by Deborah Leedale-Brown, Lifestyle & High Performance Coach
7 Day Blog Series of the Inaugural Women’s Wellness Camp.
DAY 4 – Rock Climbing, Trust Games, and Bear Lake Walk
Already day 4 and the camp seemed to be flying by! We woke up to another perfect sunny Colorado day. Everyone was a little apprehensive ahead of the mornings climbing and outdoor activity session I had arranged for them. I reassured everyone at breakfast that they were not expected to embark on anything they were not completely comfortable with, it was their session and they were in control. All that I asked was that each women did their very best to challenge themselves and push their comfort zone a little.
It was a quiet drive up to Mary’s Lake above Estes Park where we were met by Rick from Climbing Life Guides who soon put everyone at ease and explained a little about the morning’s activities. We started off playing some trust games that involved us falling, being caught and getting lifted off the ground. These activities were a great way to get the women working together and help develop an even greater bond between them. We finished up the trust games with some work in pairs (one blindfolded / one seeing), the idea was for the seeing person to guide the blindfolded person around the area using visual commands to help them navigate the rocky terrain – sounds easy but it certainly proved fun and interesting.
Next it was time to hit the challenge of climbing, belaying and rappelling. After some initial instruction we soon had a number of the women off the ground delicately balancing on the rocks, while others were learning the art of belaying and being responsible for the safety of their climbing partner. I was extremely impressed with all of the women, and the highlight of the morning had to be the sheer determination of one women and her quest to conquer her fear of heights. She was truly amazing and climbed the rock face with such speed (I think driven by fear!) – a great effort and one she felt extremely proud of.
With the morning session complete and a group of tired and happy women, we headed back for lunch at the lodge and a little downtime. Later in the afternoon we drove into the Rocky Mountain National Park for the first time on the trip to take a very easy hike around Bear Lake. Bear Lake is a scenic trailhead, and sitting at an elevation of 9,450 feet (2,880 m) the lake rests beneath the sheer flanks of Hallet Peak and the Continental Divide. Several trails from easy strolls to strenuous hikes start from the lake, but our plan on this easier day was simply to walk around the lake on the relatively flat 1 mile loop with plenty of time to take in the spectacular scenery.
It was a perfect end to the day’s activities, and with the short scenic hike complete we headed back down for some happy hour food and drinks (cheese, crackers and wine), followed by a great dinner of Quinoa Pasta with veggies and chicken sausage, a green salad and crusty wholegrain bread. After dinner we worked through a presentation evening entitled ‘Skinny on Fats’. Another day down and everyone headed to bed pleasantly tired and ready for day 5.
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