"You Have To Face Your Fears"

L. and I return to the cave where we have stashed our stuff to find that two guys have taken it over. We are incredulous--how can they have encroached on our space? They are nonchalant. I am annoyed—I can tell immediately that these two are a type of guy I loathe. "You have to face your fears," says the more talkative of the two. He comes out of the cave, tosses a loop of rope over his shoulder, and starts rock-climbing up the face. I realize that we are on a ledge on a sheer cliff face--there may be other ways down, but the only way up is to climb. It's not far but it looks terrifying. But the other guy is doing it, so I suck it up and start climbing. The surface isn't rock, but thick tree bark. The climber above me is taking a slow route up, going side to side a lot, but I find a more direct route. I make one last push upwards, grab the top, and the other climber pulls me up. I turn around and the other guy has just climbed behind me. "L. will never make this climb," I think, but then there she is, also throwing a hand over the cliff edge and then being pulled up. We're in a national park, and we walk from the top of the cliff to the parking lot. Each party sort of dimly acknowledges each other as we go to our cars.