Tree Spirits

As he dangled in the air, a small breeze gently rocked his tree boat against the oak limb beneath him. It too dangled from his saddle as he stared at the rope system in front of him and the webbing used to attach one end of the tree boat to the sturdy oak trunk. I rested and watched as fellow student Hallow put the knowledge we learned into use. Here we were in Oregon City, Oregon to learn advance tree climbing skills with Tim Kovar, New Tribe.

The tree climbing was done on a beautiful farm with green grassy hills and groves of Oak, Cedar, and Douglas-fir trees. Hallow drove down from Canada and I from the Seattle area. The first day I arrived we set up our tree boats and hung out in them. Later on that night we climbed up into our tree boats again and looked up at the bright stars as the frogs below talked amongst themselves. The tree climbs spread out in front of me like thick veins. They pulsed with energy and life all awhile being still and content with the passing moons.

The next day we learned SRT, Single Rope Technique, which is a quicker method for ascending. After practicing different SRT methods we put them into action the following day. Like the picture to the right shows, Hallow ascended the tree he's in using SRT. Tim Kovar, the instructor hung out in the next tree over and watched over us as we made our way to his tree using the DRT, Double Rope Technique. I was in the third tree. The most challenging aspect of this is throwing a line over into the other tree, over a specific branch that will hold the next anchor, then getting that line BACK to you. All while dangling in the air and being extra careful not to drop anything you might need to use! I made it to the middle tree and Hallow made it across all three!

On our last day the three of us climbed 120 feet high into a Douglas-fir tree, using SRT. I took my time, stopping at each branch, getting my nose right up against them and staring at all the little plants that make their home this high in the sky. Once at the top I could look out at the view of trees below me. Below me! I wasn't in an airplane, nor a crane, I lugged by butt up this tree on my own! As I was busy putting a line on my rope, I stopped and noticed the tree swaying in the breeze. Its multitude of veins branched out towards the sky and shook their limbs with joy. The whole forest was alive, swaying side to side, joyfully they took in the happy rays of sunshine and particles of carbon dioxide, releasing sweet nitrogen in the air for me to breathe in. A flock of birds weaved their way through the maze. Nothing else can bring you closer to the tree spirit than this. Than this.