Afraid of Heights!!
The last day of the Vegas trip was going right at one of my biggest fears - heights. The agenda was to go to Zion Canyon to hike Angel's Landing and then go ride somewhere.
For the uninformed, Angel's Landing is a formation that is 1050 feet above the floor of Zion Canyon. It is accessed for the first 80% of the way by a walk/hike up a path that is pretty comfortable to walk. From there on up, it gets interesting. There are 'steps' cut into the rock in places, chains anchored along the way, and just plain scrambling with death being the reward for screwing up.
I'm not carrying it, you carry it:
View from the top:
Vegas Drake relaxing on top:
One of several chipmunks begging at the top - tough way to make a living:
From there we stopped for lunch just outside Zion Canyon and headed for the JEM trail. Billed to be nice riding, not as tough as Gooseberry. It became a little bet more challenging for me in the parking lot. As I rode over to the trailhead sign, I noticed some shifting difficulties. As I was starting to diagnose the problem, I noticed the derailleur at a slight angle - went to give it a nudge back into place and the hanger snapped. After a few minutes of wrenching - I was riding a single speed for the afternoon. The trail was a hoot - not too technical, lots of rollers and then we got to the Virgin River rim. We rode right along it, sometimes as close as a foot from the drop off (probably 100 feet down). It was very cool!! Here are some random photos from the day:
If you look carefully at the second to last photo - that is a van at the bottom of the canyon. I think someone forgot to set the parking brake.
The lesson for the day: I can overcome my fear of heights if I keep my concentration in the 5-10 foot range. Any more than that and my heart starts to come out of my throat.
For the uninformed, Angel's Landing is a formation that is 1050 feet above the floor of Zion Canyon. It is accessed for the first 80% of the way by a walk/hike up a path that is pretty comfortable to walk. From there on up, it gets interesting. There are 'steps' cut into the rock in places, chains anchored along the way, and just plain scrambling with death being the reward for screwing up.
I'm not carrying it, you carry it:
View from the top:
Vegas Drake relaxing on top:
One of several chipmunks begging at the top - tough way to make a living:
From there we stopped for lunch just outside Zion Canyon and headed for the JEM trail. Billed to be nice riding, not as tough as Gooseberry. It became a little bet more challenging for me in the parking lot. As I rode over to the trailhead sign, I noticed some shifting difficulties. As I was starting to diagnose the problem, I noticed the derailleur at a slight angle - went to give it a nudge back into place and the hanger snapped. After a few minutes of wrenching - I was riding a single speed for the afternoon. The trail was a hoot - not too technical, lots of rollers and then we got to the Virgin River rim. We rode right along it, sometimes as close as a foot from the drop off (probably 100 feet down). It was very cool!! Here are some random photos from the day:
If you look carefully at the second to last photo - that is a van at the bottom of the canyon. I think someone forgot to set the parking brake.
The lesson for the day: I can overcome my fear of heights if I keep my concentration in the 5-10 foot range. Any more than that and my heart starts to come out of my throat.
posted by ask at
7:46 PM
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