Sisters Weekend (November 2015)

On the first weekend of November Bekah flew in from New Mexico and she, my mom, Colleen, Megan and I drove down to St. George where we met Alisa and Jamie driving in from California. We planned months in advance so we could all be there, and it was such a blast!

Jamie and I had been sending texts the weeks in advance trying to convince everyone to hike Angel's Landing while we were down there. Most people were not thrilled about the idea. We stayed up late Friday night talking and when we went to bed we still weren't sure if anyone was going to hike with us or not!  But we all woke up pretty early Saturday morning, Alisa became convinced, and we got everyone to come along with us. My only pictures of the whole weekend are from that Saturday. Getting ready to go:

We all piled in my car and drove to Zion National Park. The weather was a little cool but beautiful. We parked and took the shuttle up. When we got to the stop for our hike, the recorded message on the bus warned us of the number of deaths on Angel's Landing, etc, etc. It didn't help the hesitant ones in our group!

The hike up to Angel's Landing is a little over 2 1/2 miles. The first two miles we all stuck together and enjoyed the beautiful scenery:

Around mile 2 you get to a flat area where there are groups of people sitting around. This is the stopping point for anyone who doesn't want to go to the look-out at the end. Jamie and I knew we were going, and Colleen decided she could do it too. Bekah has a serious fear of heights so she and my mom stayed behind, but Megan and Alisa said they'd follow until they didn't feel comfortable anymore.

I've come a long way in overcoming my fear of heights, but my heart was pumping sitting inches away from a thousand-foot drop:

 There are several sections that have chains drilled into the rock for something to hold on to:

 Another look-out:

We were so impressed that Lisa and Megan made it this far. I could tell Megan was really freaked out and she and Alisa were taking a really long time to decide if they were going to go farther, so Jamie, Colleen and I decided to just keep going. We kept telling them they could do it but assumed they would turn around.

The last little section of the hike is just gorgeous:

 One of my favorite pictures. It gives a little perspective!

At the top of the 1,488-foot landing:

We sat for a while and had a snack (while kicking the overly-friendly chipmunks off our feet and backpacks) -

After 20 minutes or so, I looked over and saw Alisa and Megan walking over. I yelled I was so excited! We thought for sure they had turned back.

The 1/2 mile hike back is a little more nerve-wracking when you get all the views going down instead of up. I still felt fine, but Megan was really, really nervous. We all learned that she deals with this anxiety by talking A LOT. Colleen kept her distracted and she chatted to us and anyone around us the whole time. It made for a very entertaining hike down!

We finally met up with my mom and Bekah. I love this picture of her. We'll get you up there next time pooge!

My knees were hurting on the fairly steep 2 miles down but we made it. We drove back to St. George and had dinner at Xetava and sat in the hot tub at the house.

My mom, Megan, and Bekah had to leave really early Sunday morning, but the rest of us relaxed around the house for a while and cleaned up. Alisa and Jamie drove west to CA, and Colleen and I headed back north. We decided to stop by Kolob Canyon on the way home and ate a picnic lunch at the top of the short lookout hike. Colleen had never been there and it was fun to show her one of Utah's hidden but gorgeous sights. We chatted the entire way home.

I wish we could do this sort of thing more often! It was so much fun to spend a whole weekend together just us. I love these ladies in my family!