Innsbruck - Day 2

So today I got up in the morning and went paragliding! The weather was pretty ominous, but they said as long as it is not pouring then we would be ok. I road to the site with Amber, Mallory, and Rachel with the driver that picked us up. The drive there was so pretty. I literally felt like I was in The Sound of Music and if I looked out of my window I would see Maria running through the hills. The city/town is just so nice and relaxing and has a different feel to it than everyother place we have been so far. So when we got there we had to suit up in these things that looked like astronaut suits. Then we all, with our guides who would be flying us, went up a gondola ski lift thing to the top of the mountain. I pictured us having to run off of a mountain to get in the air, but it was alot easier than that. It is pretty much just a steep hill that you run down and then the wind picks you up. It was really easy to get up and I had my guide, Fred, with me the whole time. The feeling I got once I was up in the air was amazing! We were seriously in fog/clouds at the beginning and were so high. We got to take some really cool pictures and I really was not scared at all. I asked him to spin us so we did circles in the air which were intense. He said we were going about 30 feet down per second. I got a little sick from it, but it was totally worth it. The landing also wasnt bad at all. He just steered us and we landed gracefully. We were up in the air for about 15 minutes which all depended on the wind gusts.

After paragliding, a man drove us back to the hotel and I got ready for canyoning. I didnt have much time so I just ate fast, put my swimsuit on under my clothes, and headed downstairs. There was a big bus waiting for us and it transferred us (about 50 people went) to a location to get ready for canyoning. We all had to put on wetsuits, helmets, harnesses, and water shoes before we could go. When we were all ready, we loaded the bus again and transferred us to the site for canyoning. So when we first got off of the bus they separated us into two groups to make it go faster. They told us to start we would be repelling off of the bridge we were standing on which I thought was a joke... it wasnt. So I had no idea what to expect canyoning and if I did I probably would not have gone. It was an amazing experience, but I dont know if I would ever do it again. The only way to describe it I think is extreme hiking in water. So like I said, first off we repelled off of the bridge on a rope into the river. That really wasnt too scary for me, but it only got worse after that. We walked through the rivers, had to climb with our harnesses on the side of cliffs, repel off cliffs, slide down the river, and jump off of cliffs. The jumping parts were really fun for me just getting sucked under the water by the gusts was not. It was pretty scary one time when we slid down the river because they didnt tell us that there was a cliff that we were going to fall off of into the water. When I saw it for that split second before I was terrified. Then once you get into the water the gusts are so strong that it pushed you down far and you have to swim for dear life to get out. That part I was not a fan of, but everything was not too bad. Oh and by the way it was freezing cold! The worst part about it was that since there were so many people there was alot of waiting time in between advances down the river. That made everyone more cold and by the end of it I couldnt feel my body like at all. I now know how people on the Titanic must have felt because it was miserable. In total it was a 2 hour hike, but it felt alot longer.

I know it sounds like I had a terrible time, but I am glad I did it. It was very liberating and I will always be able to say that I did it. Also, I felt like our group really bonded through the experience. Everyone watched out for the person in front and behind them and came together to ensure our safety.

We didnt get back to the hotel until 8:15 pm, since we had to drive back to change clothes and then back to the hotel from there. Everyone wanted to take showers, but Caitlin, Amanda, Courtney, Taylor, Jay, and I went straight to wat because we were starving. We ate and the same place that everyone ate at the night before, but this time I got rump steak, potatoes, and green beans :) It was my favorite meal so far (I also was super hungry, but still). We beat the crown which was good, so we just went back to the hotel and took showers. Now I am exhausted and writing this all down so I wont forget!