Ziplining... that's what we did.. YEP.. me too! Can you believe it?
Our adventurous crew!
I didn't want to be left behind so I had to swallow my fear of rehurting my knee and I dove into the challenge.
Mt Hermon in the Santa Cruz Mountains offers Canopy Tours through the redwoods:
"A zip line canopy tour uses specialized equipment and cables to allow guests to experience the upper reaches of a forest. Each participant wears a harness and uses a pulley system to guide along interconnected zip lines that stretch between elevated platforms."
From http://mounthermonadventures.com/faq
Yep that's me.. and it's actually holding me up!
I was too cheap to buy the picture so I sneaked a shot of it on the computer..
We had some great guides.. Robert and Hilly
The 2-hour tour consisted of 6 zip lines and 2 sky bridges at heights up to 150 feet. Each zip line was different: there's one that was the highest, the lowest, the longest, the fastest, the slowest and one that you can't see the end point.. the mysterious.
Marcus getting clipped in!
You were hooked in with two cables with at least one always hooked on to something either the cable or the tree. The whole contraption can hold up to 2,000 lbs! (YES! It can hold me!)
Robert catching Emily as she was coming in.
There was a guide at each end of the zipline either clipping us in to go or catching us and clipping us off the cables.
At first I did not want to look at anything other than the face I was going towards which was Robert's. He said to me, "I know I'm good looking but try to look at the surroundings.. it's much more beautiful to look at!" As the zip lines got longer I was able to really see God's creation.
The kids were naturals..
Hannah hanging over the ledge.. it's about a 150 foot drop there!
Hannah zipping in on our 2nd to last run in which she needed a little bit of help from Hilly.. the lighter ones seem to get stuck before they get to the end, I was told. Not that it happened to me.
Emily posing for a photo finish
Emily cannon balling in
Shawna has no fear.. hanging over the ledge
Shawna ziping through
Marcus is a natural...
...and also a Ham for the camera!
The younger folk walked the suspension bridge with no problem
While the older folk had a little sillier time.
Matthew so cool on the ledge
It was hard to get pictures of him because he always went first or last since he had the video camera.. but I took a picture of a picture again
Willie contemplating.. "If I jump, will they catch me?"
Willie had a great time! I don't think it was high, fast or long enough for him!
Before we went, my friend Stephanie gave me the 4-1-1 on ziplining, warning me to never ever get stuck or stop before you get to the end of the line... Because if you do stop before you get to the end you naturally will go backwards and then stop where the cable is flat which is usually in the middle of the line. Then the guides have to stop the course and go out onto the cable to grab you and pull you in. Not an easy task! And very embarrassing, Stephanie warns.
Well I did not have a problem with that issue because I found out that those who do stop or don't get to the end of the line are usually the 'lighter fared' ones.. which I was not one of!
Sandy is petite and slim.. she is definitely a 'lighter fare' one.
She zipped along quite nicely until she got a few feet from the end.. and stopped!
Fortunately, our guides prepared us well and taught us what to do if we do get stuck!
Sandy expertly turned around and pulled herself in! She was a pro!
Matthew with his handy video camera on his helmet!
A Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah
Zip-A-Dee-A
My oh my what a wonderful day!
Check out a little of the action here...
You can't say we didn't show Marcus a fun time here in good ol' America!
