Utah 2019: Days 9-11

May 9th-11th, 2019
Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks, Utah

Day 9

Ian drove in from San Diego on Thursday morning and it's been a whirlwind three days since then. He's a very high-energy individual and it takes more energy than is normal for me just to keep him within sight. Forget about keeping up with him — that's not possible.

Ian's first stated goal was to hike Angel's Landing, the most iconic hike in Zion National Park, but also the most strenuous and dangerous. He set off on the hike while Alison and I stayed behind, content to explore vicariously through Ian. About an hour after he started, however, a storm came through (bringing cold, wind and rain) and the storm only magnified in intensity after another hour. The question for us was whether Ian would have the good sense to turn around or whether he would try to push through and finish the hike. Remember, this hike is dangerous in the best of weather and so we were quite relieved when Ian arrived back at the lodge after aborting his climb. He told us stories of what it was like on the hike, with grown women crying, afraid as to whether they'd make it back down in one piece.

In the evening, we watched The Dawn Wall, a documentary about a climbing expedition on El Capitan in Yosemite National Park.

Day 10

The second day of Ian's visit was dedicated to Bryce Canyon National Park. Our trip to the park was complicated, however, by a snowstorm that settled over the park early in the morning. It took us by surprise, as we were not properly outfitted for the cold. But, we weren't alone in this fact, as everyone else visiting the park that day seemed to be in the same boat.

After going to all of the scenic viewpoints, starting with Rainbow Point, and finding all of them covered in snow and shrouded in cloud, we decided to have a leisurely lunch at the lodge. The hope was that by the time that lunch was over, the storm would have passed and there would be something for us to see. Luckily, our plan worked out and we had a three-hour window of clear, decent weather. Ian and I descended down into the canyon on the Queens Garden Trail while Alison stayed at the rim. She started down with us, but got quickly spooked by the slippery path and decided to play it safe up top.

Down in the canyon, Ian and I got some good, up-close photos of the hoodoos, the most interesting geologic formation at Bryce Canyon. They are ultimately a testament to the power of erosion. More specifically, they are formed by the constant freeze-thaw cycles in the canyon — over 200 per year — combined with different types of sandstone, each of which erodes at a different rate.

In the evening, we watched Free Solo, another documentary about climbing and 2019 Academy Award winner.

Day 11

Ian's goal for Day 11 was to return to Zion National Park for a second attempt at hiking the Angel's Landing trail. His hiking partner for the day would be Mick, the husband of Ian's Auntie Laura. Mick worked the night shift at Intel on Friday night, then got in the car and drove the six hours to Zion. Although he had only a couple of hours of fitful sleep in the car, he claimed that he was "good to go" for the hike and he was true to his word.

While Ian and Mick ascended to Angel's Landing, Alison, Laura and I tackled the far easier Pa'rus Trail, a 2-3 mile paved trail that tracks the contours of the Virgin River as it flows through the north-south canyon of Zion. Once we were all done with our respective hikes, we met at the Zion Lodge for beer and ice cream.

After dinner, we wrapped up our day with our third climbing-related documentary in a row, Meru. This documentary covered the attempted ascent of Meru Peak in the Indian Himalayas, an ascent that had never been climbed successfully before.

Scale

​It is hard to comprehend the time required to create the geologic formations that we've visited over the last 11 days. Using very round numbers, it takes approximately 10 million years to make a substantial change in the landscape, like carving a canyon with a river. If a single human lifetime is around 75 years, that lifetime covers 0.00075% of that carving time. Or looking at it a different way, 133,000 generations of humans will have come and gone during that carving time.

Can you comprehend these numbers? I definitely cannot and, honestly, I find it quite unsettling.

Photos, Day 9

Photos, Day 10

Photos, Day 11