On April 3, during spring break, I got the amazing opportunity to hike Angel’s Landing in Zion National Park. This was definitely on my bucket list, and I was excited to cross it off. Angel’s Landing is around 5 miles round trip, the first half of it being steep, but not unbearable. Once you hiked up the beautiful pathway to the Saddle, that’s when the real challenge begins.

The strenuous part of the trail starts with slanting red rock, nothing but a thick metal chain keeping you from falling off the sheer 1,500 foot cliffs. Naturally, I was slightly terrified. I focused on my mom’s feet ahead of me and gripped the chain tightly the whole way through. While hiking this trail, it’s very important to be aware of the people around you. Often times, I had to briefly let go of the chain in order to let other hikers pass. While I wouldn’t recommend looking down, don’t miss the beautiful view in front of you. Don’t miss the tall red, orange, and white rock, jutting out of the flat canyon floor. And definitely don’t miss a step.

The trail first goes down, and it’s only a couple feet wide, which means only a couple feet from certain doom. Then, the path goes up along the ridge again, up, up, up to a platform of white slate. Despite the rocky landscape, there were still trees at the top, clinging to whatever source they could. It truly was magnificent to see. My thoughts on the cliffs to the right of us were that they looked like an ice cream cone. Three layers of different colors, and black “syrupy” rock “dripping” down it. Or maybe I was just hungry.

At the top, if you look off the cliff, you can see the winding road that the shuttle bus takes to various stops. The one word I can use to describe that feeling is: tall. At the end, you can sit and gaze out at the rest of this National Park. Three identical towers were seemingly placed in front of you. To the left, the lovely canyon continues, providing more hiking places. And right on the rock, there were a bunch of fat squirrels scrambling for crumbs left by hikers.

Now you’re probably wondering why I decided to go on a life-threatening hike. Surely it can’t have been for fun? And, it wasn’t really. I went to see the life-changing wonderment of Zion. I went to take pictures of the majestic sights. It made me proud to live in a place surrounded by so much beauty. And let me tell you, it was so fulfilling to see what I saw, and I believe everyone should see it, too.