Gerald, if I'd have been there I'd have ridden up with you
. I had Jay Shimeck riding with me. He is an excellent spotter... probably about 100x better then Iw as for Hix, LOL.
Anyways, yeah it can be scary, yes if you mess something up you could die. Yes, make sure your life insurance dues are paid
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There have ben many times in my life where I've been able to say "dang if this had happened or if this hadn't happened, I'd be dead now" and I don't think you can go through life saying "well if this happens..." or "if this doesn't happen..." because you'll end up not enjoying anythign and not taking any risks. Now you have a son, that's a little different, he needs a dad and if you get killed for bragging rights, yes thats a proble,, I think its for more then bragging rights though, its so you can live your life adventurously. I too have skydived before and found that to be an incredible rush, I wanted to go again but then I went over the weight limit so I couldn't go again until I lost some weight, but by then I realized how much it would cost to keep up as a hobby and to go solo (no weight limit) would end up costing several thousand just to get licensed, then a fair amount more everytime I jumped, plus all the equipment. Said I'll find other ways of seeking thrills.
So in summary, don't do Lions Back or any other trail for that matter for bragging rights. Don't do it to impress your friends, or to prove that you can... do it because you want to. And if you don't want to, then don't do it (do I sound like an afterschool special yet?)