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Clinging to Rock Face: Coming Up Against the Page
I knew what would happen when I agreed to hike Flattop with my sister and our aunt — since it’s happened before.
The hike up Flattop in Anchorage, Alaska began easily enough, the trail weaving upwards from the parking lot up and over the green hillside. It’s not a particularly long site in terms of distance, but it makes up for that with an elevation gain of about 1,300 ft. As you continue forward, the trail grows increasingly steep and intense with the last 1% being a near vertical climb up rocks, like scaling a mountain to the top.
I am situationally afraid of heights. On roller coasters, hot air balloons, planes — anything in which I can trust to the structure surrounding me and the skill of the operator — I can relax into the moment and I’m fine. However, if I’m in a situation where my own physical prowess is required to keep me from falling off a cliff or stumbling down a mountain — well, let’s just say that I’m a klutz on flat ground and so there is much less trust involved.
We reached the point of verticality, the point where I know I’ve freaked out in the past. Following my sister, I started scaling up the side and I told myself that this time I was going to be fine, this time it wouldn’t be so bad —
