Zipping Past Fears

Fifty-Ninth Day

One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his great surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn't do.

--Henry Ford

Today turned out to be a much better day than yesterday:  no rain, not much driving, fantastic scenery, and a little bit of adrenaline.   I had made a reservation to go zip lining in Hocking Hills State Park in Ohio.  Hocking Hills is a pretty diverse park and I only saw a small part of it.  It has a nice river for canoeing, caves to spelunking in, lots of trails with scenic vistas, spectacular cliffs, and of course the zip line course.

All harnessed in and ready to go!

There were two main zip line courses to pick from:  one called the canopy tour which was mainly through the tops of trees and one called the X course which went over the river a few times, through narrow gaps in trees, and into a small cave.  Guess which one I picked.  Yes—the X course one. It sounded much more exciting.  The tour wasn’t scheduled to start until 12:50, so I had a leisurely morning which I spent at Starbucks while sipping an iced caramel coffee and trying to find activities to occupy the next few days (I didn’t end up finding too much, so if anyone has any suggestions for things in the areas of Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and Nebraska let me know!)

When I arrived at the Hocking Hills Canopy Tour “base camp” as they called it, I checked in and signed a waiver that said I acknowledged I could be seriously hurt or killed by zip lining but that I wouldn’t do anything about it if either one happened.  I wasn’t too sure about how legally valid the waiver was because it had a line it that said something along the lines of “In the event of my accidental death, I will waive my right to sue Hocking Hills Canopy Tours…” I asked the girl working behind the counter if they ever had any dead people sue them and she assured me that they have an impeccable safety record and that has never happened.    I handed her my signed certificate and she told me that the guides would call the group shortly before 12:50.

At about 12:50, two young guys in harnesses, cargo shorts, and green t-shirts came out and called our tour.  I was with a group of 8 other people: a high school agriculture teacher and 7 of her past and current students.  They were all in the same FFA group.  The tour guides introduced themselves as Alec and Kyle and they explained how the 3-hour tour would work.  They had us line up as they helped us into harnesses and gave us helmets and gloves to wear, and then they took us to a small cable where we got a little “test run” to get a feel for the equipment.  They showed us how to apply the brakes, which really was nothing more than sticking our gloved hand directly onto the cable and pressing down.  After we had all gotten the hang of it, they took us out to the first of eleven zip lines that we would be traveling down.

Kyle getting ready to show us how it's done

The eleven of us climbed up a set of stairs onto a small platform that was mounted about 30 feet up in a tree.  The platform was maybe 12 feet in diameter and we were all hooked into a cable tie that was around the tree trunk for safety.  There was just enough room for all of us: one more person would have been too many.  Kyle showed us how we could make room on the platform by placing our feet on the very edge of it and leaning off the side, allowing our harness that was strapped to the cable to hold us up.  He insisted that everyone try it.  We all looked over the edge, took a deep breath, and leaned out.  The security straps on the harnesses were just long enough so that everyone extended backwards at an angle over the edge.  That was quite a fun feeling—the harness caught me just at the point where I felt like I would fall off the edge of the platform and I just hung there with my feet against the edge and my head about 3’ beyond the edge of the little platform.  When everyone was hanging back like that, Kyle then wiggled his feet back and forth so that the platform swayed back and forth a bit.  He said “These platforms are made to move around and to flex, so don’t be scared if it feels like it’s about to come loose.”  I don’t think anyone heeded his “don’t be scared” advice, as I could see everyone tense up and grab their harnesses in panic.

Those trees seemed a lot closer going through them!

Kyle then hooked his harness onto the cable that extended a few hundred feet down a hill and he jumped off and sailed across to the platform at the far edge.  Alec then had everyone come up one-by-one to zip across.  When it was my turn to go down the first cable, I climbed up a few small steps at the edge of the platform and Alec hooked my harness onto the line.   “Clear! Clear!” I could hear Kyle’s voice on a walkie-talkie telling Alec that he was ready for me to go across. 

“Ok, sit back, lift your feet, and go!” Alec instructed.  I leaned back into the harness, lifted my feet off the step, and began zinging down the line.  I could see the ground whizzing by below me and feel the wind in my face.  The little wheels on the harness that rolled on the cable made a thrilling ZZZZZTTTT sound as I flew down the cable to the other end.  As I got close to the platform, Kyle lifted his arm up which was the signal to start braking, so I put my hand on top of the cable and pressed down.  I slowed down and just as my feet reached the other platform I pulled myself forward on the cable and stood up.

This line went into a small cave

After everyone had completed the first run, Kyle and Alec congratulated us all and we moved onto the second one.  The first two were pretty gentle:  Alec told us we were only going about 15 miles an hour, even though it felt much faster.  He said the next one would be a bit faster though. When we got to the third run, Kyle told us all that we could increase our speed by doing a “cannonball” by pulling our feet up and curling them close to us.  He went first and showed everyone how to do it.  Alec then moved into position to help everyone get hooked onto the line.  One of the girls in the group named Cassie went first. She was maybe 16 years old and was quite rambunctious.  She seemed to be the one that everyone in the group teased, but in an endearing way—I think she enjoyed being the center of attention.  “Ok, Cassie.  Just like he showed you—but you have to yell ‘Cannonball!’ when you jump!” the teacher in the group said.

Cassie stood at the edge of the platform, giggling and wiggling, but not jumping off.  “Clear! Clear!” I could hear Kyle saying on the radio.

“Ok, that’s for you to go!” Alec told her as he stood next to her on the platform, waiting for her to go.  She stood and giggled for another minute or two. 

“How about this, just lift one foot up.” Alec told her.  She did, still giggling, and then Alec gave her a push and sent her down the line. She let out a shrill scream as she sailed away.

“You’re supposed to say ‘Cannonball!’” the teacher yelled after her, as everyone was laughing.

Heading down to the river...

Alec told us all that he’d have Cassie go first on the next zip line, and that he’d apologize for pushing her.  He told us that he’d tell her he’d let her go whenever she’s ready but right when she jumped off he’d yell “Oops! No! Wait!” and the rest of us should scream.  Everyone agreed that this was a fantastic idea.  After everyone got down to the fourth platform, Kyle told us that the next trip would take us through a close gap of trees. He instructed us not to try to reach out and touch the branches, for obvious reasons.  After everyone had nodded in agreement, he hooked himself onto the cable and went sailing down first.  A few minutes later, we could hear “Clear! Clear!” on Alec’s radio.

“Ok, Cassie, you’re up!”  he said.  Everyone grinned slyly.

“But don’t I go last this time since I went first on the last one?” she asked

“No, I need you to go down first because you are the lightest,” he told her.

“Oh, ok,” she agreed as he unhooked her harness from the safety cable and hooked onto the zipline.

Cassie climbed up onto the steps, and Alec told her that he wouldn’t push her this time and that she could go whenever she wanted.  She stood for a moment, giggling again, and then tentatively lifted her feet and departed from the platform.  Just as she was about a foot away from the platform, Alec screamed out “Oh my gosh! No! Wait!” and the rest of us screamed.  Cassie’s head whipped around and her eyes and mouth made large, panicked circles for a moment.  Everyone on the platform broke out in laughter, and we could see her face go from fear, to confusion, to realization as she zinged away from us.  At the bottom of the platform, the teacher asked her if she was ok and if she needed to change her pants, again to more laughter from everyone.

By the end, the teacher told me that she was making me an honorary FFA member of her group.  I told her I already was well versed in it because I had spent 15 minutes learning about dairy production in North Carolina a couple of days ago.    Alec and Kyle gave everyone little certificates that showed we had completed the course, and we all went on our way. 

Zipping over the water

One thing about this trip that made it a little more exhilarating was that I’m actually afraid of heights.  I think that has been one of the things that’s drawn me to some of the adventures I’ve done lately:  zip lining, flying the hang glider, hanging over the edge of the light house, walking across the swinging bridge in Montana, and even skydiving before I left on this trip.  As the tour went on, I found myself being more comfortable hanging over the edges of the platform and cannonballing down the line at faster speeds.  I’ve realized that fear can be a debilitating force in life sometimes:  it can prevent people from taking actions and lull them into sticking to comfort zones and feeling safe.  But for me, addressing those fears also makes me feel much more alive.  I know I haven’t done anything entirely risky and that all my “adventures” have been things that millions of people have done before.  But just the simple act of extending myself outside of that embryonic zone of safety has made living much more rewarding.  And it has reminded me that once I can conquer an obstacle in my mind, the other hurdles in life become much smaller and easier to overcome.