Catching Up With CAT: Red River Gorge
Did you know that if you smell a musky, cucumber like odor that a Copperhead snake is nearby? This is one of the many things that we learned on our CAT Climbing Community trip to Red River Gorge, Kentucky. We learned this while on a hike from a local with a drone, a branded bourbon shirt, and a gun on his hip. Overall, we learned a LOT on this trip:
We had seasoned climbers who learned advance outdoor climbing skills, folks who had never climbed outside, newbies (9 years old) learning to belay for the first time, and even one participant who didn’t even know this was a climbing trip (English is not their first language and they thought rock climbing meant hiking).
We learned what it is like to be in a gang in Chicago, about why people join, why it’s so hard to leave, and why there’s hope in the work so many folks and nonprofits are doing
We learned about camel farming in Somalia and politics in India
We learned and tried a snack called a “kiss” from China
We learned the importance of getting to know people who are very different from you. When we met the guy with the drone and the gun, I had taken a few of the youth (who all just happened to be black) on a hike. Historically, young black youth have reasons to fear white folks in the southern, rural parts of the US. So naturally, I was nervous at first. But he offered to take our picture with his drone (it was an awesome picture) and we ended up talking with him and his family for quite a while. That sort of connection that teaches you to be more open to people who are different from you, that teaches you to trust the humanity in others, that teaches that we have things in common and that kindness is the language that can heal our country – we would not have had that sort of interaction if we had not left Chicago. These youth might have gone through their lives with stereotypes in their head that taught them fear and hatred – instead, they now have a fun story and new insight.
But most of all we learned about the power outdoor sports have to connect people and help them grow. We started out this trip as strangers, but as one participant said “Where else can such a diverse group of people become friends in two days?” Through laughter, working together to face challenges, and building trust that comes with literally holding someone else’s life in your hands, we became a family. We overcame fears and learned to say yes to trying hard things – lessons we now can apply to our real lives.
Huge thanks to Myung, Will, and the Muir Valley JEDI Council for making this trip possible!
-Laura