Monday, June 27, 2005

mccloud part II

Teenagers. We always have to go bigger.

The aforementioned waterfall we jumped off into the pitch black abyss last week has another cliff above it. Granted, we were too chicken to jump off in the dark as it is considerably higher than the ~40 foot ledge we were on last week, but we took it as a challenge to come back to. Saturday night, we went back.

We found a road that came at the waterfall from up above, so we came down right on top of the cliff. After looking over the edge, we all thought it would be best if we continued to the bottom to drop off our stuff at the bottom of the falls before we jumped, either that, or we just didn't want to jump at first.

At the bottom, I took a few pictures of the gorgeous falls while Cameron jumped off the lower ledge to warm up. [the jump | the way down | the splash!]

When he was adequately dried off, we both decided to climb up to the top of the falls again in hopes of making the biggest jump, while Jack just wanted to have a smoke and chill for a bit. At the top, the view looking down was frightening to say the least:



We sat up there for a good 20 minutes talking it over, who wanted to go first, how dangerous was it, really? I decided I could not live with myself if I didn't make the jump, so I volunteered and stepped up on the rock. After taking several deep breaths, I didn't think, and just jumped...

When we were throwing rocks from the top of the ledge, we counted about two and a half seconds of air time, which is theoretically the same as would be for a human. Two and a half seconds. Doesn't seem very long, but when you're free falling... there's nothing like it! I did some calculatios, and I estimated that I hit the water at ~50 miles per hour from the height of around 70+ feet. Phew. I could feel my feet hit, and the impact shoot up my body almost instantly. The adrenaline was the only thing keeping me going...

When I surfaced and swam back to the rocks on shore, it was a good feeling of accomplishment, like nothing else. I looked up at Cameron, for him to jump, but he just sat there alone until Jack hiked up to take a look. They both sat there for a long time, just talking, looking over the edge, and sitting down again. At the end, they decided it was getting too dark, plus it was raining, so we decided to call it a day and make it their summer challenge.

To give you an idea of what the waterfall looks like, here is a picture. I enlarged the part where Jack and Cameron were sitting, to give a sense of height. I jumped from right where Jack (red shirt) is standing:



So, if anyone knows of any waterfalls/bridges/rivers with a jump bigger than that, let me know, I'd love to try it!

Friday, June 24, 2005

mccloud at night

So Cameron called me for an ultimate game last night at 6:30, pretty typical for a thursday night. When we got there, only 4 people showed up, not nearly enough for a game, so we decided to find something else to do. Well, we have this new hobby of sorts, waterfall jumping I guess you could call it. In norther CA, there are countless rivers and streams and such, many of which have waterfalls, and most waterfalls are right at cliffs. I went with Cameron to sneaky falls by Lake Shasta last week where we jumped off into the base of the falls, which was rpetty fun. He tells me it is 37 ft. from the top to the water.

Well, last night, Cameron told me about a guy he worked with who had been jumping off this waterfall in McCloud since he was 8, and a vague idea of how to get there. So Cameron, Jack and I left to go at around 7:35 or so, pleny of time for the 1 hour drive up I-5, or so we thought. An hour turned into an hour and a half, and we got pretty confused in the backwoods, and by the time we finally found the trailhead to get to the falls, the sun was down. McCloud, or wherever we were, has an elevation of over 3000 feet, a lot higher than Redding's own 500, and it was much colder. When we made the 20-minute hike back to the falls, we had only the feeble light of my keychain light and Jack's cell phone. As we approached, we were awestruck. The waterfall is about 50 feet tall, and 100 feet wide; all we could see in the dark was the raging white water. We could make out a cliff off to the side, so we started climbing. When we finally came to the end of the ledge we were on, there was only one way down as far as we were concerned: into the pitch blackness known as the water. From 40+ feet up, all we could distinguish was where the white water from the falls ended, and where the inky black, freezing cold water began. After deliberating for several minutes about our plan of action and how we were probably going to kill ourselves, Jack suprised us when he screamed out "F_k It!" and jumped. From above, it looked like he was just suspended for a while, getting smaller until he disappeared altogether. When he surfaced, he didn't make a sound, he just started swimming like his life depended on it, which it probably did. We had our exit point all planned out, it was about 120 or so feet from the base of the falls. When he got out, he started yelling something back at Cameron and myself, but we could only make out one word over the roar of the falls: cold.

After another few minutes of deliberating, I made the free-fall. I was suprisingly scared up until the point my feet left the ground; during the fall, I was completely calm. When I hit the water what seemed like an hour later, I lost a contact lens on impact, but like Jack, I had one thing on my mind: swimming away from current to the safety of the rocks on shore. When I stood up with me feet on solid ground again, I turned around just in time to see Cameron hold his breath and make the glorious jump. After going back up the cliff to retrieve Jacks cell phone and my keys from the top - barefoot and in the darkness of night mind you - we hiked back to the car.

Finally, on the way back at around 11:30 or so, the nearly full moon was just rising in the distance. Although the solstice was 2 days before, I think that was the first day of summer for all of us. And funny, amidst the dark night, freezing cold water, and the adrenaline, not one of us complained about being cold.

Friday, June 03, 2005

just like the old days

I went back in to Shasta.com the other day, and the president of the company interrupted a meeting he was in and asked me "when do you start?"

So now I am working from 8-5, monday-friday, at Shasta.com. I guess it's cool, but, I was just kinda hoping I'd have a summer this summer :) Well, hey, I need to pay off that darned car, right? And the speakers...

I know it won't be there for long, but try googling for "failure", and look at the first result.