is K.J. Eric (goofball pose) Woody (a.k.a. Matt) and Riley. We sure missed Teresa who is normally part of our Thursday team. We are really a great group and I feel so lucky to get to hang out with these guys every week!

After we managed to make it all the way to the top of the gorge we came to a little watering hole. You could imagine this as a hot tub; deep in the middle with a ledge all the way around. Almost like a hot tub right? Yeah right! Try water that is so cold it feels like needles when you jump in. Why the heck would we jump into freeing cold water? Why not!? is what I say! This was our last challenge of the day and oh man it was something! I was so excited to jump in, not really sure why, but I was excited. As soon as I hit that icy cold water I was wondering what in the hell possessed me to do such a stupid thing? Well because of the challenge and everyone else did it so I had to too! It was so thrilling to find the courage to jump. As soon as I hit the water, well you can guess. I was so cold all I could think about was getting out. I struggled to swim to the "ledge" because my legs and arms didn't really work too well in the cold water. The best part about being wet was the fact that my body quickly warmed the layer of water around me. The water in my wellies soon warmed up and kept my feet nice and warm.

We hiked the path back down and celebrated the great day we just had. Everyone had such a good time! Our final challenge was to change out of our soaking wet clothes into something dry. Boy was that fun! I just love changing in the middle of the car park (parking lot). It took a lot of effort but I managed. I'm pretty sure this was my favorite day. The weather was amazing and the scenery was beautiful. I can't wait for next time!

Until next time...

~Amy