To Jump or Not

Bf and I left my residence at about 530pm with a mission to accomplish by dark. Or not. We always have our headlamps with us and I even carry a flashlight. Sometimes that 2 hour hike turns into a 5-er so you must be prepared. I told my boss where we were going and that we had plenty of rope with us. She just shuddered. Our mission yesterday was to get on the Great Wall without having to walk to either end of the 3-5 mile wall. No, this isn't the Great Wall of China. We parked on the side of the road at Mile 6 and I pointed to where I thought we could get up. I of course was right.

There is a fire raging in Colorado and it is making things a little overcast. We walked through a wash and let our eyes wander every direction so we wouldn't miss anything. We finally arrived at where we were going to attempt to get up. There was a smell of rain in the air and we would be climbing up a drainage. I scouted the sides to see where the heck I would be running if the water started flowing over the area. BF said he had a raincoat and then looked at me realizing I didn't have one and said "obviously for you". The drainage we were climbing up was more like a wind tunnel. The wind was bad enough, but it was picking up the sand and pelting our skins and every other orifice of our bodies. I think I still have sand in my eyes. We reached the top without any problems.

Upon reaching the top, we immediately saw an arch. My camera had been in repair mode for about a month now and I have finally gotten it back. My sister had suggested putting it in a plastic bag in order to keep the sand out of it. So I decided to try it. So I take the camera out of the plastic bag and the bag flies away towards the edge and disappears. If something goes off the edge, let it go. Your life isn't worth that plastic bag. You would be surprised how many people chase something towards the edge.

We searched the area for various things...another way down, rock art, Indian ruins, Eagle nest, and anything else interesting. My BF is crazier than I just to let you know. We walked all over that area and he looked for places to get down. He would often say 'we can get down here'. I would answer with 'I've moved on and not going there'.

We were standing at a ledge and looking over the edge. I had the feeling I always have when I stand at a ledge of that height. "WHAT WOULD IT BE LIKE TO JUMP". Oh, please don't think I am suicidal. Spend enough time with psychos in the wilderness and you will get the same answer. To me it is a fear really. And I can't explain it. I asked BF if he had the same thoughts and he said YES. I have read it in Outside Magazine as well. And I wish I could explain it in better way. And it isn't something that can be cured by skydiving--well at least I don't think it can be.

We saw it off in the distance. Both of us felt the urge to go to it. And really it wasn't anything that spectacular. The rock outcropping looked out of place. Looked like it held something special. There had to be something neat to be found over there. Was there? There was this little arch thingy and some rock that look out of place. But nothing more about it. When we got over there and walked around the structure, we saw the rainbow in the distance. Here we were 100s of feet above the road and not a vehicle could be heard. There was silence of the best kind. Just our breathing between us. Silence.

We peered over the edge and decided it was doable to get down this way. And so we started down. We should have kept over to the right, but we didn't. We are standing on this rock cropping and he decides to slide down. (Photos above). And I just look at him like you have to be 'fing crazy'. But of course I followed him down.

We had accomplished our mission, but now we had another mission at hand. It was 830pm and we needed to get to the vehicle which was about 1 1/2 miles away and down to town for Banditos dinner, which closed at 10pm. I had a plan...

I always carry my work radio with me. I turned it on and called 225. When he answered...

Me: Location
225: BR and heading out of area
Me: If you see two lonely strangers on the road near CH Wash, could you pick them up.
225: Copy

BF said 225 was going to make it before we did. We picked up the pace. And then about 200 yards up the wash, BF decided we should start running. I felt like we were in the military attempting to get to our pickup point. As we rounded the corner and could see the road, I saw 225 driving by. He does this too me all the time. He saw us. I clicked the radio and said 225. He kept driving and I know smiling the entire way. Then I yelled his name on the radio. I told BF he was going to be turning around and thank goodness he did.

We climbed into the vehicle and he laughed at us. He dropped us at our vehicle and we made it in no time to the restaurant for great Mexican food.

But in a sense the mission was a little drab since we didn't have to pull out the ropes.