A divine intervention

It was the year 2015. I was on a road trip around the west end of the United States of America. One of the destinations was Zion. It was my first camping trip with all the tent, barbeque, and living into the wild experience. My brother and sister-in-law had been here before and became my official guide. Our itinerary for the first day was Angel's Landing. We reached the foothill at 10 in the morning. The most important instruction was to keep the backpack as light as possible because the climb starts to tire you out after some time. Though not a regular hiker, boasting on a few minute achievements, my confidence had no idea what I was getting into with the 4 km hike.

It is funny how the beginnings sometimes look so unchallenging, right?. As the inclination increased, the view of the Zion valley became more and more incredible. It ignited my yearning to reach the top. Soon the sun was up, but my mental clock was about to fall off the wall. There's a scene from Tintin in Tibet that I remember very vividly. After finding out that his friend was on a plane that crash in the Himalayas, Tintin and his friend Captain Haddock trek to the snow-covered mountains to search for him. In the beginning, the all enthusiastic Captain Haddock leads the party of sherpas, and Tintin following right behind with all the enthusiasm. But in the scenes that follow, Haddock starts to get tired and moves one person behind every time. By the end, he is far behind, huffing and puffing and trying to catch up with the rest of the party. That day, on that hike, I was Captain Haddock. My spirits turned to dust when I saw people above 60 years of age were crushing this hike like a professional. My bag was turning into the weight of ten rocks, my ankles were becoming crossbars, and my will was ready to jump off the cliff. I was about to lie down and fall asleep right there. But thanks to my brother, he figured out my secret plan. He walked up to me and went on with, "you can do it!" "one more step, come on!" till I was back up on my feet and reached the top. I believe, if you want to learn the true meaning of perseverance, hiking is one of the best ways.

A 3 and a 1/2 hours later, I finally made it to the base. While I was busy taking a breath and cooling down, I realized that we were to take on the 0.5 mile that leads to the best view of the Zion valley. A 0.5 mile against a 4 mile seems nothing, right? Guess who was wrong! When I finally figured out why most of the public gathered chose to turn back without taking this .5 mile hike, it was too late. This hike was different and more complicated than the one we just completed. There was no paved path, and the route was more like gigantic rocks clustered together with the valley on the other side, sometimes both sides. There was space enough for only a single person to cross at a time. Sometimes the path would narrow so much it was difficult not to look down into the valley. My hands and knees began to shake because of vertigo, and the hike seemed endless. But all great things come to an end, as did this one. We made it to the top, and as I walked over to the edge, the entire Zion was lazily sleeping between the mountains. Everything that happened a few hours ago, the panting, the puffing, the freaking out sessions, and the worn-out feet, were all worth the view laid out in front of me, the magnificent Zion valley. A mix of green flora carpeted among the tall red mountains was a divine sight. When Frederick Vining Fisher, a Methodist minister, suspected that angels must be landing here could be true looking at the location. The place's euphoria even calmed down my fear of hiking back through the same old .5 mile I barely made out of just now.

One thing I hate about return trips is, they go by faster than you want them to. However, this time I cherished it. Our return path was quicker, and we made it just in time as the sun had started to set, turning the whole sky a shade of orange. It took us nearly 6 hours to complete the hike, but I was taking along with me more than I could think of, and they were worth every minute I spent there, even those dramatic moments where I thought I was going to die out of exhaustion. This hike will always be my first great hike and will be my inspiration for all the amazing ones I plan to take in the future.