Go Ape — Zip Lining

What great fun this was.

The actual zip lining parts were simple. You hooked yourself to the cable. I then just sat down. Felt the harness support me and then off I went. It got harder to get the zip platforms. Also you went up higher and higher each time.

The harder parts were the bridges you had to cross to get from one platform to another. They certainly placed some very interesting obstacles in your way.

The place we went is called GoApeUSA. Here's their description of the course:

The Go Ape treetop adventure course is made up of 6 zip lines (including Maryland and the USA’s first skateboard zipline!) numerous rope ladders, 44 crossings to include the Stirrups and Twister and 2 tarzan swings.  More than just a canopy tour, there are 6 individual sections within the course, each section taking you higher into the forest canopy and finishing with a zip line more exciting than the previous one!  If you’ve been before, we’ve added a banana load of challenging obstacles to make your adventure more exciting than ever before.  Furthermore, the course now includes a zip line taking you over a road!

The tarzan swing, especially the last one, was a leap of faith. But it was so well worth it. The hardest part was climbing up the net to get to the next platform which also happened to be the last zip line and brought you back to the start of the course.

Here is me practicing on a zip line. I stuck the landing this time. I got my legs moving as I came in towards the ground. So I was running as I came in. It didn't work on the longer zip lines. I always ended up coming in on my butt. It was hard to figure out exactly when you'd hit the ground. It came as sort of a surprise.

I have to mention our instructor, Cameron. He was just great. He is in the picture below to the left of me. He was very thorough. He also was a great motivator. There were a couple of times that I was stuck and he called up encouragement to get me going.

 

Here are a couple of pictures of one of the group coming in on the last zip line. 

This was a blast. I can't wait to go again.