Over the weekend I went cherry picking for the first time.

When my parents found out that the season started on Saturday they simply could not wait to get out and start picking, so they made the journey here Sunday afternoon and we set out for the cherry orchard.

After collecting our buckets at the top of the mountain then driving halfway down to the section where the cherries were ripe and putting the Jeep in four-wheel drive in order to park in the grass which was wet from all of the rain, we were finally ready to start picking.

Buckets in hand, we set off across the grass toward the nearest tree and the ladder precariously perched on one of the upper branches. Being the adventurous one, I decided to climb the ladder while my mom held the bottom and my dad picked the cherries on the lower branches he could reach from the ground.

Once I hit about the fifth rung, the wind picked up and the branch, ladder included, began to sway a little. The higher I climbed, the more it swayed, not to mention the bouncing with each step that was in no part due to the wind. At that point, I was a little nervous. I am not a heavy person and I know in the back of my mind that the ladder could hold me. Honestly, it was not the ladder I was worried about, it was the branch.

I quickly gathered up a few cherries, though many of them had split because of all of the recent rain, and decided to scamper back down as quickly as possible. That was the end of my ladder climbing adventure. I am not afraid of heights and I do not mind climbing ladders, but those souls who were 10 feet up a tree on a swaying ladder clearly have more guts than I do.

Having given up on any hopes of reaching those cherries on the highest branches, I resorted to Plan B. I wore tennis shows, luckily, and discovered that climbing the tree itself felt much safer than climbing a ladder. I spent the rest of the afternoon playing Jane of the Orchard and climbing from branch to branch in search of the perfect cherries.

After about an hour spent at the orchard, we came away with around 20 pounds of cherries. Yes, that’s right, I said 20 pounds. We will be eating cherries for the next three years.

Although I am covered in mosquito bites despite dousing myself in bug spray, I have to admit it was a fun outing. It is nice to have such a wide variety of activities within driving distance because you never know what kind of adventure you will have. With cruise ins, orchards, wine festivals and concerts occurring on a regular basis in the surrounding area throughout the summer, no one here can claim to be bored.

Morgan Wall is a staff reporter for The Mount Airy News. She can be reached at mwall@mtairynews.com or 719-1929.