Day 1
Chris came home from work around 4:45, and I couldnt go back to sleep I was so excited about our trip. We both got showers, dropped Mobs off at Mimi's house, ate some breakfast and made it to South at 7:30 am. We loaded up all of our gear, piled in the SGA Van and headed North to Fort Payne, Alabama. On the way up there we got to know the people that were going with us: Lauren, Patricia, Christina, Shawn, Bryant, Sarah, & DeAnna. The six hour drive was fairly uneventful and long. Here is a picture of our cabin!
Once we got into the cabin, claimed our beds, and ate some dinner we got ready to climb out onto a giant boulder in Cherokee Rock Village on the top of a mountain and watch the sun set. Chris was terrified of the heights. haha, Poooor Chris.
As it started to get dark, we made our way to the top of the mountain to prepare for our night hike. Okay, guys. When I hear "Extreme Night Hike" I was thinking, okay, we are gong to walk on some trails with flash lights and it will be "extreme" because it is dark. No. I was so wrong. It should have been a clue when they gave us helmets... they were not just to hold the lights.
We spent 3 hours making our way through Cherokee Rock Village. There was very little "hiking" we spent most of our time crawling under rocks, climbing over them, and shoving ourselves through tight spaces. I feel like no words that I say do this hike justice. It was a LOT of work, a lot of fun, and extremely rewarding when we finished. Here are a few of my favorite moments:
Look how close the rocks were on both sides!
Notice how steep the "trails" are!
After we finished our night hike, we made our way back to the cabin, and it was already close to midnight. Most people stayed up for a few hours and hung out in the hot tub, but I was already exhausted; as soon as my head hit the pillow, I was out.
Day 2
Our morning started at 7:30 so we could be the first to get a shower (sharing 2 bathrooms with 9 people was the only flaw in the whole trip, and even that wasnt that bad). After breakfast we headed to meet our guide, Tyler. (Who, by the way, also lead our amazing night hike. I was going to save this to the end, but go check out True Adventure Sports). We met him at a rappel point that dropped down 85 feet. We rappelled right next to this little waterfall, it was so beautiful!
Our group before the rappel.
I had so much fun! I couldnt WAIT to do it the second time.
Chris, however, was a different story. First of all, he is scared of heights. I was proud of him for just attempting the rappel. But he didnt follow directions and got a really bad blister on the first round. Im just glad he did it the second time, and Im even more excited that he enjoyed it.
When we finished our 4 hour rappelling adventure, we went back to the cabin to eat lunch, and pile some more clothes on for our Wild Cave Tour. Okay, Cave Tour, cool. Im thinking we walk around, maybe climb through some tight spaces, it might be muddy, and maybe, just maybe, we would go through some ankle deep water. I could not have been more wrong. The cave tour was, hands down, my favorite part.
Those of you who know me well, know I am a thrill seeker, I love 'adventures' but only 10 minutes into the tour, I was in panic mode. I was so terrified that I was about to cry my eyes out. I had that im-about-to-have-a-break-down feeling in my chest, my eyes started to water, I was seconds away from an all out freak out.
There really isnt a way for me to describe to you just how hard this part of the tour was, Im going to attempt to draw you a picture. Okay, work with me here. It was pitch black inside the cave, all we had to see were our little head lamps. There was like a 3 foot gap that we had to make it over with the help of our guide, Tyler. If we fell, we would have fallen onto more rocks like 60 feet below. And it wasnt like you could stand up and step over, you had to sit (because of rocks above you) and scoot over the gap. This shit was scary as fuck. But in the end, we all did it and I refrained from causing a huge scene.
Shortly after this part of the tour, we were asked if we wanted to get near the water, and that we might have to get wet. HOLY SHIT, when he said wet, Im thinking, okay, my shoes will be wet, and itll come up MAYBE to my knees. Oh hell no. First time we got in the water, it came up to my neck. It was intense, and FREEZING, but it was AWESOME. (Also, I found out that they offer Cave Kayaking- Im already trying to plan this trip- let me know if you want to go. It will be well worth the 6 hour drive.)
We did some more exploring in the cave, walking around, crawling around, and just as we were about to leave, we got to crawl through some more water. We were FILTHY.
Look how high the water marks on our clothes are!
We made our way back the the cabin, fought over showers, got some food and started a campfire. Chris and I sat outside most of the night- he tended to the fire and I made smores! It was a nice, relaxing end to a fun filled day.
Day 3
I thought day 3 would be a boring ride back to Mobile. After we checked out of our cabin we drove the 23 mile path along Little River Canyon, called The Viper. It has several "look out points" to take pictures, and a few hiking paths.
We decided to take a hike to the water, and I am so glad we did. The water was cold, but beautiful! We took so many amazing pictures. I want to go back and spend a whole day playing in the water, climbing the boulders, and playing like a kid again.
Chris playing on the rocks.
Getting some sun & puttin my feet in the water
While the rest of our group stayed back, me, Chris, Bryant and Sarah all hiked down to this little waterfall!
When everybody got really hungry we hiked back to the top, jumped in the van and drove to Little River Falls to take a few pictures before we drove back to Mobile.
We had THE most amazing time on our trip. I cant wait to go back, and take all of our friends with us. Seriously, everybody go check out TAS- trueadventuresports.com
No comments:
Post a Comment