Gaffing Craziness.

About 30', not bad for a first day.

So today I decided to try something I've never had the chance to do before but always wanted to; today I climbed a tree without branches. Given it did have branches, but not until about the 30 foot mark.

Now I'm not a lumberjack, or a linesman, or signal operator or anything of the sorts; this is just something I decided would be a great idea at the time. A few years ago I happened upon a set of pole gaffs at a flea market for $15; they looked quite old and a bit rusty, but still appeared to be functional so why not. Now if you're not familiar with pole gaffs  they basically look like the leg braces that Forrest Gump had on his legs as a child.  Attached to these braces are gaffs: small, sharpened metal spikes. These spikes stick into the bark of the tree and stick into the outermost layer of the wood and allow you to easily (subjective) climb up.

Armed with the blurred images in my mind of lumberjacks speed climbing trees I decided to try my hand at it. First test was with a full harness and a canvas strap wrapped around the tree, basically trying to shimmy it up the tree ungracefully while haphazardly jamming the gaffs into the tree at awkward angles; this was not a pretty sight. After around 10 feet I was exhausted and couldn't go any further so I cautiously made my way down like an old lady walks down a snowy sidewalk.

After watching a few more videos I figured I'd throw caution to the wind and do as the linesmen do, hand over hand until they get to where they want to stop, only then attaching the strap around the pole. This was exhilarating, hand over hand only looking up at my final destination, moving like clockwork with only one goal in mind: to reach the first branch. After less than a minute of focused rhythmic climbing I arrived, 30 feet off the ground. Realizing this, I was suddenly hugging the tree like a koala desperately wrapping my safety strap around the tree. Safely locked in I was relaxed enough to sit back, stretch my arms out and enjoy the view and a new sense of accomplishment. I know this is nothing to the linemen and lumberjacks who do this on a daily basis, but to me this was an adventure, another challenge complete. And if you happen to be a linesman or a lumberjack I salute you, crazy job well done.