Zion National Park and the Hike of a Lifetime

So, last weekend my SIL Megan and I went on a little Girl's trip down to St. George. We had lots of fun shopping, eating and laughing, a lot! It was so much fun to get away for a couple of days with no worries or hassles. Unfortunately my two other SILs, Sara and Mindy, weren't able to come along. I guess we'll just have to drag them along next time.

On Saturday we woke up early and drove to Zion's. The park is so beautiful. I love all the red rock against the green trees and bright blue sky. First up on the agenda was hiking Angel's Landing. Our destination was the peak of this mountain.

The night before I left my sister and I were talking and I was telling her what I would be doing that weekend. When I mentioned Angel's Landing she said, "You know, some lady died there a couple of weeks ago. She got too close to the edge on the Angel's Landing hike and fell like 800 feet." Thanks for telling me this right before I was leaving! Actually is was probably good because it made me extra cautious. It's funny, when I was younger I was pretty fearless. But after I started having kids I thought, "I can't go jumping out of planes! I have kids to take care of who need their Mom. Plus Mike would kill me if I went and died on him and left him with kids to take care of by himself. " :)

The hike first starts off with a nice and easy stroll along the river, then it hits the side of the mountain and a whole mess of switchbacks. Here's a picture of them when we got to the top.

Next you hiked through a little canyon, which was a nice rest, before you got to the next set of switchbacks. Yikes! We came out on a little lookout area and the view was so beautiful. Then we saw the sign that said, "Angel's Landing- .5 miles". Now I had heard about the last half mile of this hike. Basically you are either rock climbing, pulling yourself up the hill while holding on to chains or walking across a narrow trail with like 1200 foot drop offs on either side of you. We started up the chains, you can see them in this picture.

A little ways up Megan decided she couldn't do it anymore. The idea of dropping off the side of the cliff pretty much freaked the heck out of her. I asked her if she wouldn't mind if I kept going and she let me go. I didn't want to have come that far and then not have made it up to the top.
Well, that half mile ended up taking like 45 minutes. It was pretty scary at times, but I just kept telling myself to look at my feet and to just take it one step at a time. The saddle was probably the scariest part. The trail was only about 3-4 across and it was cliffs on either side. There was a chain to hold onto, but it was still kind of freaky.

When I finally got to the top the view was breathtaking. You could see almost the whole canyon of Zion's. I think the peak of Angel's Landing is about 1400 feet up. Here are some pictures of the view.

And here is a picture of me up at the top.

Coming down wasn't as bad, after you'd already gotten up, it didn't seem quite as scary. Though I didn't appreciate when people coming down behind you got too close. I wanted to turn around to this one guy and yell, "would you give me some space please. If you go, I don't want you taking me with you!" This is a picture of me coming back down. I'm a little bit behind a tree, right under the group of people with the white shirts.
Megan told me I was crazy when I got back down. She couldn't even handle watching people looking over the edge. I felt so proud of myself for doing it. I kind of felt like my old self again.
Here I am pointing to the peak. "I went there!"

After Angel's Landing we drove the shuttle up to the River Walk that takes you to the River that runs through the Narrows. The hike through the Narrows is pretty much a hike through the River the entire time. The cold water felt so good on our tired legs and feet. It's pretty funny watching everyone navigate the river and the round slick river rocks that line the bottom of the river. It was pretty slow going but also a lot of fun. Here are some pictures of the Narrows and Megan and I taking a snack break.

Here we are wading through the river. It was waist deep in a couple of places. I remember the first time we got in deep the water felt so cold! Megan was trying to take my picture and I told her to hurry and take it because I wasn't going to stop moving!

What an awesome weekend we had! I would love to go back there sometime and do some other hikes and maybe Angel's Landing again. Maybe we'll just have to make this an annual thing. :)