Cave of the Winds

Our second canyon park stop was further north on the way to the amusement park. 

Cave of the Winds is a small park located well into the mountains and again makes use of the terrain to make attractions slightly unique.

Lots of parks have aerial assault courses.

Not many have them hanging over the side of a ridiculously high drop and when I saw the crossing out to these platforms I decided I wasn't going to give this a go. 

The main reason for coming here was to experience the Terra Dactyl canyon swing ride. This is a 2-person seat that is suspended over the canyon before being release. 

Here's a video showing how it runs.

Alas, as with the previous park, we exceeded the weight limit for the attraction and the rules don't allow single riders because of the rotation it undergo. So this was as far as we got. Today wasn't being kind to us...actually more like we weren't being kind to ourselves.

So we did get to watch a few other people doing it, which was heralded each time by announcement over the PA that it was about to go.

OMG! It's a bear!

The views from up here were incredible, and even without the rides there're still reasons to come up here. Nature rules!

Also hanging over the edge is their installation of the Stan Checkett's Screaming Eagle ride, which is like a zip line but takes you out and back rather than just running one way. These are quite common in the US now.

Tal and I both gave this one a go, and it was quite exhilarating yet safe. It runs quite close to the canyon wall under the aerial assault course. 

So that was the second park, a little disappointing that we didn't get the Terra-Dactyl, but we knew in the run up to coming out that it was going to be unlikely. The Screaming Eagle did soften the blow a little.

next