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When I tell people that I climb trees, it triggers their own memories and stories about climbing a tree as children. Without fail, a smile comes across their face as they enjoy the memories in their mind while sharing a story with me.
 
My brothers and I climbed trees quite a bit growing up. I remember climbing a large rubber tree at my elementary school in San Juan, PR. It wasn't long after moving to Miami, FL that we headed up the oak in the front yard. We spent many hours in that tree!

Like most people, our climbing trees required branches for us to use and hand and foot holds. Therefore, I never imagined climbing tall trees unless they had low enough branches. That basically changed my first day on the job as an arborist as I watched our climbers use rope to climb tall trees.

I have climbed trees professionally for over 20 years now. I have climbed to prune, remove, and perform other surgical tasks. I worked alongside 6-8 other climbers when I first learned, and was apparently the only one who would head out on the weekends to climb for fun.

There have been numerous advancements in tree climbing equipment and techniques recently. Prior to that, climbing was quite laborious and fatiguing, which is why climbing outside of work for my fellow employees usually meant they were doing side jobs for extra cash. 
 
Don't misunderstand me, climbing trees as an arborist is fun and rewarding! But it wasn't until a few years ago that I discovered there were others out there who also enjoy climbing simply for recreation and connection.

Recreational climbing uses the same climbing systems as arborists, yet it doesn't need a predetermined reason for ascending into the tree other than for the fun of it.
 
During a conversation with a fellow climber a couple years ago, I learned that there were professional outfitters that provided this climbing experience to the general public. From that moment, I was hooked. 

I had taken friends and family into trees so they could experience the sense of accomplishment reaching the top, and the joy of taking in the view. But it never occurred to me that it was okay to climb solely for the enjoyment and that others longed for the experience in a similar way that some are drawn to indoor rock climbing gyms. 
 
This is how a 20-year veteran of climbing trees came to “discover” a deeper joy and appreciation of tree climbing. This is where Treetop Explorer took root.
 
The Climbing Tree is taken from an essay I wrote years ago. It describes the impact that tree time had on me as a child. Something I guess I have never outgrown.
 
 
The Climbing Tree
 
I do not recall the species of my first climbing tree. Ash, elm, oak, I couldn’t say. The memories, however, are still vivid in my mind.
 
At first, I had to ask my older brothers to give me a boost. As they hoisted me high, I stretched my scratched, bruised summer-time kid arms up to the lowest limb and pulled myself up with an “umph” to sit on the worn branch. In time, I grew and was able to jump up and touch the limb. Not much longer after that, I was able to jump up and grab the limb all on my own! That was the climactic day that I could finally get myself into the tree relying solely on my own strength and skill.
 
By that time, I had already been climbing higher into the canopy and further out on branches. My older brothers had shown me where to hold with my hands and where to place my feet so I could discover different spots in the tree. They encouraged me to challenge myself until I could confidently reach out to the two swinging limbs- limbs you could hold onto with both hands and let yourself hang and swing and yell out wild calls into the canopy. 
 
We had many adventures in that tree. We schemed harmless heists and mused over the standard philosophical schoolboy chatter.  The tree served as our fort where we would plot our neighborhood mischief for the day.  Even though it was our fort, we never used a single nail or board. The number of branches and the perfect sitting areas throughout the crown of the tree served as the ideal fort for us.
 
Oftentimes I'd head up alone on a hot summer day to lay back on one of the limbs that held me as if they had grown for just that particular purpose. Other times I would climb to the "crow's nest", a point where five branches emerged at the same point and curved upward to create a seat that cradled my upper body.
 
It was here that I could read a book, while swinging one leg lazily between limbs or doze off in the calmness and serenity of the canopy, as thousands of emerald leaves twisted and turned around me in a soft summer breeze. I had discovered tree time.

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