I wanted to start this little series with one of the most epic/ terrifying hikes I have ever done. When planning to go to Zion I had heard about Angel's Landing, but had no desire to hike it. I heard so many stories of people just losing their footing and falling 1,000 feet to their death. My partner on the other hand being the adrenaline junkie he sometimes can be thought it would be cool. So let me back up, and explain the trail in detail.
Angel's landing is a five mile round trip trail that is the most popular trail in Zion National Park. Why? because the last half mile of the trail is nothing, but rock, chain, and 1,000 foot drop on either side. The end gives you a 180 degree view of the park. This trail is actually a documented historical trail. Even after this I had no desire of hiking the trail.
I've gotten over my fear of heights a long time ago when I did my first repelling expedition. However, I gained a new fear. The fear of falling to my death. I hate going on ropes courses because of this. Especially if I'm not strapped into a full body harness. I almost cried on the one that one of the camps I worked at had. After all this oddly enough I'm okay with ziplines and roller coasters (don't know why). So after all this I was not at all planning on hiking Angel's Landing, and found a different trail that supposedly had a better view anyway. That soon changed when we got to Zion.
When we first got to Zion we found out that the trail I wanted to take was affected by a rock slide three weeks before. That's when John was like well let's do Angel's Landing then. I was nervous. I had a pit in my stomach. I've seen how rude people can be on trails. What would happen if I lost my footing? I'm not known to be the most graceful that's for sure. I didn't know what would await me.
The next day we set out for Angel's Landing. The biggest problem with Zion I had (but I could understand) was that you couldn't drive to the trailhead you have to take a shuttle. With me wanting more California Condor pictures after our hike I was forced to take a four pound lens with me on the trail. Yes, I'm not exaggerating. My one lens is four pounds. That also made me nervous about keeping my balance.
Before you get to the half mile you have to deal with switchbacks. There is a famous set of switchbacks called Walter's Wiggles. Let me tell you what those switchbacks is almost like a test to see if you are even worthy to get to that last half mile. If you don't feel like you are dying then wait til you see the last half mile.
When we got to the last half mile it wasn't what I expected. It started out in a big sandy spot before becoming rock. No big deal. When the rock started, however, that's when the panic kicked in. The rock at the start is sort of slanted. Nothing to hang onto just walk with the flow. Walking with the flow for me was having a panic attack. John kept telling me I didn't have to go. That I could wait. One problem though. I didn't want to be a chicken. What if I would regret not going to the very end? Maybe I'll see the condors from there. I didn't want the regrets so I kept going.
One thing they don't tell you before hiking the trail is that you use your whole body to hike it. I'm a short person, which meant there were times that I had to hoist myself up on the rocks. I was white knuckling the chain anytime there was one. I made sure I held onto the right rocks when there was no chain. I slipped a little and John made sure to hold onto me. Sometimes we had to wait our turn to get up on the rocks.
The trail was crowded, but there was an unspoken system on the trail. If you are going back to the trail head people going the other direction would wait until the coast was clear to go. They understood the circumstances. They knew that if they tried to go the opposite direction of traffic that would be too many people for such a tiny space. Such a tiny space with height that kills.
Once we got to the end of the trail I realized I didn't make a mistake hiking this trail. The view was beautiful. I understood why people flocked here. As I ate my snack of beef jerky and kind bar I sat on the side the condors should be at. I didn't see them flying, but I could see them perched. They were just little black dots from there. We found some chipmunk friends whos only motive was to steal our snacks, but we didn't let them. We just sat there exhausted, dazed, and content. Soon we switched sides to marvel at that side as well.
The way back down wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I felt like a pro by that point. I felt like I could do anything. I was climbing down rocks with no worries. I was holding onto the chains, but not as tight. I felt like a wild woman. By the end of that half mile I was a wild woman that was tired. I was still on that hiker's high while walking down the switch backs. With the sun starting to set it made that high more intense. Made me feel super alive.
After walking all that way we got back onto the shuttle to go to the next shuttle stop to take condor pictures. Boy am I glad to have taken that lens all that way because I was able to get amazing California Condor pictures that day. From this stop we could also see that last half mile of Angel's Landing. We were content in that moment to know that we had just hiked that. We had to capture how majestic the trail is. That we managed to not fall off the landing of angels.
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