Close to Death in Joshua Tree

I get the attitude about people who condemn others for "taking chances", but I too have gone right up to some much more minor types of ledges and had that little twinge in the pit of the gut that says "uh...you might be doing something stupid here".

Once, after staying overnight by myself, I casually started "bouldering" at Enchanted Rock State Park (I was climbing and jumping from one room-sized granite boulder to another and climbing low rock faces, though never more than 10' climbs or 4'-5' "jumps").

I inadvertently kicked a few rocks over the edge of a boulder on which I was standing. I was in one of those areas where large boulders shear off from above and slide down to rest on each other in a gully. Listening to the rocks travel downward into the crevices between the big boulders, I was amazed at how long they rattled on their way down.

It was then when I had the little tickle in the pit of my stomach that signaled that I was maybe doing something stupid. I looked up to see how many folk were around. Nobody. There was a group of climbers at a loaf-shaped boulder about 1/2 to 3/4 miles away in the distance (I could hear their shouts to each other), but it was a Monday (some time ago before the current daily crowds at this park emerged), and the park was essentially empty. If I fell, I'd maybe go the way of the stones I'd kicked, down those leg-sized openings and I'd be wedged into a crevice down there with no one within easy shouting distance. It might be a few days before someone came to get me at the most. I decided it might be wise to "ease on down" at a slower pace and stop pretending I was an athlete "with skills".

Now that I'm older, the process of extrapolating from "what I used to be able to do" to "what I'm able to do now" is something I need to do almost every day. Two days ago, while the wife and I were out walking, I attempted to gain a grassy area over a 3' curb by leaping over the curb onto the grass above. Lucky for me, I only fell back from my leading leg onto the trailing one. It could have been worse. So, something I used to do easily is no longer in reach. These (re-)assessments seemingly never cease.

You hit the nail on the head. People are much more opinionated and critical when they hide behind anonymous screen names than if they were face to face. I've seen it in the climbing world. People that tear at each other on line finally meet in person and find they have more in common than their on line personas evoke.