Tuesday, July 30th, 2024
Zion National Park → Zion National Park
0 mi, 0 ft
“Congratulations! We wanted to let you know that the lottery drawing recently took place and you've been awarded a permit at Angels Landing” I read to the team last night. Cheers erupted. It felt like I was announcing the team’s acceptance to Hogwarts. Except part of me was hoping we wouldn’t get the permit.
Three years ago, I hiked Clouds Rest in Yosemite, which finishes with a short section along a ridge. I almost didn’t make it to the top because I cried from the stress and fear of falling off the edge and dying. With the help of my hiking buddies, I calmed down and finished the ascent. That day I learned about Angels Landing, which is like Clouds Rest on steroids. One of Zion’s most iconic hikes, Angels Landing ends with 0.5 miles along a spine with steep drop-offs on either side. At the time, I vowed never to do Angels Landing.
This morning, I woke up and got ready to hike Angels Landing. I was planning to attempt the hike but was prepared to turn around at the ridge if I didn’t feel comfortable. We took the shuttle to the start of the hike and began. The first couple of miles were beautiful. We passed by a river and hiked up a bunch of switchbacks toward Scout Lookout, where they checked our permit.
Most of the last 0.5 miles of this hike had a chain that you could hold onto. I gripped the chain tightly and walked slowly along the ridge. This isn’t too bad, I thought. Maybe I’ve gotten better at this kind of thing since the previous time. We got to a landing. Turns out we had a lot left to go and it was too early to celebrate.
Slowly, I made my way up the ridge. I focused on the path ahead of me, being careful with every step and grabbing onto the chain at every opportunity. My quads were tense the whole time. And I concentrated on my breathing to calm my nerves.
Eventually, I reached the summit, where I found the rest of them. I sat on the landing, ate my squished peanut butter and jelly bagel and gazed into the distance. The view was beautiful, but was it worth the hike? To be honest, I didn’t really enjoy the hike and thought the view at the summit was not necessarily better than at other points along the ridge. But I’m still glad that I did it. Three years ago, I said I would never hike Angels Landing. But if you told me three years ago that I would later bike across the country, I would laugh in your face, so I guess a lot of things have changed since then.
After the hike, we went out for Thai food since it was Cleo’s last day with the team. Tomorrow morning, she would begin a long journey back to her family that included four modes of transportation and many hours. We ordered many drunken noodles and pad thais and a few too many mango sticky rices. The food was delicious, but the company was even better. Over dinner, we made more progress on the 36 questions to fall in love, finishing set I and getting started on set II, where we began to get more intimate.
After dinner, Cleo and Sophia drove to restock on groceries while the rest of us went back to the campsite. It was getting a little too late to do a full talent show as we had hoped, but we did have time for a dance under Amulya’s lead. Within a few minutes, she whipped together some simple choreo even those of us rhythmically challenged could learn. We got into formation and repped out the moves until we only kind of knew what we were doing. We finished practicing just as Chrissy, Cleo, and Sophia pulled into the campsite.
Rebecca lured Cleo over by asking her to help clean up some chairs. The lights dimmed and we swarmed Cleo. Amulya stood front and center so we could all follow. Rebecca sang. And we all danced. Cleo cackled as we performed. Finally, the number ended and we all came in for a hug.
Cleo, we love you and will miss you. Your passion and excitement for life are infectious and bring so much joy to those around you. Your adventurousness and fearlessness never cease to inspire. Your humor, your laugh, and your absurd conversation topics make a dull moment rare. And your compassion for and love for this team never go unnoticed. <3
Beautiful pictures! I am so impressed with all that you have experienced this summer. Despite the challenges, your team has been able to support each other throughout this journey. Thanks for sharing.
So exciting to get the angels landing permit! Def on my to hike list but I was also kind of glad we didn’t do it last year because by the time we go to the start of the 0.5 mile section I was wiped. Also so sad to have to say goodbye to Cleo 😢. You guys are doing so good and you can never have enough mango sticky rice!!-duha