A few weeks ago while on a family reunion trip on the northern Oregon coast, I experienced zip lining for the first time. By the end of our tour, I was wondering why it had taken me so long to try the sport.

We’d discovered High Life Adventures online and were able to make our reservation on the website . . . very simple. High Life started operating in May of 2012 on a beautiful, forested, 30-acre property just off of the coastal Highway 101 in the town of Warrenton, about 5 miles south of Astoria, located at the mouth of the Columbia River on the Pacific Ocean. David and Lancey Larson purchased the property in the 1980s, building the family home and raising their three daughters while operating an excavation business. They always enjoyed zip lining and eventually decided to create the eight-line course and open it to the public.

My older brother Jim and younger sister Julie and I arrived about 20 minutes before our tour was to begin, filling out our registration and release forms and getting outfitted in our harnesses and helmets. (Each helmet had a name painted on it by which our guides would call us. I was “Sweet Pea”; brother Jim was “Beef Cake” — which Julie and I found quite amusing.) Personable and confident, guides Jason and Jenna made sure everything fitted properly and provided us with important safety information and tips for enjoying our tour.

Our group of 10 headed to the first cable, the shortest and lowest of the eight.  Ranging from 15 to 75 feet off the ground (and sometimes, water), the lines total a mile of running cable, with several bringing riders across ponds and a 7-acre lake. Each group totals no more than 12 participants, with two guides, and the tour takes about two and a half hours. There are some age and weight restrictions, and some hiking up some fairly steep trails between one line and the next is required.

After the first couple of lines and once we’d all become comfortable with the equipment and basic technique (the guides do all of the braking, so we didn’t have to worry about that aspect), Jenna and Jason encouraged us to mix things up a bit. We tried a dead man’s backward flop, some dance moves as we zipped along and even tossed stones into the ponds as we flew overhead (harder than it sounds). The most fun came on the Maple line, when we could choose to get totally dunked or merely dip a hand or a foot in the water as we glided over the lake and Jason bounced the cable. Jim went for the “Super Soak” and really got drenched, while Julie and I each opted for gracefully trailing a hand and staying considerably drier and warmer for the rest of the tour.

We concluded the tour on a double line stretching from a high tower across the lake to a landing zone. The double line allowed us to “race” another participant on the longest line of the eight. It made for a great conclusion to a fun afternoon amongst the trees, and I decided this would not be my last zip line adventure.

— Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor