Day 7 of our trip took us a little over an hour out of Portland to a town called Gaston, in Scoggins Valley Park...
Behold, our destination...
I'd read about this place from an Oregon-based travel magazine and thought it would be fun to go here...I'm not really the risk-taking adventurous type, but this time, I was willing to give it a shot.
Here is the view of the Lodge as we drove up.
We were all excited about coming here. I don't remember the pricing since it was a while ago, but there was a special since it was Spring Break, so we did save some bucks. For the Adult course (with four color coded levels of difficulty), it was 3 hours and for the Tweeners, only 2 hours.There is also a super easy course (not that high off the ground) for very young kids. Since TC wasn't as tall as their criteria for the adult course (you have be tall enough to reach 6' 6"), she had to do the Green/Tweener course, which I also did. The courses have various elements and obstacles along with ziplining, which is what attracted us in the first place.
Everyone had to watch a video in the lobby of the lodge first, then we all trekked over to the training course. Here's one of the platforms.
The trainers were very thorough and helpful with helping us with our safety gear. We had to wear a a hard hat, a harness, and have these lobster-clawed hooks with cables attached to us.
The training course had many of the elements we would encounter on the first course. After everyone's run-through of this section, we were ready to begin!
I thought TC did quite well. She really enjoyed being high above the ground and wasn't scared at all. Me, on the other hand, I powered through this and tried not to focus on looking down at the ground. The first course isn't as high as the fourth course, but still...the thought still terrified me, even though we were all safely tethered to the wire above our heads.
This platform had a zip line that took you to the end of the course.
Here's TC again making her way across these zig zagged beams.
Along with Bert making his way across...
Did I mention that it was super cold with biting wind? Oh, and it was also raining during parts of our visit?! This was one of my worst nightmares! My hands were frozen and I seriously couldn't not feel my fingers after ten minutes! In fact, I gashed one of my fingers but didn't realize it (or feel it) until later. Fun times. Gloves were not really encouraged since the thickness encumbers you when you try to clip and unclip the claws.
More of Bert crossing a broken log bridge (well, that's what I called it).
Bert descending on one of the ziplines...now those were really fun and exhilarating!
Bert and TC (this was her 2nd round) really enjoyed themselves. This was a difficult element since you had to grip these rock-climbing holders on a wooden board, then walk on a wire over to another board.
TC finishing off the course. She did the Tweener course three times in a row. Bert went up to the next level. I just did the easiest level one time!
We ate our packed homemade sandwiches and fruit in the car. A black lab made quick friends with TC and followed her around during our lunch break.
Bert on the more advanced course...
Bert enjoyed the more challenging course. He ended up helping another person who was afraid on one of the platforms.
Even if you let go, you will not fall to the ground to your death. Assuming you clipped your cable onto the wire above correctly, you should be pretty safe.
This doesn't look too bad....from down below!!!!!!
These two dogs followed us out to the car while TC and I had our lunch. The park had a very pet-friendly atmosphere. Everyone's dogs were so well behaved. There was one dog, however, that kept trying to follow his master and kept whining and crying because he couldn't follow him through the course. Awwww.
Despite my slight fear of heights and my extreme hatred of being cold and wet, a good time was had by all. My athletic ability wasn't as bad as I thought. I think I would have enjoyed myself more if it hadn't rained and if my fingers weren't nearly frozen off. TC loved this place and wished she was taller so she could have tried the more challenging course. Bert was able to complete the second course and did another run through of the first with TC before our time was up. In all, a very fun experience!
Tree to Tree Adventure Park
295 SW Nelson Road
Gaston, OR 97119
(503) 357-0109
www.treetotreeadventurepark.com
Here's a short video someone made of their trip. They went during nicer weather.
Yeah, those ziplines!
Our Garmin was wacked that day. For the trip out here, it gave us the non-freeway route through these podunk towns. On the way back, we took the freeway, which would have cut some time off our trip. Anyhow, we made it back to the city where we planned to make a few more stops before calling it a day...
Coming up...purple rice?
2 comments:
That looks like fun! I'd probably freak out a little, but it still looks like fun!
It was pretty fun, I have to admit! That's saying a lot especially since I don't like physical activity!
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