We made it to Albuquerque, New Mexico and with the advice of a friend, drove up to Sandia Crest. The elevation at the top was a little over 10,000 ft, almost 2 miles. We were able to drive to the top, and hiked around the peak for a bit. You could see all of Albuquerque, and an old volcano miles and miles away. The area was a little smoky because of the wildfires in New Mexico, but the view wasn't obstructed too much. After the hike, we met up with a friend of mine from my hometown, Ellis. He had told us about a concert in Santa Fe, so we met up at his house with a few of his friends only to find out it had been cancelled. They still wanted to go up to Santa Fe, because it was "cooler" there. I realized quickly that their definition of hot was nothing compared to Georgia's humidity. I was shivering almost anytime we were in the shade.. During the day we were in Albuquerque and Santa Fe, we managed to eat Mexican/New Mexican twice. It was delicious, but I believe I can hold off on Mexican for a while now. Santa Fe was a neat little town, all of the buildings matching each other and the desert background, with great tourist type shopping and dining. We went into a Catholic church that was built in the early 1800's and still used today. It was absolutely beautiful. The hour ride back from Santa Fe gave us a great view of the desert sunset, which is unlike anything I've ever seen. The pink and orange hues the sunset painted across the sand were amazing. Pictures almost can't do it justice. He gave us a driving tour of Albuquerque, which is lit up in neon colors everywhere at night. Even the bridges were lit in blues, greens, and purples. It was great catching up with Ellis, and we tried to get in a good night's sleep before we departed for Zion National Park in Utah.
We reserved a backcountry campsite near Angel's Landing, the only hike we really wanted to accomplish there. Angel's Landing is a 2.5 mile hike, straight up what feels like a million steep switchbacks for two miles. The last half mile is a very steep ascent up rock face, with chains installed to assist hikers. In places there are 1000+ ft drops on one or both sides of you. Reading the statistics about deaths and falls from this hike, we were both nervous and excited. Unfortunately, we didn't make it to this hike... yet. Danny's planned route to our campsite was approximately 9 miles and "relatively flat" according to the ranger, following the hour drive to the trailhead. We start at the trailhead, backpacks and hiking shoes strapped on, adrenaline pumping. We arrived late, and were prepared to hike about an hour or so in the dark. No big deal, right? After 4 hours of hiking, the "almost there's" started. We hiked an hour of "relatively flat" land, then it turned to steep ups and downs over the peaks surrounding the canyon. By hour 5, feet were hurting, it was very dark, and some of the edges of the trails were terrifying after dark, especially not knowing what kind of wildlife we could expect to run into. Around midnight, 6 hours after we started, we FINALLY made it. We quickly set up the tent and passed out from pure exhaustion. We awoke early the next morning to find a breathtaking view from our tent. We were camping right on the western rim of the canyon. Seeing this view, we decided it may have been worth the work we put into getting there. At this point, we chose to hike back to the car to drive to Angel's Landing. (If we hiked we would have either a 15 mile hike back, or have to try to find a ride back to the trailhead.) By the time we got back to the car, our legs were numb and we were both physically and mentally exhausted. We grabbed a much needed lunch and sadly decided we were too tired to attempt Angel's Landing. We set off for the Grand Canyon after lunch.
We camped on the North Rim of the canyon, which is quite different from the more touristy South Rim. The North Rim is covered in Forest, a little cooler, and much quieter. We arrived just in time to set up our tent and get some sleep. After our little Zion adventure, we were ready to spend 3 relaxing days at the Grand Canyon, hiking to different vista points along the North Rim. At one of the sites, Monument Point, we got an absolutely unbelievable view down the Grand Canyon, instead of the usual straight across. It's hard to put it into words. If you haven't seen it, it's a must.
We left the Grand Canyon with a goal in mind, we had to hike Angel's Landing! We drove a little out of the way to go back to Zion National Park, refreshed and ready. The hike was so worth it. Once we got to the famous last half mile, we just had to keep moving. Looking down wasn't the best idea, and stopping was an even worse idea. It was difficult, just as expected, but not as terrifying as I thought it would be (thanks to the adrenaline, i'm sure). There were places with no chains that I thought really needed them, and several areas where just a bit of carelessness or the wrong placement of a foot could result in disaster. We made it to the peak and sat for a while to soak in our success. The view was incredible. We hike up 1200 ft, and could see straight down almost all around us, and had a great panoramic view of the canyon. Hiking down proved to be scarier than going up, to me at least, but the switchbacks were definitely easier going down. We were both so happy that we made it back to try out Angel's Landing, and it allowed us to laugh a little at our first hiking mishap in the park. Overall, it was an amazing park, and there were many parts of it that I would love to go back and explore someday. Filled with the success of the day, we headed for Las Vegas, NV.
We spent two nights in a resort right off the strip with Zack Rall. All I can say about this part of the trip is "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas."
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