This could be one of the best trips this summer! Here is why: First, it was a total surprise for me. Christy planned it, payed for it, and drove half the time. She even asked the boss for my days off weeks prior without me knowing. It was my thirty-second birthday present. Second; I have always wanted to do a technical slot canyon (requiring rappelling). Third; Angels Landing in Zions National Park is on my bucket list. Fourth and the best reason; Christy did it all with me, we did it together!! I can't think of a better way to spend a hardcore trip like this!!! Having her by my side the whole time was AWESOME!! Here are the details. Keep in mind I took over 700 photos and a lot of video. It was hard trying to find the best pics for the blog. So it may be a little long but well worth it!
Day 1: We left early in the morning and dropped the girls off at daycare for the weekend. This trip is not one for the dogs for several reasons. It was hard dropping them off because they do almost everything with us. Tasha didn't mind, she loves playing with the other dogs. Sassy however, she is getting set in her old days. She HATES daycare. But that is a story for another day. So Christy drives down I-15 and as we exit after Cedar City we head east towards Springdale. Before we entered the park we switched driving. Knowing how Christy likes to gaze at scenery and me having seen it before I offered to drive. We drove through the park and out the other side. We stayed the first two nights in Mt. Carmel Junction at the Best Western. Once we checked in we headed back into the park and visited Emerald Pools. Upper, Middle and Lower Pools. They were not what I expected but still a good several hour hike.
As one can imagine the surroundings were beautiful! I only wish I had a better camera to really capture the ambiance one could feel while looking at the massive towering sandstone cliffs.
Day 2: Christy had pre-planned and scheduled the technical slot canyon hike with a guide from Pondarosa Ranch. We had to be at the ranch by 0900. So we got up early, had breakfast, and headed out for our days adventure. Unfortunately the day prior clouds started to roll in. That morning the clouds were thick and guaranteed to drop rain. As we arrived a bit early we sought out our guide for the day. Isaac is a recently returned missionary, studying at BYU, and has been doing slot canyons since he was a kid. It's in the family. He has done the canyon we signed up for many times and for several years. He was a bit worried with the rain potential and the flash flood danger. Everyone knows about doing slot canyons in southern Utah with rain potential. We were totally fine with him making the call of no-go. But to our surprise it was a go! First thing was training. He needed to see our skill level. Christy didn't instill much confidence with him when she said she was way afraid of heights! So to experiment we went off the 45 foot climbing tower they had there at the ranch. I, being excited to go, didn't hesitate a second before I was over and down. Christy took a minute or two but did really, really well. So it was off the hike! Another guide joined us as Isaac's assistant. Her name was Stacy and she is also a BYU student. They are actually both studying for recreational degrees, or a degree in recreational. Whatever!
Here is the trailhead. Doesn't look like much. The canyon we are doing is called Birch Hollow. It sits just east of Zions. The canyon drains into Orderville Canyon and that canyon drains into Zion Narrows and the Virgin River.
The first hour was hiking down the wash. I should say it was more of bushwhacking than hiking.
After a bit of walking, talking, getting to know each other; we finally came to our first rappel. "Oh boy here we go!"
As you can see it was only a small 50 foot drop. It was a unique start though. Once you went over it pushed you into the wet rocks. After about 10 feet you are dropping free from the rock. then you hit a little red cliff and then the final portion is free again. IT WAS AWESOME! Looking at the picture below you can tell someone was relieved the first of eight was done! "Way to go Christy!!"
Once we got into the slot part of the canyon there were several small dry-falls that didn't require rappelling. Normally Christy and I would turn around on stuff like this. However, we learned how to down climb them without turning the choke-stone over onto our arms and being stuck a week then cutting our arms off to get free! (For those who don't know that story read the book!).
Here is another small rappel. It was fun going over a choke-stone and into a small pool. Luckily someone had placed a big rock at the bottom of the rap so we didn't have to get too wet.
Now for the fun part. So when Christy called the ranch a couple weeks prior to find out what they offered she found out there was two different hikes. A half day consisting of two raps. For thirty dollars more each we could do the full day with eight raps. So being the bargain shopper she is we were signed up for the full day. That's when she learned the full day hike had two- one hundred foot rappels. I think her stomach may had fallen when she heard that. So here we are at that point of the hike. The first and LONGEST rappel!! If you look closely you can see people at the bottom of the dry-fall. When I walked over to the edge to get the picture my knees got a little wobbly and my own stomach dropped a little. That was a long ways down!!
GAME ON: Isaac was really cool in a way he taught me a few things for when we did our own traveling in the future. I am sure Christy was scowling at him every time. But now I know how to do it and anyone who wants to go with me someday MUST let me know! Because I don't think Christy is going to go with me ever after doing this next one. Check this out.....
I thought for sure she would take FOREVER to be convinced to go over the edge. But to my delight and surprise she was over and coming down. Step by step but she finally made it! I am sure my smile was from ear to ear! I could not of been more proud of her accomplishment! Now that she did that the rest would be easy. And they were, except for a few challenging spots. Here are the rest of them.
As you can see the rain didn't help with the shoe grip. I just didn't grasp the concept well enough and slipped coming down. Luckily Christy didn't start the video until I was struggling to get my hold again. The great thing about going with a guide is when you fall, there is someone at the bottom to belay you and stop you from going too far. THANKS Stacy!! It was a bit embarrassing and got a few war wounds but it was a good learning experience. Oh did I forget to mention it started raining on us midway through the slot canyon? It was a neat experience but one we never hope to be in again. They always pound into your head NEVER do a slot canyon when it is raining or has a potential to rain. But hopefully your guide is smart enough to take into consideration multiple factors that would keep you out of harms way. And Isaac did just that. He know the topography, what to watch for in the streams, sounds, and when to hurry through certain parts of the canyon and when we would be OK to hurry up the side if something did come. He also knew the canyon like the back of his hand and could tell when a log had been moved from just a few days prior. So we were safe, but made the hike a little bit more interesting.
That night we returned to the hotel and sat out on the balcony enjoying a few cold ones in celebration of our accomplishment. I think hands down the best part of the hike was not the rappelling or the slot canyon, but being able to share it with Christy! Knowing she hates doing things like that and for her to sacrifice to be there with me made it worth a million bucks! I truly have the greatest wife in the world! Now for day 3:
Once again we got up early and headed into the park. We parked at the visitors center and took the shuttle into the main part of the park. As you can see from the pic above it was the usual national park image. RV Rentals!! The agenda was to hike Angels Landing, hike Weeping Rock, and hike a little bit of the Narrows. So here goes the story: Below is the beginning of the trail to Angels Landing. This hike is world famous! You hike to the top of this fin, which the trail has shear drop offs on each side for thousands of feet. The trail is only 3-8 feet wide at places. There is an average of 3-4 deaths every year from people falling off. It is one of the most dangerous hikes in any national park.
The trail climbs the face a little bit and then goes into a side canyon. You can't see it very well because of the shadow.
Once you get into the little canyon it is a nice walk without too much elevation gain. At the end of the canyon there are about twenty switchbacks called Walter's Wiggles.
At the top of Walter's is Scouts Lookout. This is the point half the visiters stop at. There is a small overlook down to the Virgin River. The scary part of the trail starts here. Once Christy and I saw what the trail did at this point she planted down. Ya she can do a hundred foot rappel but going up a trail with drop offs on each side is out of the question. I usually try and talk her into going a little ways but when I saw this myself I even questioned it. But you know me, if there is a summit to bag, I am stomping my way up. So a last photo with the wife, a kiss, and I was off. Did I mention it is a 1400 foot drop on either side of the trail? GAME ON! 
The trail going up was so narrow you had to stop and wait for people coming down. It was single file going up and down. The closer you got to the top the less people there were. It thinned out tremendously. Several hundred people were on the trail with us. Scouts look out had around 75. The trail probably had about 30. There were only five of us on the top!! One beautiful hike that I would love to do again in the future.
The pic above shows Angel's Landing from the north. Below are pics of our final adventure. I left out the pics from Weeping Rock because it was way stupid and not worth showing. Zion's Narrows is where the Virgin River cuts through several miles of slot canyon. As a boy scout I hiked this portion from top to bottom. It took over a full day to do. We just hiked about a mile up the river until it got too deep for us to go any further. As usual you can see the crowds we were with.
That night we stayed in a little hotel in Springdale. Ate at the pizza joint and had a few pitchers. The next day we headed home and stopped off at the Kolob Canyon portion of Zions. We only drove through to check it out. Then it was driving home. We stopped at the daycare and got the girls. They had a hard time trying to catch Tasha to bring her out. She wanted to stay and play. Sassy was fighting to get through the doors when she saw us. That poor dog must have gone through an inch of her nails trying to scratch through the window and door. And like always, they were crashed out for the rest of the ride home. Overall the trip was a blast! I wish I could show you all 700 pictures and videos but I am sure your tired already of seeing this so far. THANK YOU Christy for an awesome experience! This is defenitely one I am NEVER going to forget! I love you more than words can describe!!
