Day 7 - Friday - Zion

Christmas in Zion. Two years in a row. Who would have thought we'd be back, but really, if you've never been, you need to go. It is unlike any place on Earth.

And we finally have photos to prove it! Yes, we finally have figured out our file transfer problem and will now be including pictures of our travels.

Christmas began, as it should, with presents being opened. Both of us were excited to give... and receive our gifts. Unfortunately, we were so excited we didn't take any pictures of the festivities. So, in its place, here is a picture of our sweet tree and the presents all around it. Needless to say, it was a super-exciting way to start the day.

After opening the presents and enjoying some more Eggos and sausage, along with some oatmeal, we were off for another big hike in the park. This time, we were planning to hike to "Angel's Landing," which is the second biggest attraction in the entire park (after a river hike that we would love to do sometime when the water is not 40 degrees). The descriptions we had read suggested that this was not a hike for just anyone, with steep ledges and multiple chains to assist our ascent. Sure those things sound a little scary, but it wasn't anything we hadn't seen before, so we were ready for a hike not too different from the ones we'd already done the past couple days. We couldn't have been more wrong!

This hike wasn't even a hike at all. Well, the first two miles were a hike, and an awesome one at that. We started from the "Grotto" trail head around 1:00, figuring the 4-5 hour hike ahead of us could done in three hours easy, given our speedy pace. We walked on relatively level ground for the first half mile alongside the Virgin River, the same river responsible for everything we see in Zion today. The Virgin has carved up Zion the same way the Colorado created the Grand Canyon.




We then followed several long switch-backs up into a canyon known as "Refrigerator Canyon" where the temperatures are known to drop between 10 and 30 degrees from the surrounding area. It was certainly cooler as we moved into the shade of the canyon and continued on up the trail.







Next we reached a section called, "Walter's Wiggles," so named because of the rapid-fire switch-backs that, when viewed from the top or bottom looked like a squiggly line.

That is where we reached this sign:

Most people would have turned around at this point, and perhaps we should have too. But, of course, we did not. "Onward, ho!" Salina would say and up we went. From there, it was 1/2 a mile straight up, using chains to pull ourselves along and provide a bit of security.

This "trail" can only be described as the most ridiculous, terrifying, and exhilarating adventure I've ever experienced. There were several parts with extremely narrow, snow-covered paths with nothing but 2,000 foot drop-offs on either side.



Several other parts featured impossibly slick terrain with only the chains to pull ourselves up. Over and over again we would meet a new obstacle and still we forged ahead till we reached the top.

The incredible view from the top:

The only problem then was that we had to somehow make our way down from there. This was quite possibly even more difficult and adrenaline-pumping. Those slick spots turned into snow slides. The narrow sections were just as narrow and more difficult with gravity pulling us along a little faster than we would have liked.

When we finally reached the bottom of the chains, the feeling was quite possibly more gratifying than reaching the top. Happy to be on (more) solid and less steep terrain, we raced down the rest of the trail to our warm and cozy car.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing and intermittently reminiscing on our adventures on "Angel's Landing." Not an adventure either of us will soon, or ever, forget.