Yesterday morning we hopped into the van to see Sally for the first time in 3 weeks! It was nice to get back into a routine and to have outdoor pursuits again. As we were driving Sally mentioned if we had heard the news, and she told us that Iceland had a volcano erupt on Wednesday April 14 and that they were expecting white clouds to cover the sky sometime, bringing ash to fall. About 90 percent of UK flights had been cancelled to avoid flying through the thick white clouds from the volcano, which could be very dangerous. She told us we would have to plan our activity accordingly, depending on the weather. Fortunately the weather was perfect for the activity she had planned for us today. She informed us that we would be Sea Level Traversing. We were all pretty excited, since the other group had not yet tried this activity and we had heard such good things about it. We gathered our supplies at the Conway Center immediately after getting there, putting our wetsuits, and multiple layers on beforehand. We drove about 40 minutes away to Anglesey Island near Holyhead to Penrhynmawr, right on the Irish coast. We didn't waste any time putting our equipment on and walked to the sea edge. We dropped our lunch bags off under a rock and walked another couple minutes down the grass path.
We began by walking/climbing down the rock path until we were right at sea level. The rocks were jagged and pointed upwards, making it very easy to grip and move along the bottom of the wall. We moved along the vertical wall using the rocks above us and the ledges below us to maneuver, always making sure we were within inches of the water in the case that we were to fall, that way we were close to the water. Sally reminded us of the rock colors to watch out for, just like when we gorge scrambled and taught us how to fall into the water correctly to avoid any injuries. The best way is to bend your knees slightly and fall straight or cross your arms and fall straight backwards, avoiding sticking out your bottom, potentially hitting your coccyx. For the first stage of Sea Level Traversing, we stuck to just moving across the bottom, running into a couple of challenges where we had to help one another out and guide them to the next step. Today involved a lot of teamwork, passing the message about cautions ahead, much like we did in gorge scrambling. Once we had reached the area where we had set down our lunches we took our first break. It was so pretty being able to enjoy our lunches as we looked out into the Irish Sea and the sun shining, keeping us warm.
After lunch, Annie and I volunteered to help Sally set up the next activity. We weren't really sure what we were going to be doing, and Sally joked with us about what possible things we could do, most of them were pretty scary! We set up a long rope from one side of the rocks to the other, so that it was overhanging above a large drop into the sea below. The rope was secured tightly to big rocks on each side. We all gathered at the one end of the rope and Sally demonstrated how we were going to climb on the rope over to the other side. She showed us two strategies, one laying on the rope, using your feet to keep you balanced and the other hanging upside down with your feet hanging on to the rope. Annie went first, I was so proud of her for taking the initiative and going first when she saw how nervous the rest of the group was. It shows that she has a lot of trust in Sally and is a great leader to our group. We encouraged Annie as she made her way up to the rope, clipping herself in, making sure she did the squeeze check before continuing. After she successfully made it across, I was soon up and cautiously made my walk to the rope. I avoided looking down or thinking about the distance it was from the top and clipped myself in and before I knew it, I was maneuvering across the rope fine. I was able to open my eyes and enjoy the view eventually, but felt my muscles getting tired as I reached the end of the rope. I had to push hard to get to the very end but made it successfully, and felt very happy with how I handled the situation. Everyone else made it successfully and with the encouragement of our teammates, no one was too nervous about performing the activity. Sally informed us that we were the first group to have all made it across on the rope without any assistance, making us all feel pretty good about out accomplishment. During some of the climbs across the rope, there were seals that popped their heads out of the water to check out what was going on, it was so neat! We continued on our way along the sea to a cave called Slot Cave. Before reaching the cave there were a couple challenging areas where danger was involved because it seemed that the only way to get to the other side of the water hole was to climb high. This was dangerous because if one of us fell, we could seriously injure ourself, so Sally demonstrated for me how to climb lower and safer in this particular area. I found that when I trusted Sally and followed her instructions exactly, I was able to successfully get to the other side wet free! After a couple spills in the water from that challenge and Elliot holding a couple people up by their buoyancy aid, we were at the opening of the cave. It was so neat inside! Wet, dark, and cooler, we could see our breathe, we moved deeper into the cave, warning our team of the wet rocks to watch for. Within the cave there was a large birds nest that Sally informed was a protected birds nest. On the side of the cave was a small dark hole that dropped down a bit to a long skinny path leading to the outside of the cave. Some parts were very skinny and tight, making some of us pretty nervous. At one point we reached an area where the only way to get out was to get wet. But that wasn't an option for Sally, she taught us a technique called bridging, where we got our bodies pressed between two walls, moving using our legs and bottom. As long as our backs were straight up against the rock wall behind us, we had pretty good control of our stability. One part was more difficult and we had to instruct the person behind us as we were instructed from the person in front who had just accomplished it. We had to be patient with everyone because each of us had different abilities but we were all made it out of the cave. By now, our hands were pretty cut up from the sharp barnacles covering the rocks that were once under water, but as the tide became lower the barnacles were submerged out of the water. We saw a lot of different sea life, such as lichen covering the rock walls, sea anemones that were squishy and sucked your fingers, and limpets that stuck undisturbed to the walls.
Our last activity for the day was to climb back to the area where we had climb across on the rope and cliff jump. I was fine with the thought of cliff jumping until I saw the height of the jump! Annie was the first to be standing on the edge of the rock wall and it looked so far down, I knew Sally must be joking. But after Annie jumped, I knew she wasn't joking. Everyone went and finally it was my turn. I don't remember being that scared about heights since the first outdoor pursuits when we did high ropes. I trusted Sally that I would be safe and knew the only way to get over my fear was to just do it! So I jumped! Letting out the loudest scream I reached the bottom and hit the water. It was the most amazing feeling to be able to just jump and put my fear in the back of my head. I even jumped again, just to prove to myself that I could face my fear...again! Today was a successful day for me because I was able to have fun climbing around on the rock walls, practicing my good climbing strategies we have been working on since rock climbing, and my biggest accomplishment, jumping from all my fears into the Irish Sea during the cliff jump. Everyone was so supportive and encouraging, as they always are, and there wasn't anyone that didn't play an important part in the days activity. This is definitely an activity I plan to do again in the future=)
We began by walking/climbing down the rock path until we were right at sea level. The rocks were jagged and pointed upwards, making it very easy to grip and move along the bottom of the wall. We moved along the vertical wall using the rocks above us and the ledges below us to maneuver, always making sure we were within inches of the water in the case that we were to fall, that way we were close to the water. Sally reminded us of the rock colors to watch out for, just like when we gorge scrambled and taught us how to fall into the water correctly to avoid any injuries. The best way is to bend your knees slightly and fall straight or cross your arms and fall straight backwards, avoiding sticking out your bottom, potentially hitting your coccyx. For the first stage of Sea Level Traversing, we stuck to just moving across the bottom, running into a couple of challenges where we had to help one another out and guide them to the next step. Today involved a lot of teamwork, passing the message about cautions ahead, much like we did in gorge scrambling. Once we had reached the area where we had set down our lunches we took our first break. It was so pretty being able to enjoy our lunches as we looked out into the Irish Sea and the sun shining, keeping us warm.
After lunch, Annie and I volunteered to help Sally set up the next activity. We weren't really sure what we were going to be doing, and Sally joked with us about what possible things we could do, most of them were pretty scary! We set up a long rope from one side of the rocks to the other, so that it was overhanging above a large drop into the sea below. The rope was secured tightly to big rocks on each side. We all gathered at the one end of the rope and Sally demonstrated how we were going to climb on the rope over to the other side. She showed us two strategies, one laying on the rope, using your feet to keep you balanced and the other hanging upside down with your feet hanging on to the rope. Annie went first, I was so proud of her for taking the initiative and going first when she saw how nervous the rest of the group was. It shows that she has a lot of trust in Sally and is a great leader to our group. We encouraged Annie as she made her way up to the rope, clipping herself in, making sure she did the squeeze check before continuing. After she successfully made it across, I was soon up and cautiously made my walk to the rope. I avoided looking down or thinking about the distance it was from the top and clipped myself in and before I knew it, I was maneuvering across the rope fine. I was able to open my eyes and enjoy the view eventually, but felt my muscles getting tired as I reached the end of the rope. I had to push hard to get to the very end but made it successfully, and felt very happy with how I handled the situation. Everyone else made it successfully and with the encouragement of our teammates, no one was too nervous about performing the activity. Sally informed us that we were the first group to have all made it across on the rope without any assistance, making us all feel pretty good about out accomplishment. During some of the climbs across the rope, there were seals that popped their heads out of the water to check out what was going on, it was so neat! We continued on our way along the sea to a cave called Slot Cave. Before reaching the cave there were a couple challenging areas where danger was involved because it seemed that the only way to get to the other side of the water hole was to climb high. This was dangerous because if one of us fell, we could seriously injure ourself, so Sally demonstrated for me how to climb lower and safer in this particular area. I found that when I trusted Sally and followed her instructions exactly, I was able to successfully get to the other side wet free! After a couple spills in the water from that challenge and Elliot holding a couple people up by their buoyancy aid, we were at the opening of the cave. It was so neat inside! Wet, dark, and cooler, we could see our breathe, we moved deeper into the cave, warning our team of the wet rocks to watch for. Within the cave there was a large birds nest that Sally informed was a protected birds nest. On the side of the cave was a small dark hole that dropped down a bit to a long skinny path leading to the outside of the cave. Some parts were very skinny and tight, making some of us pretty nervous. At one point we reached an area where the only way to get out was to get wet. But that wasn't an option for Sally, she taught us a technique called bridging, where we got our bodies pressed between two walls, moving using our legs and bottom. As long as our backs were straight up against the rock wall behind us, we had pretty good control of our stability. One part was more difficult and we had to instruct the person behind us as we were instructed from the person in front who had just accomplished it. We had to be patient with everyone because each of us had different abilities but we were all made it out of the cave. By now, our hands were pretty cut up from the sharp barnacles covering the rocks that were once under water, but as the tide became lower the barnacles were submerged out of the water. We saw a lot of different sea life, such as lichen covering the rock walls, sea anemones that were squishy and sucked your fingers, and limpets that stuck undisturbed to the walls.
Our last activity for the day was to climb back to the area where we had climb across on the rope and cliff jump. I was fine with the thought of cliff jumping until I saw the height of the jump! Annie was the first to be standing on the edge of the rock wall and it looked so far down, I knew Sally must be joking. But after Annie jumped, I knew she wasn't joking. Everyone went and finally it was my turn. I don't remember being that scared about heights since the first outdoor pursuits when we did high ropes. I trusted Sally that I would be safe and knew the only way to get over my fear was to just do it! So I jumped! Letting out the loudest scream I reached the bottom and hit the water. It was the most amazing feeling to be able to just jump and put my fear in the back of my head. I even jumped again, just to prove to myself that I could face my fear...again! Today was a successful day for me because I was able to have fun climbing around on the rock walls, practicing my good climbing strategies we have been working on since rock climbing, and my biggest accomplishment, jumping from all my fears into the Irish Sea during the cliff jump. Everyone was so supportive and encouraging, as they always are, and there wasn't anyone that didn't play an important part in the days activity. This is definitely an activity I plan to do again in the future=)
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