Rock Climbing at Hangar 18 and Gearing Up for Hiking Season

The family and I headed out for a fun adventure yesterday to go rock climbing at Hangar 18, an incredibly cool climbing gym in Upland near our home. Brynn had climbed there a few weeks back for a school project she was involved in and just loved it (she's in training to become a 008 agent, you see; so scaling high walls is a must). ;) 

The complex boasts 10,000 square feet of textured climbing terrain and is quite a sight to behold when you first enter. Steve, Shea, Aidan and I had no experience with the equipment, climbing lingo, or safety precautions; but luckily, we had a great instructor named Javier who patiently showed us the ropes (no pun intended... well, maybe a little intended), and gave us a lesson in how to tie the ropes, how to protect and spot your partner as they ascend and descend, how to check and double-check gear, etc.

It wasn't long before Steve and Brynn were bounding up the more advanced walls; while Aidan and Shea were little climbing monkeys, scaling up the bouldering courses and also trying out many of the rope routes with Miss Secret Agent and her dad. I was pretty content to give it one climb up and realize that I didn't particularly enjoy being perched at the top of a hangar, suspended from a rope. Yeah, it didn’t take me long to recognize that I rather appreciated the ground floor and that spotting the kids and Steve for the rest of the day was pretty a-ok. The entire experience was extremely enjoyable, from start to finish. It was so fun to be together, encourage one another, chat, laugh, and appreciate the time as a family.

Once we left Hangar 18, we found a tasty little vegan Thai restaurant and enjoyed a delicious lunch before heading over to REI to get the gang some new hiking shoes for an upcoming trail we plan to hit in a few weeks. Last Spring, Steve and I became so captivated by hiking and couldn't get enough of all our area has to offer. The kiddos weren't especially enthusiastic about joining us last year, besides a few hikes and a camping trip we took together...but it seems that this year tendencies have changed and they are all gung ho about lacing up the hiking shoes and grabbing some gear to head on up the altitude climb with us. We can't wait!