Pyrenees: Canyoning!

Sunday morning was pretty relaxed. Laurent let us sleep-in, and then we had a leisurely breakfast outside. Bread, fruit, and various cantines of tea and coffee that Pierre brought over from his house.

After rinsing quickly in the creek that ran through the vineyard, we took down the tents and packed our bags into the van.

We spent the rest of the morning laying around and chatting, and resting in the sun. Around noon we had a quick lunch, and then we were off to go "canyoning."

Maybe I'm just ignorant, but I had never heard of canyoning before. And, like most things since I've been in France, my lack of language skills leads to everything being a mystery or a surprise. This was no exception, and I had no idea what to expect when we arrived!

We drove up the mountain this time, and parked at what looked like a scenic lookout off of a mountain road. The views were amazing, and there were mountains on all sides with a very deep canyoning running between them. The canyon was quite deep, but very narrow, so even though we knew there was water at the bottom, we couldn't see anything.

Our guide, Jerome, soon arrived. He is what I would describe as a French hippie. Very skinny, with long hair and a rugged look to him, clad in a speedo with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. Classic. He sets us up with full-body westuits, including rubber socks and shoes, and of course, to top it off, a stylish pink helmet!

We started our hike around the mountain with just the rubber socks and shoes, and our wetsuits in hand so we wouldn't pass out from heat stroke. We hiked a few kilometers around a small road at the top of the mountain until we got to a place where we could hike into the canyon.

Sidenote: We were told to leave everything in the van except the swimsuits we were wearing and the wetsuits we needed to go canyoning. The exception to this was a small plastic jar that we carried for emergency items that could not get wet. Despite what you might think, that was not a cell phone or wallets or anything like that it, the "emergency items" were everyone's packet of cigarettes and a few lighters. And a granola bar in case anyone had a blood sugar issue. Love it. Seriously, a waterproof jug so that everyone would have their cigarettes! Welcome to France.

When we arrived in the canyon, we put on our wetsuits and helmets and started "canyoning." Here is my best explanation: Basically, it is like hiking in a river in a canyon. There are places where the water level is low and you are hiking through ankle/knee-deep water on rocks. Other places where it is very rocky, and you are pretty much scrambling over large rocks. There are also places where the water is deep, and you swim, or flow with the current, and better yet there are places where there are large drop-offs and you end up cliff jumping into the water below (if it is suitably deep). Very very cool!

The jumps were definitely the best part, but the views inside the canyon were also amazing. The mountain walls were really high and the canyon very narrow, so once you climbed in and got going down the river, you could not get out until you reached the end. It was a funny feeling to be inside the canyon, with these grand mountains towering over you, making you feel tiny and insignificant. At the same time, it is refreshing to be in awe of nature like that.

So, at times it was scary and took a lot of nerve to make some of the jumps. There were some where Jerome would tell us "if you are not absolutely confident you can jump farther than that rock, then don't do it, or you could get hurt." Luckily I am not afraid of heights, but I definitely had to give myself a pep talk to jump 30 feet into the river below! After doing it though, I felt invinceable, like I could do anything. It was also a nice feeling of comraderie with my teammates as we sang and cheered each other as each person prepared to make the jumps.

By the end of the 4 hour trek through the canyon, my legs were like jello, and my wal-mart watch (waterproof to 100meters) was completely busted from what I can only guess was the force of hitting the water during the jumps. The hike back out of the canyon was murder, and was more like climbing a mile of steep stairs than anything else. But it was a beautiful day and a fabulous weekend, and when we finally reached our mini-buses at the top, we were exhausted but happy.

We ate like we hadn't eaten in a year, stuffing bread and granola bars in our mouths at a rapid pace. My hair was all nappy and when I took off my wetsuit (ie. had 3 other people pull it off of me), there were bruises and marks all over my body!

When we'd finally dried off and put on some clothes, we got into the van to head home. I passed out right away, and when I woke up in Montpellier I was sad the weekend was over, but SO happy I'd gotten to go.

The point of the weekend was team-bonding, and I think it accomplished that. We all had a great time, there was no drama, and for the first time I feel like people on the team are getting to really know me as a friend. Taking on all of those challenging activities also gave everyone a good kick of confidence, and I think we all finished the weekend feeling like we could do anything.