Part 1: Angel's Landing

I have had lots of people ask me why I am going on this trip. What in the world would make you want to walk almost 500 miles when we have planes,trains, and automobiles? A number of years ago I learned of the Camino and the thought of walking a path that had been traveled for over a thousand years resonated with me on many levels. As many people do I put it in the back of my head because 500 miles..... Fast foreword to a trip Liz and I took to Zion National Park 2 years ago and Angela’s Landing. Angels Landing, one could argue, is the gem of Zion. It is a 1,488 foot tall rock formation that draws visitors from around the world who make the trek from the valley floor to the very edge of this magnificent rock. We began the climb to reach the top of Angle’s Landing without a true understanding of the challenges that the hike would give us. I think that we have all gone on hike where we keep telling ourselves that it’s got to be the end just over there only to find out you weren’t even close (Does that sound familiar?). So many times as I looked at the path forward I couldn’t imagine the park service would be stupid enough to let us keep walking forward. I was exhausted and there were points on the trail were it was 3 feet wide with a thousand foot drop on either side, but for some reason I had decided I had to make to the end. As I stood at the end of the trail looking out at a view that words fall short to describe, I was overcome with a feeling that I could do anything. For the first time since I had fallen in love with the idea of the Camino de Santiago, I actually believed that I could walk 800 kilometers across a country.Læs mere