Escapes: Go Climb a Tree in Central Oregon

Journalist overcomes her fear of heights at 200 feet

By Rebecca Agiewich

Photo at right: Climber Alison Brooks-Starks in tree. Photo by Rebecca Agiewich

Maybe it would be better if I didn’t look down.”

I gave myself this advice after getting up about 50 feet in “Sophia,” the 250-foot Douglas Fir I was ascending on a balmy May day in central Oregon.

I kept looking down at the airy drop to the forest floor. Then I’d whip my head up to see how far I still had to climb. Sweat beaded on my helmeted forehead. Vertigo gripped me. Perhaps this wasn’t the best idea for someone with a fear of heights, I thought.

“It can also help to look at what’s right in front of you” said Grits Kuhn, one of our guides with the Pacific Tree Climbing Institute, as he dangled next to me, reassuringly close. He gently touched the rough chestnut bark of the 600-year old tree. “There’s so much to see even right here.”

I caressed the furrowed bark in front of me. It felt reassuring and solid. A carpenter ant scurried upward past my hand. A Pacific wren warbled from a nearby tree. I took a deep breath and kept climbing.

Relaxed but safety-conscious atmosphere

My new best friend, Sophia, was rooted in the HJ Andrews Experimental Forest in Blue River, Ore. located near the McKenzie River, east of Springfield. We were about three miles down a rutted dirt road in a grove of firs, cedars, hemlock, and yews.

There was refreshingly little preamble to our adventure. As soon as our group of climbers had our helmets and padded harnesses on, our guides set us up on individual ropes anchored in the tree, and taught us the simple tree-climbing technique we’d be using.

The “Texas-style” technique doesn’t even require you to touch the tree. Instead, you scoot yourself up your rope like a giant inchworm using “ascenders.” One of these ascenders is a chunky piece of hardware you push upward with your hand, while your feet go into a pair of “bottom ascenders”—or stir-ups—that let you push upward with your legs.

This method takes a moderate amount of arm and leg strength. But climbers ascend at their own pace, and any time you want, you can sit back in your comfortable harness and rest. I did a lot of resting as I made my way up Sophia. During each break, I’d take a deep breath and summon the courage to climb higher.

Grits, my guide, was by my side the whole time, encouraging, chatting, and generally helping me to calm down. The company always maintains at least a 3:1 client-to guide ratio so that each climber gets the help they need. We had four clients and three guides during our climb.

This relaxed but safety conscious vibe created by Grits and the other guides ultimately helped me to conquer my fear, and make a thrilling ascent into the forest canopy. It took me about 45 minutes to reach the top. The three others in my group scampered up like squirrels in 20 minutes or so. Grits told me his record for making the climb was about four minutes.

Hanging out in a “Treeboat”

Once you reach about 200 feet, the true relaxation begins. That’s when you crawl into your own comfortable tree hammock, called a “Treeboat,” eat lunch, and revel in the sensations of being in the forested canopy.

I’d been looking forward to getting into my green canvas Treeboat but when I first made the transition I felt a little shaky. I gripped the sides tightly for a couple minutes and was reluctant to take off my helmet.

But soon enough I was lying down, feeling the breeze ruffle my hair. The steady whisper of the wind and the faraway murmur of the Blue River drifted over me. A woodpecker tapped a quick drumbeat nearby. When I opened my eyes, I could see the occasional ant hurrying past and pale green lungwort spreading across nearby branches. It smelled like Christmas.

My stress from just a few minutes ago seemed days away. And the world below, with its cares, worries, and dented old Subaru, seemed like another planet.

Have a “Zen adventure” day or night

Treeboats are so comfortable that adventurous guests spend the night in them during Pacific Tree Climbing Institute’s overnight climbs. Guide Jake Kurzweil calls these overnight climbs a “Zen adventure.”

“Sleeping up here is an amazing experience,” says Kurzweil. Not only can you hear the river, you can feel the wind blowing through the trees, and you can hear the birds at dusk and dawn. There’s really a special energy that you feel up here when you’re sleeping.”

I felt pretty Zen just from my 45 minutes relaxing in the Treeboat.

This Zen feeling even carried over to my descent, which was quick, smooth and almost fearless. (I didn’t look down). Before you leave the treetops, the guides swap your ascender out for a “descender,” which enables you to slide yourself down the rope as slowly or as quickly as you want to go, and to put on a brake if you want to rest.

As soon as I neared the bottom, some of my fellow climbers passed me on their second ascent, giving me the impulse to climb right back up again. But we had a long drive back to Seattle. Instead I opted for a refreshing dip in the Blue River reservoir, which we passed on the way out.

It was a perfect ending to the day. The sun shone, the water sparkled, and the surrounding hills of the Willamette National Forest beckoned with a thick carpet of trees. I even made a new friend in “Sophia.”

If you go

Pacific Tree Climbing Institute: www.pacifictreeclimbing.com/
(866) OLD-TREE (653-8733)   or   (541) 461-9410

Sleeping

Holiday Farm Resort in Rainbow, Ore. (about 50 miles east of Eugene) offers spacious houses with decks that practically touch the rushing McKenzie River. The resort is just a few miles east of the HJ Andrews Experimental Forest, where tree-climbing takes place.  www.holidayfarmresort.com/
(541) 822-3725

Eating

Takoda’s—Just a few blocks from Holiday Farm Resort, it’s one of the only restaurants in town, but luckily, it’s delicious.
91806 Mill Creek Rd
Blue River, OR 97413

Seattle writer Rebecca Agiewich likes to overcome her fears in the name of journalism.

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