Month: July 2008

DAILY CLIMB
Part 2 – The Reclimb

DAY 91
07.04.07
TREE 1

I headed back behind the Calving Barn Studios with Rachel to reclimb the first tree of the project. The woods and grass had grown so high it was up to my chin in places. I walked sideways flattening the growth with the side of my foot making a path. At the base of the tree I was surprised by the amount of leaves and how they made the branches hang lower. Plus, I had trouble finding my orange mark. The climb up was pretty easy but hot. I especially remember how cold it was the first time and how my hands hurt. When I got to my mark and ripped it down I looked around and noticed a couple more areas where I could go higher. So I did, easily moving around the branches. I am starting to realize little movements that I’ve learned over these last 90 days that have made me a better and more efficient tree climber. It was a pretty fun climb but I hated the weeds.

7-4-08:  WELCOME!  This is the newly designed and updated Daily Climb blog.  Don’t worry, you are at the right place, I just thought I’d make some changes to coincide with the next part of the project.  I believe this is a vast improvement on the old style and it also has a few nice features on the right to help you navigate easily to old entries.  You’ll also notice some changes to the pictures above.  The large picture is from the climb exactly one year ago.  The smaller image is the same tree on the first climb 3 months before that.  I would appreciate feed back on whether you would prefer both images to be the same size, or to keep it the way I have above.  Also, the ribbon is what I took down when I reached my previous high point.  I have collected and scanned the ribbons as well as leaves from the climbs. 

As you’ll notice, after I reach the ribbons in the trees, I always look for a way to improve upon my previous climb.  One of the main reasons I chose to start reclimbing trees was to have a real test of my improvement over time.  It was truly amazing how 90 days of climbing vastly increased my strength and ability to go higher.  Probably one of the biggest changes that occurred, and continues to change, is my eroding fear.  The more time I spend high above the ground in smaller and smaller limbs the more comfortable I become.  Fear is the biggest obstacle to overcome.  That is true for tree climbing, parkour, and many things in life. 

Yesterday I stopped over at Will’s place and asked him and Basil if they wanted to join me for my climb.  They agreed and piled into my truck and we headed to Seneca Park.  Just as we arrived it began to lightly sprinkle.  I was approaching a pine tree near the playground and Basil did not want to deal with sap so I looked beyond the field to a massive tree.  The trunk had a diameter of approximately 3 1/2 to 4 feet.  The first limb was bigger around then me and too high to reach.  But it hung down further out and made for a relatively easy entry.  Once to my feet I walked in towards the trunk and began to climb up the large limbs.  At one major crook between two branches there was a collection of brown leaves.  There were light brown worms about an inch long all over them with ants furiously attacking them.  It was definitely something I wanted to avoid.  I walked backwards up a limb to grab a few feet above the leaves, then shimmied up.  I continued higher into the smaller branches while Basil made his way into the tree and Will watched from below.  I made it very close to the top and I guess I was about 60 feet from the ground.  I took pictures and a video then began to come down.  At this high in a tree I know that any mistake could cause serious injury or death so I do whatever I can to hold on.  As a result I get a lot of scrapes and scratches on my arms, legs, and abdominal area.  I also tend to knock dead limbs off as I slide down.  One little dead twig in particular broke off and I yelled “headache” to Basil and Will below.  Then I heard Basil say “awww fuck!”  It had fallen more than 30 feet and hit him square on his head.  I apologized and told him I would wait till he was on the ground to finish my descent.  Once clear, I made it down, past the worms and ants, down to the bottom branch and monkeyed back down to the ground.  Feeling bad about hitting Basil’s head I treated him to a burrito.  Pictures and Video:

This shot is looking directly up from my high point in the tree.  You can see from the few small limbs how close I was to the top.

If you look very close at the center of the picture above, you can see Basil’s head and hand next to the darkest limb. 

I hope everyone has a great Independence Day!  Climb a tree!