One for the record books

I awoke an hour before the alarm clock rang out and did not waste anytime thinking wether to start the day or not. We ran off to a park, or what was left of it anyways, that had several overgrown slack line stations. The park had been barely used and the lines themselves removed but the mounting posts remained. After several failed tries to set up the slack line Tiara finally got it and demonstrated. As I watched her I remembered pictures of her healing knees after a double knee surgery she had not too long ago. I was thoroughly impressed. The technique in walking the slack line put a lot of stress on the knees and she was making it look so easy. I was wrong in thinking that I was going to do it as effortlessly as she. The moment both feet left the ground and transferred weight to the slack line I knew I was in for a challenge. Just getting the balance to stand still was an effort! All of my lower body and core was being used to try to keep my balance. It was a killer workout. I was finally able to stand in one place, and within a few tries Tiara made it across the almost 20’ span. I made it to 3 steps and called it a day, reminding myself to try to add this to my workout routine to improve balance. That would be something else I you could throw a roundhouse standing up on that 1” wide slack line. Would make for some killer kicks when you find yourself back on the ground.

The little workout built up a bit of an appetite and we had a small breakfast before going to the main event of the day. I made sure not to stuff myself for my next adventure. Back out of town we rode passed the river and canyon walls to the flats that surrounded Moab on the outskirts. Back the way that I came into town passing the red walls that once more brought goose bumps to the back of my neck and arms. We were heading back to the airport that I had passed up just the day before. I could not pass up the opportunity to skydive for the first time in a beautiful place like this. I have no fear of heights and very little fear for anything to begin with and have always wanted to skydive ever since being a kid. My heart was racing not at the fact that I was about fall from 10,000 ft but at the fact that I was going to finally scratch this adventure off the list. I signed all the necessary paperwork and watched the instructional video and could not wait to be airborne. Looking around at my surroundings I couldn’t help but compare it to the Movie “Point Break”. There was another person that was jumping with me, a smaller older woman who mention that her grandkids were going to go crazy after seeing that she had done this. Her excitement was infectious. I met my tandem skydiver Kevin and asked that he try to scare the shit out of me while up there. “Do something that would get you fired!” I told him as we walked back from watching the previous group land. There was another gentleman walking back with us. “Well I am glad I was here for that conversation, because I am his boss!” Opps, I had no idea. Kevin still gave me a wink and a nod agreeing to take my advice regardless of his supervisors reaction.

The plane landed shortly after the previous skydivers did and rolled down the runway turning around between the hangars to position itself for the next take off. The pilot killed the engines as we took a few pictures. “I have just barely enough fuel for this next jump! Should we fill up?” “Naw… we should be good” Kevin hollered back at the pilot. If he was telling the truth I got even more excited. What would be more exciting than to have to jump out of an airplane not because you have made it to the appropriate altitude, but because the plane had run out of fuel and a deadly crash was imminent? As I approached the aircraft I brushed my hand along the edge of the wing. The aluminum was soiled with rivets and was far from smooth. “At least there are no bullet holes in her.” I thought to myself. It was basically a tin can with wings, wheels, and an engine. Its cargo was the meaty inside of the plane comprised of 4 jumpers and the pilot. The inside of the plane did not look any better than the outside and I loved it. The closer you can bring me to death the more alive I will feel. We huddled in and the engines started with a sputter. The vibration of the engine transferred to every part of the feather light body of the airplane. Made one turn to the runway and were off the ground in no time.

Every little patch of rising air or gust wind felt like it had more control over the vessel than the pilot himself. It would jerk and wobble, rise and fall no matter how steady the captain held the course. The higher up we got the less dimensional the environment became. The flats, canyon walls, arches, and everything else that makes up Moab very quickly became a flat 2 dimensional portrait. The tanned hide color of the ground and soft blue of the sky came to meet at he horizon complimented each other very. The two jumpers ganged up on the older woman and cracked jokes, all of which only added to the excitement and jolliness of the atmosphere. “Scoot back and sit on his lap and wiggle downwards so he can strap you in tighter!” She did so without thinking, catching the other jumper by surprise. He was not expecting her get up on him and start grinding into his lap like that as he did not hear the command. We all busted out laughing, as she finally understood what was happening and gave Kevin a playful slap and joined in with the laughing. I was looking out the window and suddenly there was a rush of cold air. I had been taken away by the view of the desert and did not notice how we had already made it to jump height. The air was cold and sobering, and before I knew it the lady and 1^st jumper were hanging out of the airplane. They said a few last things into the camera and with two rocks ejected themselves from the tin can. YES! I was so excited for her more than for myself. I had no fear and the feeling was less exciting for me than it was for her. I envied what she felt now falling and just prior looking down just before they broke contact with the plane. We made our way to the door and I wiggled my legs out onto the 10”x10” aluminum platform. We had been so high up that there was no fear of falling. I had done bridge and cliff jumps that where far more frightening than this. There was a sense of security knowing that you had so much time on the way down to react. We also hooted and hollered our last bit of anticipated excitement into the camera, rock twice, and were off.

As soon as I felt the platform disappear from under me I arched back as hard as I could, just like the instructor advised. We would back flip off of the plane and I did everything I could to flip over quickly to see the plane begin to distance itself from us. I wanted a point of reference so I could gauge how quickly we had been falling. The view of the red and white plane was short-lived, and we continued to roll into the free fall position. It was a half of a second that has burned itself into my memory for the rest of my life. By the time we made it to our bellies we had been nearly at terminal velocity. The wind caught my cheeks and made them flap uncontrollably. I smiled because of it and the smile tightened my cheeks stopping the flapping. Kevin motioned for me to go into a dive position and we straightened our bodies, tucked our arms back and shot through the sky like a missile. We picked up speed and ended up getting ahead of our other jumpers. Just as I began to wish the fall would last forever I felt the tug of the chute opening and the noise of the rushing air stopped and it was silent as the chute stopped us from free-fall. The silence was amazing, just a second ago you couldn’t hear your own voice if you screamed as loud as you could and now everything was silent except for a faint flapping of the chute somewhere above us. The silence made you focus on just your sight and the view was breathtaking. The approaching ground began to show its many colors and textures. We pulled on the reigns this way and that making us swing up and over our chute. With every pull the parachute would catapult us up into the sky again positioning our bodies parallel to the horizon. After a few twists and turns we began our approaching to the landing zone. I caught our shadow on the ground directly below several hundred feet before landing. We came in fast and Kevin pulled up on both reigns bringing us to a near stop. The landing was perfectly executed and the transition from air to ground was flawless. He detached me from his harness and I stood there for a second looking up to where I had just fallen. 10,000 feet up in a tin can and 10,000 down with gravity, it was exhilarating and I promised myself to do it again and again.

I made it back to the hangar and gave a big hug to my jumping comrade. The little woman seemed to disappear in my arms. I hugged my host and was so high on life I nearly walked off with my harness still on. The ride back to town had me smiling from ear to ear, I would even chuckle to myself with the thought of what I have already accomplished and what was still left to do on this trip. It had hit me that this trip was the most amazing thing I have done in my life and I couldn’t wait to raise the bar higher on the next one.

After grabbing some lunch we hiked up a creek to get to a local waterfall. The trial fallowed the creek and was full of green vegetation. We had to cross the creek at several spots and one of them had rocks with Native American petroglyphs. In the past the Natives would be visiting this place to go for a swim and a settlement wasn’t far fro the water no doubt. No satellites on the night sky, no contrails during the day, just man and nature living peacefully side by side. We made it to the falls and it felt like an oasis in the middle of the desert. Crystal clear water flowed from the red rock ledge tumbling over into a cool pool below. The pool was nearly completely surrounded by rock walls except for where the water from the creek continued to flow downstream. I did not waste any time getting completely submerged in the cool desert pool. The water rejuvenated my body from the dry air and blistering sun. I could have stayed there all day but knew that 24 hours does not last forever and I had so much more yet to do. After several dips and one jump off of the rock ledge into the pool we continued upstream further into the canyon. The walls closed in on us the further up we went and you could make out the start of several rock arches beginning to be formed by the elements. Hiked to a more secluded spot where I finally let my white Russian ass see some sun. Nude sun bathing in the middle of a picturesque canyon in the middle of the desert with a waterfall oasis around the corner, yes it was making for an amazing Moab experience.

Hiked back down stopping to dip in the creek to cool off and went to go pick up Amir, one of the guys I met the night before. We had picked up some climbing gear and drove outside of town about 25 miles or so to Looking Glass rock. From the face of it just looked like a glob of rock that was in the middle of a flat desert area. We geared up and it was an easy climb up to the top. Once there we went through a small keyhole, about 4’x6’ and rappelled down about 120’ feet or so the opposite side of the rock. Before we did Tiara checked and double-checked all the ropes, harnesses, and gear. I am so used to winging it but I was glad that I was being kept in check by the seasoned climbers, I was very confident in the level of safety. Although on second thought safety makes for a little less adrenaline. It was still amazing to rappel for the first time outdoors and have it be such a high drop.

We all made it to the ground and found ourselves in a large natural stone amphitheater and stage. The walls rose high up alongside us and eventually curved over and capped us in with a solid rock ceiling. At the opposite end of the rock there was a 60’x60’ foot hole that looked out into the desert. We hiked up the loose sand and rock slope making sure to avoid any rattlesnakes, as they were common in this area. There was a cliff edge along the walls of the theatre that we climbed up to. The rope that we used to rappel was looped over twice and we would use it as a rope swing. We each took turns jumping off the cliff edge, there is a tiny bit of free-fall before the rope tightens and takes your weight and you go into the pendulum motion of the swing. As I jumped I could hear the wind in my ears grow louder to the lowest part of the swing and grow quite until going silent right before I would turn to swing back in the direction I jumped from. It was awesome to see this massive rock formation accelerate to and from me as I swung back and forth. We each took turns jumping and packed up in a hurry as we were trying to get to the next adventure before the sun went down.

Rode back into town and had a quick dinner and headed off to Hell’s Revenge for a sunset off-road ride. We took a 2004 Toyota Tacoma up there that had several modifications. As soon as we deflated the tires we were on the trails. This was my hosts day job and she could drive through this treacherous maze of rock, cliff and canyons with her eyes closed, and backwards (which she did to scare me). The truck would bounce from side to side and lean up where you couldn’t see nothing but sky and turn right back down again to dive straight into rock. The trails had been heavily traveled and tire tracks traced the contours of the uneven rock formations all around, as it is one of the most popular off-roading locations in the nation. We stayed on the trails until the sun went down. The amount of colors that Moab cycles through on a daily basis is mind-boggling. Every part of the day will have the sun hitting the rocks at different angles and intensity making for an amazing display. This is especially the case at sunset. The moon had already made its way out as though rushing the sun on its way passed the horizon. Just after the sun went down we stopped at a flat stone where there were dozens of fossilized dinosaur tracks. This place used to be a wet riverbed or coastline and these creatures roamed the once lush environment. I reminisced to a day where I dreamed of being a paleontologist. That giant stood there once and would tower over me, and now all that was left was a print that I was tracing with my hand.

Riding back to the house I could not help but smile my most authentic of smiles. I did it! This day was going down into the record books in my life. I felt like a kid, because I did things that I dreamed of when I was a kid. I have learned in life that I, and others that I have spoken to about this topic, am most happy when I tap into that inner kid of mine and live out how I imagined life would be when I grew up. We get bogged down with the many things that come with being a responsible adult, shutting out that part of us that just wants to get out there and have a blast without a care in the world. I was happy, and I consciously mad a decision to live a life that allows that kid in me to come out more often and breath, look around with mischievous eyes, and run off with only my imagination to guide me.