We hiked up to heaven today.
Eric (our brother-in-law), Justin, Bill, and I split off from the rest of my family after exploring some trails in Zion National Park. Bill took us up one of his favorite trails. There is this enormous rock formation jutting out into the canyon called Angels Landing. The trail was so steep that i couldn't hold my balance very well if i looked too high up the rock walls. Bill told Justin that he would pay him 20 dollars if he would run up Walter's Wiggles. I think he was considering it until he saw what Walter's Wiggles were: a nearly vertical incline made passable only by 20 or so switchbacks stacked one on top of another. That turned out to be nothing compared to the next part of the trail. Sheer drop-offs usually on one side but often on both sides of you, and rocks so steep that they had to put chains along the path to keep you from careening down to the bottom of the canyon.
I've never really been nervous hiking before, but this time all i could think about was someone going over the edge and what they would be thinking about on the way down and what i would be thinking about as they were going down and after they hit the bottom. Really freaky thoughts, especially when my son was the one i kept thinking it about. The overwhelming sense of relief when I saw him sitting on top waiting for me was truly heavenly. And then I saw the valley below us. I was thinking that the birds here are so lucky. They get to see this every day. It is beautiful.
Eric (our brother-in-law), Justin, Bill, and I split off from the rest of my family after exploring some trails in Zion National Park. Bill took us up one of his favorite trails. There is this enormous rock formation jutting out into the canyon called Angels Landing. The trail was so steep that i couldn't hold my balance very well if i looked too high up the rock walls. Bill told Justin that he would pay him 20 dollars if he would run up Walter's Wiggles. I think he was considering it until he saw what Walter's Wiggles were: a nearly vertical incline made passable only by 20 or so switchbacks stacked one on top of another. That turned out to be nothing compared to the next part of the trail. Sheer drop-offs usually on one side but often on both sides of you, and rocks so steep that they had to put chains along the path to keep you from careening down to the bottom of the canyon.
I've never really been nervous hiking before, but this time all i could think about was someone going over the edge and what they would be thinking about on the way down and what i would be thinking about as they were going down and after they hit the bottom. Really freaky thoughts, especially when my son was the one i kept thinking it about. The overwhelming sense of relief when I saw him sitting on top waiting for me was truly heavenly. And then I saw the valley below us. I was thinking that the birds here are so lucky. They get to see this every day. It is beautiful.
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