Kriste's Adventures: Zippity Do Dah!

Tuesday October 4th was one of those red letter adventure days in my life. For a few years I had wanted to try ziplining, but, I really hadn't been in a location where it was offered without going 5 hours out of my way. This vacation was different! Zip Line USA had a course in Reeds Spring, Missouri only about 1/2 hour, give or take, from my cousin Eric's house in Springfield. Game on! It didn't take a whole lot of convincing my cousin Eric that he needed to accompany me on this first! Poor guy, I should have brought along some ear plugs for him though as you could hear my screams (all in excitement though) on the other side of the valley!

After signing the liability waivers, 2 guides and 11 "zippers" loaded up into a small bus and were taken on a lovely drive up to the top of the hills. Joining us were an older couple from Texas (he was a truck driver that had been through "Poor-U-Ron" several times, I didn't correct his pronunciation as it may have just been his accent), a family of 5 from Iowa (the kids were in their 20's), and two 30-something ladies on a moving adventure/roadtrip from Chicago to L.A. Here I am getting attached to the line for my first "solo" zip. The first few lines we were paired up, that allowed me to not have to pay attention and video the zip! You'll have to see the following posts for those.

Here I am coming in for a landing after a long zip across the canopy of the Ozarks. The course had 4 miles of zipline between the 14 lines it took us to zip down to reach the bottom of the hill. Although it is pretty lengthy, this was not the longest line. The first line was 3,250 feet long and was the first line zipped. The highest we were above the forest floor was 350 feet. I made sure my camera was extra secure!Some lines were slower than others, the fastest one get speeds up to 50 mph in optimal conditions. I am pretty sure I did not go nearly that fast. Here I am coming in for a landing....

And then leaving once again to reach the other side.....

Here's cousin Eric, attached to the line and ready to run down the opening and fly through the air!

And if your squint, or double click to enlarge the photo, you just might be able to spot Eric on the line about half way across the valley. He didn't really scream....I think I did enough of that for the both of us.

Eric getting ready to zip down one of the 14 lines....

And Eric approaching his landing platform.....maybe this is how Tarzan felt....sort of.

Eric had made it safely across and about to get unclipped from the line by the guide. My height put me at a bit of a disadvantage as my clip could not reach the line. So upon getting clipped on, I had to do this little bunny hop about a foot off the ground, and then another hop to get unclipped. A strategically placed stump would have been a better idea.

Not all landings were on the other side of the valley. A few took us to tree platforms! That was interesting! And we were all strapped to the tree upon arrival. They were very safety conscious here.

Here's Eric on one of the shorter zips near the end of the course. These lines were slower and not as long. The most extreme, and thereby the most fun, were the first 6 at the very beginning, longer and faster!

These lines didn't require as much control either, pretty much just grabbing the clamp with one hand to prohibit twisting and spinning was all that was required. The first half dozen lines required that you keep one hand on the clip to keep your forward and the other behind you to act as a brake and to make minor corrections.

Wheeeeeeeeeee!!!

Happily walking the path after an exhilarating zip through the trees!

There were also two bridges to be crossed. Thankfully you had to be clipped to a line while crossing this as well. I didn't have any issues with the first one, but the second was narrower and only had 1 rope line to hold on to. Well, I was all about the photo op's so I neglected to grasp the rope like I was instructed. Somehow, my foot missed the board and I started to fall off the bridge (only about 10 feet or so above the ground). Thankfully I had the instinct to let go of the camera (strapped around my neck) and grab my safety line and pull myself back onto the bridge! Wow you should have seen the horrified looks of the folks on the other side that I was walking towards! I would have loved to get a video of that whole "almost accident"! I mean really, I was 10 feet off the ground, its not like it was this bridge!