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| Angel's Landing |
| Tuesday, June 01, 2010 |
"I am not coming down, I am going to go further up"
DH was perched on the rocky slope clutching the chain like his life depended on it, it really did, thats a different matter, but it still didn't deter him. I was perched a few feet below him, scared, ready to head back to safety. A few seconds I tried calling DH back down, telling him its too dangerous and we should head back, but DH was obstinate, he just wouldn't come down.
We were vacationing in Zion National Park. After looking and reading up on Angel's Landing hike quite a bit, we knew what the challenge was. I wasn't sure if I would be able to do it, I was prepared to turn back if I got scared. To give a brief introduction on Angel's Landing hike, its not the most strenuous of hikes, it was only 5miles round trip, 2.5mi one way, with an elevation gain of 1450ft. What made this hike one of the most thrilling, exciting hikes is the exposure at the last .5 mi upward.
We were standing at Scouts Lookout, we had hiked 2mi and had just started the scary .5mi.
I turned back. I was standing, waiting for DH to come down too, when I saw a group of 10 people step before me on to the scaled rock.
As the people pass me, I make up my mind. To go up too. Thus began the journey.
As I followed the last person in the group, following his foot steps, soon I am at the top to see DH just three people ahead of me. I call out to him and he is surprised to see me. Apparently he was sitting on the rock right there debating whether to head back or not. Seeing me only spurred him on to go further up. Soon we were together, while the big group passed us by pretty quickly.
We must have climbed .1mi or so when we reached a kind of landing. I asked someone and she was a foreigner and she wasn't sure if this was the end of the trail. DH and I walked around taking in the sights all around. More people were coming up and some were going further up in one direction. I look up and see the cliff go further up at an unbelievable angle and height. Something told me this wasn't the end.
I asked DH if we should head back or go further up and see. DH was all gung-ho to go up. We clamored up more rocks along the cliff edge, when we saw a girl walk up the rim with both her hands in her pocket! Imagine walking on a trail, anywhere between 1 and 3 ft wide at a time, with more than 1000ft of drop on BOTH sides... with your hands in your pockets! It did give us some motivation. There were chains in most places, but not all. We climbed up further, hanging on to chains for dear life, keeping faith on our new hiking boots, which served their purpose to the fullest.
We were a bit slow and lost track of the people ahead of us. At one point, it was just DH and I, on a large slab of a rock, a bit lost, ironically, on a trail that could go only two ways, up or down. I still remember the slab very clearly, will probably never forget it. There are very few things/sights about the hike that I remember, I will never forget them in a lifetime.
We sat there once again, contemplating on whether we should head back or not. A couple of guys came by and we moved a bit to leave them way. They were foreigners didnt speak English. In a whim, I decided to follow them. They were very fast. It was good for me. I didnt have time to take in the gravity of the situation. I was hell bent on just making sure I didnt lose these guys. For, if I lost them, I wouldnt know how to manuver this treacherous trail, for I am not a rock climber. I kept looking back shouting out for DH, as he came a bit behind me.
Apparently there is this rock called Step of Faith, believe it or not, neither of us remember this rock. This rock about which naturalbornhiker talks a lot about. I had read about this rock, but I couldnt find which one it was.
>
DH and I were huffing and puffing, taking deep breaths, but it didnt stop me from continuing to move further up, for I didnt want to trail behind and lose the beacon guys. We met a couple of groups coming down and we asked them how much further to go. We saw people walking on the trail, looking like little dots, on really unimaginable places. Are we really going to get there? I didnt think much about it, I just kept on moving, up and up, every step was a step of Faith, huffing and panting, one foot in front of the other.
There was some major rock climbing to be done and once again, the hiking shoes were awesome. At one point I had to pull up myself on a large step clinging to the chain, with of course a steep cliff behind me. I remember that piece of the trail very well. I kept shouting out to DH whenever I found a difficult piece of the trail. As we neared the top, we saw a guy coming down and once again asked him are we there yet and if the trail up is easy. He said, " I dont know, it all seems the same, up or down" Quite encouraging I say!
Through out the hike I realized I did not have the fear of heights or acrophobia. I could easily see 1000 odd ft below without feeling dizzy. One final turn and we were at the flat portion of the trail, which led straight to the view point of Angel's Landing. Truly a fitting name. Only Angel's Land here apparently? Or you have to be an Angel to make it till here?
The views from the top were breathtaking. We could only soak it in as much as we could with our eyes and register them in our memory. For we didnt bring our cameras, thats a different story for another time.
We sat there, eating ParleG which DH has in his backpack, watching others take pictures, and email to their friends and families. We just sat there. I tried to forget about the climb back down and just relish the moment. I felt like I was on the top of the world. It was a dizzy feeling. Like I had conquered something, won a battle. Everything else in my life seemed insignificant. I was standing here, tall, along with the tall cliffs of Zion Canyon. We saw the park road wind along like a snake across the canyon. We saw another cliff called an Organ which had looked huge from down the canyon floor, look dwarfed from Angel's Landing. There is only one other place higher than this place in Zion, the Observation Point. We could get a 360 degree view of the Canyon. It was breathtakingly beautiful. And we had only our eyes to capture the beauty.
Soon, we decided to get back down. I was looking for someone who was heading back so we could just follow them. There were a few people who had seen us earlier at the first stop over that came by and congratulated us. "Hey!! You made it! Great job!" Felt awesome. I immediately told the couple that I was going to follow them down.
And thus the journey down began.
I am not sure which is easier, facing your back to the drop or your face. I felt better with my face to the drop as I was not afraid of the height. I just wanted to make sure I knew where I was going. Going down was easier I can say except for some places where I slid on my behind. There was this one place where I had to turn my back to the drop, as I had to hold on to a rock ledge and take a wide step on the side. That was scary, but the couple ahead of me was really nice and watched me climb down telling me where to keep my foot next. Once again I had running commentary of the trail for DH behind me. This couple was fast too, so I was rushing to keep up with them. We came across a bunch of people, some teenagers coming up and had to get out of their way. I realized, the right of way is to people climbing up on a dangerous trail.
At the summit, people were talking about the 'catwalk' which was supposedly the narrowed portion of the trail, only a feet wide, with drops on the sides. I didnt even notice it while coming up! You can see how focussed I was, on following the guys in front of me.
This time I made sure I knew I was walking the catwalk, stood there for a second and looked around, no nausea or dizziness or fear.
As we closed on the Scouts Lookout, the first place where we were all stuck and tried to go back, it turned out to be a piece of cake after the treacherous trail!
The 1mile was truly thrilling, exciting. I have been reading about it after the hike and it does sound scary, and makes me wonder how I did it.
Thanks to DH for sticking up and making me come. It has given me a new found confidence and the high of hiking too.
Its not strange that I dreamt of high cliffs for two nights following the hike. :--) Overall an amazing hike, would recommend to anyone not scared of heights, with good hiking boots and not clumsy and in good shape.
The rest of the vacation chronicle will continue as I find more time. This one I just had to write before I forgot the details and lost the enthusiasm to write. :--)
Credit: All pictures taken from Joe's Guide to Zion National Park. Please let me know if you have issues with putting these pictures up here I will take them down. |
posted by SK @ 6:55 PM  |
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| 3 Comments: |
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Amazing!! I can never do that. I have acrophobia, where in even getting down a few feet makes me dizzy.. Way to go!!
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Wow! That is amazing - sounds lovely. The exhilarating feeling of achieving something is awesome - bask in it :)
Good job to both you and DH.
- Saumya
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Shoba, oh. :--(
Saumya, Danku. :--) Basking indeed!
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Amazing!! I can never do that. I have acrophobia, where in even getting down a few feet makes me dizzy.. Way to go!!