A cliff

I was in a gift shop at a state park.  I walked out the back door and there was a flat open space about 50 feet long and the width of the store, then nothing.  I walked out to the edge and there was open air straight down about 100 feet.  No fence, no warning signs, just air.  The store and space behind were apparently built on a cliff overhang.  The edge wasn’t a straight line, but stuck out farther in some places than others.  It was all very solid and there was no curve or taper down, just flat ground, then air.

At one point there was a column of rock, almost like a stalagmite, that stretched up from the valley beyond the base of the cliff and ended just below the store level and just beyond the edge.  I looked at it and realized that it had a columnar structure, like basalt, with flat hexagonal tops tapering all the way down, so it would be easily climbable.   The first step would just mean stepping out 3’ and down 3’ to a flat spot about the size of a chair seat and then I’d be able to climb my way down with solid footing at reasonable distances, but that first step would be tricky. 

I’m not sure why, but I really wanted to avoid going back through the store.  Of course I had to weigh that against the notion that if I slipped or lost my balance on that first step I would die.  But I was pretty confident that it would be no trouble.  I thought of the many times I’ve been rock hopping at various state parks – I can’t remember ever missing a step when it mattered.  So I told myself, just look at the landing spot - the step.  Don’t look at the air all around.  Then I pondered whether I should jump w/ both feet or step down w/ one.  I ruled out lying down on my belly and touching my legs to the landing spot, because then I’d have to push myself upright away from the edge and that seemed chancier than jumping or stepping.  However I got there I’d then have to get down to hands and knees to be able to start the climb down, all on a space about 2’ in diameter w/ nothing to hold onto about 100’ in the air.

I decided the best thing to do was the two legged hop, so I hopped, landed, and didn’t even try to straighten back up, but let the momentum carry me down to a crouch, put my hands down on the platform and hung my legs down to the first step below.  From there I always had places to hold onto and places to put my feet before I moved my hands, so I was comfortable heading down.

At one point I had the thought to take a picture.  I noticed that the cover over the battery slot in the bottom of my camera was slid off to one side and the flat, rechargeable battery seemed to be missing.  I slid the cover back and instead of sealing up the bottom of the camera it exposed the flat battery.  This was puzzling, so I slid it back the other way and now there was a cylindrical hole exposed that would have fit a C battery, but it was empty.  I thought it was strange that the cover was made so that it would cover whichever battery I was using, but wouldn’t cover both.