Waldseilgarten Höllschlucht

I would never get tired of waking up, looking out my window, and seeing a garden and beyond that, beautiful mountains. It was a hazy morning to begin with when I opened my eyes at 5am. The sun was beginning to come up and brightness flooded into our room. With the hopes of getting at least another hour of sleep, I got up to close the curtains and go back to bed. When I finally got up around 8am, the haze lifted and I could see marshmallow white clouds filling the blue sky above a garden of colors. I could have layed in bed to enjoy the view for hours, but we had places to go, people to see.

I threw on comfortable clothes and went downstairs for breakfast. Who ever came up with the idea of having a bed and breakfast was brilliant. We sat in the sun room and enjoyed a light breakfast, once again enjoying the garden view.


By 10am we were out the door and continuing our journey. Our final big adventure of the trip was visiting Waldseilgarten Höllschlucht, a climbing forest. Waldseilgarten Höllschlucht offers an extensive ropes course, archery, hiking, trails, and an overall serene atmosphere. You can walk along the paths and sit in the rocking chairs while children are flying through the trees above your head.

After parking the car it was a five minute walk to the main cabin and ropes course. We arrived around 10:30am and were geared up and ready to start by 11am. It was tricky getting directions in English explaining how to put the harness on and what to do with the carabiners, but with a little practice we managed to get it.

From 11am until 2pm we tackled the ropes course. The course was designed to start out small with boards and swings that were only a foot off the ground. When you are suspended while walking on shaking objects like ropes, boards, and ladders, even a foot off the ground seems scary. As the course progresses, you get higher and higher off the ground until reaching the courses so high that you must zip line to the finish.

Soon enough we found ourselves walking on wires, jumping from rope to rope, scaling the side of a wall, and even jumping through the air to the next platform. The whole time placing our trust in a wire and some carabiners. With the slow increase of height and difficulty, I found myself at least 20 feet in the air. What once would have felt like 100 feet was a piece of cake and I continued on with no fear.

I was incredibly proud of my mom that day. This is the same person whose knees were buckling the day before because I was sitting on a wall with a short drop behind me. I figured she would give the ropes course an honest effort, but I was almost positive the fear of heights would limit her participation. I never expected her to be neck and neck with me to the very end. At the start of some courses she even opted to go first and proceeded with what appeared to be no fear. Being on the ropes course with my mom was an incredible bonding experience and I can't even begin to describe her bravery in tackling her fears. When we finally took a break it wasn't because of the fear of heights, but from pure muscle exhaustion.

I was using my phone as a camera which remained safely in my pocket for the majority of the day. My sweatshirt had a zippered pocket that ensured its' safety, but I would occasionally give it to my mom to take an awkward picture of me attempting to make my way through the obstacle courses. I got some incredible pictures of my mom proving that she was overcoming her fear of heights and the past few courses I was able to video my mom on the zip line. A particular favorite was when she only made it halfway across the river. She had been holding onto the wrong rope that created friction, stopping her in her tracks, rather than smoothly delivering her across the water. I did eventually pull her to the other side, but getting plenty of pictures as she was dangling helplessly.


I decided to trust my mom with the phone in order to get a video of me zip lining to the end. At the edge of the platform I was nervous before eventually taking the leap of faith and zip lining across the river, landing safely on the other side. With my heart pounding, I release my harness and carabiners from the wire while hearing my moms say, "you're going to hate me." I couldn't possibly imagine ever hating my mom, so I was curious why this comment was made. As she zip lines after me, I'm told that the video wasn't actually recording when she thought it was. My mom has the same phone as me with the same recording device, so I figured she would know how to use it, apparently I was mistaken. The two second video of my mom pressing record after I'm at the bottom was priceless, and I couldn't help but laugh. There was still one more ropes course to complete, and with a little direction and a lot of luck we managed to get a video. 

While taking a break we met with Robin, the person who would be teaching us how to camp while hanging from a tree. He still had some equipment to set up and food to buy, so we got a snack and continued with the ropes course. We had cheese, bread, and fruit to give us that second boost of energy.

We had been increasing difficulty through the courses, but it was surprisingly hard to jump in at one of the most challenging levels. The short break we had on the ground was enough of a reality check to remind me that we were still 20 feet above the ground and leaping through the air. If we delayed any longer before getting on the ropes, I'm not sure I would have had the energy or mental will to push myself forward. I didn't think too long or hard before attaching my harness to the wires and climbing the ladder. 

I'm afraid a ropes course in the United States wouldn't allow as much free play as Waldseilgarten Höllschlucht. Americans are too concerned about liability to allow children and adults to have independence and explore this type of outdoor activity on their own. I've been to several ropes courses in the United States and it feels like I'm being watched every second. I'm not able to put my own harness on, attach myself to the wires, and I'm certainly not left alone on the course. The point of signing a waiver before entering the course is to protect the company from accidents outside their control. It is a shame that these waivers in the states still don't completely protect a company from liability.

After my arms were aching from exhaustion and calluses were beginning to form on my hands, we learned how to climb a rope with nothing but a harness, rope ascenders, and a few more carabiners. Robin warned us not to wear out our arms on the ropes course in order to have the muscle capacity to ascend the rope. I had barley enough energy on reserve to complete the task. With the harness on and attached to the rope with a stopper, the hand grip would be pushed up then leg and arm muscles were used to pull myself up inch by inch. These slow, repetitive movements were used to ascend the rope. With a slight pull to the lever on the stopper, back down I went. We went up and down a number of times to get the hang of it before finding ourselves prepared for the night ahead. 

By the time we were done practicing climbing the rope, the park had closed and was slowly clearing out. While Robin made dinner, my mom and I played cribbage, a favorite card game of ours. I probably have the scores written down in my notebook, but for the sake of protecting all parties from embarrassment, the scores and winner will remain anonymous. We shared a terrific German beer, by "shared" I mean I drank the majority while my mom had two sips, and relaxed before dinner.


For dinner we had steak, grilled peppers, onions, tomatoes, and potato salad. Everything was fresh, flavorful, and provided us with the necessary nutrients to keep our bodies functioning after a long day of activities. The sun was quickly setting and we still had to drive to our sleeping area, so we packed up dinner and hit the road. We decided to take two cars because we could then leave straight for the airport in the morning. On the car ride over I felt all my muscles relaxing and preparing for slumber. We still had a labor intensive climb to our bed, so I couldn't get too comfortable just yet. After practicing climbing the rope, my anxiety about getting into the tree had diminished; however, I was still worried about falling out while sleeping. We aren't the first people to sleep in trees, so I'm sure they have considered these minor details.


Robin finally stopped on the side of the road next to a large field on a hillside. He told us we would be sleeping in a tree along the tree line across the field. The farmer that owns the land allows Waldseilgarten Höllschlucht to use the trees as long as we remain on the path and don't disturb the animals. It was a 15 minute walk up the hill and into the brush to the perfect tree that would give us a spectacular view of the field, mountains, and sunset. We helped Robin carry over the sleeping bags, backpacks, and various equipment. After helping set up to the best of our ability, Robin told us to go sit on the field and enjoy the sunset. We were either incredibly efficient in helping set up and did everything perfectly or Robin was better off with us out of the way, I'm going to stick with the former.



We sat on the grass considering what we would do with the rest of our night. The sun was just beginning to go down and the night was still young. We considered what might happen if we needed to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. There is a good possibility I would be able to descend safely in the night, but there is no way I would make it back up and would have to settle with finishing the night on the forest floor. I told my mom if she was going to pee off the side of the edge that she better not wake me up or tell me about it later because I just didn't want to know. More importantly, I would write it down and share it with the world, only adding another embarrassing story to share with friends and family.

We began climbing the rope to our platform of a bed. Robin was already in the tree setting everything up, and he soon beckoned for my mom to go up first. I observed the awkward movement of the platform and the ropes wondering how in the world either of us were going to make it on and actually remain up. Slowly, one pull and push at a time my mom managed to ascend the rope. After my mom took a few moments of repositioning to actually climb onto the platform, it was my turn. I found one last burst of energy and managed to speed up to rope. I don't know where the energy came from and I knew I would certainly crash very soon, but I did what I needed to in order to make it the last few inches and onto the platform. Robin instructed us that we would remain in our harnesses all night and provided tips of how we could make ourselves more comfortable. He told us where he would be sleeping across the way near the barn and with that we were on our own.


It took a few more awkward moments of repositioning, deciding on what direction to sleep, and getting our sleeping bags out and around us. I gave up changing into pajamas and decided to sleep in my smelly jeans and tshirt knowing I could freshen up early the next morning. I don't know why, but I expected to be awake and play cards or chat, but within 10 minutes of the sun setting I was fast asleep.



Just before falling asleep my body was exhausted, but my mind kept racing. My mom and I started talking about taking chances and not closing off to those around you. There is the obvious version of taking chances and challenging your fears like we did today on the obstacle course, but oftentimes people have deeper fears restricting them from fully participating in daily life. Our conversation was more geared towards these deep fears I have of opening up and letting someone else into my life. After being so hurt a few years back, it was hard to imagine letting anyone else in. I've spent a lot of this trip wondering about whether I'm being too cautious when dating and when this special person is going to come along. The past few days this has been on my mind and I could spend the next few days talking in circles with the same questions. There have been several opportunities for me to date some interesting people, but I still chose not to. It wasn't because I didn't like these people or that they weren't "the one," but instead I just didn't want to. I needed time to work on myself first before letting another person into my life. I need to be comfortable and confident with who I am, and only then will I be happy in a relationship, happy being single, or happy with my own life, whoever decides to come along for the journey.