Tree Climbing

After working in the field I came back to find some of the other researchers at the station having fun. They were using climbing ropes up into the top of the station fig tree. It looked very exciting, so of course I asked to have a turn. The way you climb is as follows: You are in a climbing harness with two rope grabbers attached to it and one loop for your foot. When you are not putting weight on the foot loop you slide the left grabber up. Then simultaneously you put weight down on the loop, standing, and pushing the right hand slider up. It is a little tricky at first to get the coordination down, but I soon found a rhythm that worked for me. The first ten feet are the hardest. I looked like, and felt like, a fish floundering on dry land. Part of the floundering was due to the buttress roots and not wanting to swing into them. Once above them it was great. It took more effort than I had thought it would, but it also used completely different muscles than rock climbing. Once up at the top I was able to see the rooftops of all of the lab buildings. I was not able to see completely over the canopy, but I could look right into it. The best part was the cool breeze that is almost always blowing in the canopy. The breeze was very refreshing after the hot climb. After I went others of my team went to. Most everyone but me got blisters on their hands for pulling on the rope. I am very happy that I did not get blisters!