Death

I’ve had very few near-death experiences in my lifetime.  This weekend, I think I tripled the count.  A couple of friends and I traveled to Southern Utah to Zion National Park.  We drove for four(ish) hours arriving at the perfect time to nourish and strengthen our bodies with some delicious edibles from the Pizza Factory in St. George.  We then decided to cap off the night with some nostalgic entertainment by going to watch the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie. (The plot was average, but the graphics were incredible.)  My friend, Jon was nice enough to talk his Grandma into offering us a place to stay.  She lives in a nice community for people over 55 years of age.  So, after a fun filled night with an early bed time, we arose bright and early to the lingering smell of Old Spice and Bengay that permeated the musty clubhouse where we had slumbered the night away.  We walked down to Jon’s Grandmother’s house, only to be overcome by a breakfast fit for a king.  We finished off our feast of eggs, sausage, waffles and every sort of beverage imaginable before heading off to Zion to begin a long and eventful day of hiking.

We decided to start off our day of adventures with a hike up Angel’s Landing (notice how the websites mentions death multiple times when describing the hike) which, had I known the perils that awaited me beforehand, I probably wouldn’t have participated in without a HECK of a lot of urging and bribery.  The hike is nice and easy for about the first half mile.  After that half mile, you round a corner and are confronted with a series of steep switchbacks which, besides being a little hard on my out-of-shape legs, wasn’t too bad.  When you hit the top of the switchbacks the trail levels out and you have a nice open rest area.  I was thoroughly enjoying myself up to this point.  I was enjoying the scenery and even participatin in some friendly banter with my cohorts.  The panic attack didn’t hit until we had left the rest site and I realized how high up we really were and what lay ahead.  It was like something out of a nightmare. 

Let me try to describe my nightmare to you.  Upon leaving the rest area, one is graced with the view of a very long, very narrow trail that is the EXACT opposite of a hallway.  Not only is the pathway long and narrow, but it is steep.  Instead of walls on each side (like the aforementioned hallway) there was a sheer 1,000+ ft. drop.  The only reassurance present was the thick metal chain embedded in the rock all the way to our final destination.  This chain was my lifeline.  I had a death-grip on that puppy all the way up.  There were various moments throughout the hike where I was urged by those surrounding me to look around at the ‘view’ or the ’scenery’.  The few times I did so were followed by a near necessity for an underwear change. 

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