Outdoor Pursuits

Outdoor Pursuits is possibly the best class ever.

Our first week in the class, we did surfing. It was great, especially since I had been in a large tidal body of water only once before, and had so much fun playing in the waves. Surfing was rather difficult, however. I just couldn't balance enough on the board, and if the balance wasn't an issue, it was getting myself going fast enough to catch a wave. By the time we were done, I had ridden a wave - on my knees - a grand total of four times. It was great.

Then came a REAL challenge - the ropes courses. I have this thing about...not heights, really, more like being really high up with practically nothing beneath me. Falling. I don't like falling. However, I managed to get through the course! My comfort zones have been stretched! I may even go off the high dive at the pool, who knows!

The next week was our mountain walk - we hiked up a mountain called Tryfan. It was difficult, mostly due to the little fall I had down a flight of stairs before we headed out. According to those watching, I lost my balance on a step, rolled, stood, grabbed the railing, lost my balance again, rolled again, and ended up sitting on the concrete floor, cross-legged, shocked, and giggling. I remember giggling. The gentleman who helped me up said that that was "the most judo fall" he'd ever seen. THEN we climbed up a mountain! It was a lot of fun, but I disliked taking breaks - whenever we stopped, my right knee (which had gotten hurt when I fell down the stairs) stiffened up and hurt like crazy. Then I hit that knee again on a rock. Twice. It was great to reach the top, though. After reaching the top and having lunch, we had to get back down the mountain. I slipped many more times coming down. Great day!

Then I got sick. Everyone else did sea level traversing. I stayed in bed, sneezed, coughed, and ate soup while watching Pride and Prejudice. My exercise was getting up to go to the kitchen.

After that, we went rock climbing! Thanks to the ropes course, I was completely comfortable with the ropes and harnesses, and was a LOT less nervous about being up high with nothing beneath me. We also went abseiling. I liked abseiling more than rock climbing - less muscle is involved.

The next week was gorge scrambling. We took turns leading the group up a small river, climbing over and under rocks, getting submersed in cold running water, and scrambling up waterfalls. After getting to the top of our path, we jumped off a ten foot cliff into a deep, dark pool of water. It was fun!

This past week, we went sailing. My partner and I capsized. Then we lost our boat. We had to swim after it, right it, fix the sail, and get back on. We eventually accomplished all of this, but we took so much time that our instructor had to tow us in by motorboat. We tried sailing a larger boat as well, but by then the wind was too strong and we were unable to take out the sail. It was a cold day, but everyone liked the cookies I made for them!