Tree Climbin' Thread

“Who does it? What kind of tree? Where's the tree? What do you see? Why do you do it?

Sorry Le Subtil, I had to create a spin-off thread.

I love climbing trees in the summer. Oaks and Maples are nice, but also pretty common around here. There was a tree I used to climb as a kid. I would go all the way to the top and look at the St. Paul skyline (5-10 miles away), and the St. Paul Cathedral. I'd just sit up there in the leaves and breaze. I would also swing between these two branches. I went back to that tree a couple years ago and climbed it again. I considered swinging between those brances, but decided I wasn't as rubbery as I was before.

This past summer I would often sit in a tree close to where I lived and read for a couple hours. This Maple had a very comfortable fork I could just sit and relax in.

What are your stories?”

“Swingin' trees is great sport.

Climb up a skinny pole-size tree until it bends and ride that sucker down.
The lighter you are, the higher you must go.”

“yeah, i used to bend those little trees and pray they wouldn't snap.”

“I like to climb banyon trees when I go to Hawaii. They are easy to climb because of how they grow, and easy to sit in. They are beautiful to look at too.”

“Tree surfing is fun on a windy march day, high up in a sturdy tree. Limb walking is great, especially in old, grand hardwoods. Tree to tree traverses are a thrill. Setting up highlines way up in the canopy makes for a fun ride. Rappelling out of trees is as fun as rappelling off cliffs. Slinging up a hammock in the canopy just to take an afternoon snooze is a great way to relax. Of course rigging up a hammock tent high in a tree and camping overnight is a blast.

A couple summers ago, at a public park at a local lake, I had climbed up a large oak to get a good view of the lake. A family came by and set up for lunch on a picnic table beneath the tree I was in. They didn?t see me way up there. (When in public, I always haul my rope up with me, so no one on the ground can F with it. ) Anyway, I had already set up a rappel, and I rappelled upside down, right down next to them. The expressions on the kids? faces were priceless. The parents, though, didn't seem to think it very funny. Go figure.”

“As a kid, I once climbed a tree on one of my nearby woods treks. My reason was to see if I could get a look at Jackson Lake a mile or so away. I couldn't see the lake, and turned to start my descent. When I looked down, I saw a button buck whitetail standing at the base of the tree - looking straight up at me. Just before I reached the ground, the fawn bolted and bucked. He had ran only mebbe 100 feet, and stood there staring at me. I commenced to walk toward him. I got to within 20 feet when he bolted again - hopping and bucking all the while. He stopped again. I figured he wanted to play tag - as young whitetails are proned to do. We played his game for a solid hour until he finally bolted for good. It was quite an afternoon.”

“Had a great Sugar Maple in the front yard of my childhood home. 3/4's of the way there was a nice seat in the nook of three branches. I used to smoke my stash of Captain Black up there in my youth.

Myself and a few other buddies also rigged up a cable out in the woods from our treehouse to lookout post. We had upwards of 25' of that sm. steel cable that was lashed to the trees and would use your standard dog 5' or 6' lead/leashes to slide from one side to the other. The leads had that built in foot stirrup. Glory Days!!!!

My papaw had a Popular tree farm down in Tenn., till he sold the farm and moved closer to town. The next owners came in harvested it all and then sold again.”

“WOW-E-ZOWEE!!!
Great experiences guys!
Do you set up a retrievable rappel.....yeah, duh, I guess so!

About 35 years ago when I had an afternoon paper route(Washington Star) I would climb way the f... up in some old hardwoods as high as I could go.
On days when the distributor was late I would watch for him.
I would go as high as I could where the skinny branches would swing my skinny ass in the wind....maybe sixty feet or more up.”

“I would catch butts up in those trees too.”

“Hells bells, Tom, you been tree surfin'!

Yeah, I usually do a double line rappel. Rope over the branch with both ends on the ground. In public, I tie one end to my harness, rope goes over the branch back down to my mini-rack, and down into the rope bucket (dangling off my harness). Upside down, my hands control the friction right where the rope spools out of the bucket. Fun stuff.”

“Magnolias are great for climbing. So are oaks. Pines are pretty sappy but a lot of fun to whip back and forth on. There's a great John Muir story about his climbing a huge pine all the way to the top when a big storm came up. He just hung on at the tip and yelled at the sky.”

“Holy Sh!t Mutt. I 'bout pissed my pants.

I"m gonna have to try the hammock thing one of these days. I dont' know that I'm quite confident in my rope tieing skills to do that tho.”

“Good times and I thought I was the only tree nut in the bunch. I about lived in the trees in my youth and LOL there Rabbit, I too did the Captain Black, bull durm, Prince Albert and rolled up paper sack smokin` too! I love big hardwood trees myself, they are a lot more forgiving than pine or gum trees and don`t tend to break out as often leaving you high and dry, peeling bark all the way to the ground. We rode a few hundred trees down in the past and did a turn at the cables and ropes too! It is a small world after all, or is it just a boy thing? I`d give anything to haul up in a big old tree right now and take me a good look at life. I can get lost just looking at the big limbs and wonder who might have passed by this way and enjoyed it all as much as me and look out on my little world and see all there is to see. Yes, put me down two times for this one, I think I love it twice as much as the next guy ever will!LOL”

“Once when I was at my sister's house my nephew (he musta been 7 or 8 at the time) asked me to watch him climb this tree in the front yard. So I did, even took pictures, then showed them to his mom who turned purple and just about swallowed her tongue - he'd climbed to the tippy top of a 40-50ft spruce tree. He and his brother are always doing crazy things - I figured he did it all the time and she knew about it!

Mutt, what you describe sounds like a lot of fun! Different!

And gojo, tag with a deer - I'm jealous!”

“oh, what fun!
Every once in a while I just do it! I highly recommend it to those that don't(or have not in a long time). It is such a fun change in perspective, way up high in the breeze, dangling precariously from one of dem trees...
:o)
Gotta get out and frolick a little, ya know!”

“Nothing like a 50'-70' cottonwood. You can really get swaying in a stiff midwestern gale. I still love to climb trees. There is no reason, Oldie, other than the sheer delight of it.”

“Tree climbing RULES!”