Hanging Out with the Angels

At Zion National Park, there is an extremely strenuous hike know as Angel’s Landing. It is a five miles round trip and climbs a total of 1,488 feet. Dad and I wanted to do it because Mr. Holmes did it (and Dad says he can do whatever Mr. Holmes does). Mom could not go because her knee would not be able to handle it (I guess it is because she is starting to get old, but she is awfully pretty for someone whose body is falling apart). John wanted to stay home and play Xbox 360 (we are starting to call the R.V. home… that is pretty scary… please someone come rescue me). Nicole says she has given up hiking (I think she has been emotionally scarred from the trip – but a weekend with Grandma or Nana will probably heal her). So Dad and I got up at 6 a.m. this past Monday morning and took a shuttle to the trailhead.

To my amazement, the trail consisted of several long but not terribly steep switchbacks, a walk through a narrow canyon, and then followed by 21 more insanely steep switchbacks called Walter’s Wiggles.

The Wiggles caused even a young man like me to start breathing heavy. Then to make me feel even more lazy and unfit, we saw a young guy practically sprinting up the trail.

When we got to the top of Walter’s Wiggles, there was a relatively flat area with a great view where we stopped to eat a snack. While we were eating, we encountered a foolish kid (about John’s age) who actually bounced himself against a 1930’s era railing – which was at the top of an 800’ cliff – and pretended to be falling. Dad was not impressed, so in the interest of self preservation, we stayed away from him.

It was at this point that the real hike actually began. For the remaining ½ mile, we had to navigate steep rock faces with seemingly endless falls. In order to do this, we held onto chains - which were bolted to the rock face - to ensure our balance. It took about 30 minutes of moving along the chains until we finally reached the pinnacle of the mountain.

The whole time through the chains, Dad was like a nervous Nellie. He kept telling me to make sure that I had three points of contact on the rock face (who did he think he was – Sir Edmund Hillary?); asking me if I was o.k.; and telling me to be careful (Hey Dad – it’s 1,000’ straight down – you don’t need to tell me to be careful!). In reality, I don’t think he was as worried about me as he was about what Mom would do to him if I got hurt.

At the top, the sight was truly beautiful and I quit asking myself why I didn’t stay back in the R.V. and play Xbox 360 with John. It was a great father and son bonding experience and I am happy to be alive.

By Mikey (with a little editing by Dad to spice things up).