Red Rocks, White Snow, Blue Steel - An All American WOFO

Climbing out of the Grand Canyon: smile or grimace?

Hello YOFO readers, it’s Kady here back for another fun week in the west. This time, the trip started in Las Vegas. Right after I landed, I hopped in the truck (super easy to spot by the way, they had the YOFOhome with them) and we drove straight to the Grand Canyon in time to see a sunset. It was my first time at the Grand Canyon and it was amazing! The next day we got up before sunrise and hiked down into the canyon on the Bright Angel trail. We were 4 miles in and about 3500 feet down in elevation when we had to decide which way to hike. Either we keep going and walk across Tonto trail then head back out of the canyon on Kaibab trail or we turn around and go back up Bright Angel. My naive self said, “oh let’s just go the longer way - it’s more views and going back up the way we came would be boring”. 10 miles later (for a total of 14), we made it to the rim again. It was definitely not boring and it was certainly worth the views. The trail to get back to the top, however, was not so fun. Dad threatened to call the waaambulance several times and Dawn had to break out the song her mom used to motivate her and Shawn as little kids: “every step you take you get that much closer to home…”. That’s the only line to the song, and well, Dawn can’t really sing, so pick your own tune. Seriously, I thought it would never end (the hike and the song!).

The next day we got up at the asscrack of dawn again (it’s a theme with YOFOAdventures) and drove from the Grand Canyon to Zion National Park. On the way out of the Grand Canyon we stopped for some sunrise photos. After arriving at Zion we set up the YOFO home and chilled out for a while (unfortunately my arrival somehow cued the clouds to cause the first rainfall of the YOFO trip); my legs were grateful. On Wednesday we hiked the Hidden Canyon which is where I saw the first chains. By chains I mean the things you hold on to on such dangerous hikes that in order to survive and make it up and down the trail it is mandatory to hold on to the chains. I was holding on to them for dear life. Ha! Little did I know that Dad and Dawn were planning to take me to Angels’ Landing on Friday...more to come on that later. Anyway, that hike was really cool. We actually walked through a hidden canyon and explored some of it. We ate lunch (PBnJs, another YOFO theme) under a natural arch while we were in the hidden canyon.

On Thursday we drove through the tunnel and saw some cool views on a day trip to Bryce Canyon National Park. While it rained at Zion, it snowed at Bryce Canyon! After a quick stop at the Visitors Center (Dad and Dawn ALWAYS talk to the Rangers first) we hiked down into the canyon and walked through it and then walked back up. The rock formations are very different and they even have different names like fins and hoodoos. One was specifically called Thor’s Hammer. At the high point of this hike we were over 8,000 feet of elevation which was the highest we would go for the week. Almost the entire trail was covered in at least 6 inches of snow. It was seriously pretty. We got lucky that the trails were still open; hiking Bryce Canyon in the snow is a treat and we got to do it! That night back at Zion, Dad made a fire and we made some delicious s’mores.

Chains...1000 foot sheer drop-off...what could go wrong?

Then the day came...the day I had been dreading...the day Dad and Dawn made me hike Angels’ Landing. Mom, I advise you to stop reading here. I am pretty sure I ignored every gut instinct you taught me to follow about safety, insanity and making good decisions. We got up before sunrise as most epic hikes begin and we started walking. The first part of the hike was paved which was nice, then we made it to Walter’s Wiggles which was a bunch of short, steep switchbacks that led us to the start of the half mile of chains. It was steep, insane, dangerous and crazy but Dad and Dawn kept going and going and all I could do was follow...well Dawn was behind me most of the way up telling me to breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth. Even Mrs. Conniff’s song couldn’t help me then. There was a lot of rock scrambling and climbing, all while extremely steep drop offs of about 1000 feet are on either side of you. After simultaneously climbing and praying for survival for a half mile, we made it to the very freaking top and it was awesome! The views were very beautiful and I’m glad I made it to the top because I will probably NEVER DO THAT AGAIN. Just for your reading pleasure, I’ll throw in a fact I later learned from my sister-in-law who used to live in Utah. Apparently the trail was closed for a decade because too many people died trying to hike it.

Big smiles at the top of Angels Landing...but there’s still the “downhell” to go!

WOFO team selfie from Angels Landing at Zion NP.

We ended the trip back in Vegas and we walked around a couple casinos before watching a show called Michael Jackson One. The first ten or fifteen minutes were awesome; there were acrobats flying everywhere and awesome guitar ladies fake shredding with a super badass cape. Unfortunately, we had to leave early because I began to feel very sick. Since we left early, Dad and Dawn (after they gave me some meds to calm my stomach) took me down the strip which was really cool. Overall, it was another fun WOFO that covered 33 miles of hiking, 3 national parks, awesome “blue steel” pictures and multiple bags of m&m’s.