Within Mount Rushmore National Park, a mile or two south of the monument itself, lays a labyrinth of trails known as South Seas. South Seas is the place I had my first rock climbing experience. I went over the Labor Day weekend in 2015, with my fiancé Simon, our friends Brianne and Brandt Stewart, and our trusty dog Indiana. I did not know how to belay, tie the ropes, or even basic techniques, but within an hour I learned everything. Brianne was the best coach of the three; she let me belay her which made Brandt a bit anxious, but I picked it up quickly.
Before the day’s end I stood atop a mountain and saw before me a pine covered ridge line of granite mountains. Granite is a peculiar type of rock. Wearing my new climbing shoes for the first time, I was able to put my entire weight on a lip of granite half the size of my big toe, and my big toe was the only part of my foot touching the rock. The more adept climbers called it ‘sticky’, I continued to think of it as the ‘hard rock with shiny bits’. The heaviest of climbers can put their entire weight on the same lip of granite, and the stone would still hold; had it been limestone any one of us would have fallen. The Black Hills of South Dakota are teeming with these massive boulders and mountains; within those mountains, four American presidents are immortalized.
The expression in the final picture is one of joy and immense relief. I had just climbed halfway up a 110 ft boulder when I got stuck, my rope got snagged 40 feet above me and I could not get down. I planted my hands and feet and shoved up, forcing myself downward, but I remained in place. Brianne, Brandt and Simon were all yelling different instructions at me 50 feet below, but I could hardly make out a word. Brianne eventually got the guys to quiet down so she could attempt to instruct me one-on-one, but her directions were horrifying. I refused to kick off from the rock face, terrified the rope would tear, so instead I made up my own solution. I swayed left, and continued left until the rope finally slackened; there was no certainty this would actually work, but I thought moving around the rock face was a solid idea. I continued down to the base swinging back and forth until I felt I no longer needed the rope. Then I hugged that rock, my rock with the shiny bits, because even though I did not make it to the top, I was victorious.
