From Finding An Angel to Visiting Angel's Landing

Exactly one week ago today, I had the blessed opportunity of taking my sweetheart to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple to be sealed for time and all eternity. Words honestly cannot describe the extreme feelings of joy that were felt on that special day. To make a sacred event even more special, we were surrounded by family and friends, and that added another special spirit to it all. After being sealed on the afternoon of the 20th, we joined everyone at the C.R. Hamilton Indoor Pavilion in Riverton to enjoy a great lunch. Shortly after the luncheon we had a reception at the same location. It was so much fun to see so many familiar faces come to wish Ruth and I good luck on our new endeavors together. The next day we journeyed to Blanding for another reception. Do to a few bumps in the road we weren't able to make it to our own reception on time, so sorry to those who left before we could make it. Once again it was great to have so many people come and wish us well. We were so blessed at all the festivities of the weekend to have so many people that sacrificed their time to make it special for Ruth and I, so a big thank you to all those who contributed in any way. The weekend would have been special just given the fact that I was able to marry the greatest girl in the world, but all the volunteers helped make it memorable for everyone.

After all the festivities of the weekend were over, Ruth and I headed to Zions for our honeymoon. We had a great time of hiking, eating some first class food, relaxing, and just plain enjoying our time together. We stayed at a place called Flanigan's Inn, and it was a great choice. We were right by a shuttle stop that could take us into the park, there was a very nice restaurant on the property, and the grounds were very nice too. As far as the hiking went, we got to do a couple of fun hikes while we were there. The first day we hiked to all three of the Emerald Pools. I hate to say it, but my camera was dead on that first day, so sadly we didn't get any pictures from that. The best part of that hike though, was the awesome waterfalls. The falls at the first pool come almost right down on the trail itself, so it gives you a very refreshing boost to move onward and upward. At the second pool, we found a bunch of frogs that were cool to watch and listen too. They were really hard to spot unless you were looking really hard to find them. Ruth was great at spotting them, she had to find and point them all out to me. The third pool was nice because it had a big enough area to rest for a while and enjoy the scenery before heading back down the trail. After a fun day in the park we had a very delicious and fancy dinner at the hotel restaurant called the Spotted Dog. Hopefully Ruth won't kill me for saying this, but toward the end of our meal, we got joking around and for some reason we decided it was a good idea for me to eat the flower that was garnishing Ruths plate. As if that weren't random enough, Ruth then proceeded to ask the waiter what kind of flowers they used to garnish her plate. After learning it was an orchid, she calmly suggested that they consider using a daisy because the orchid didn't taste that good. The poor waiter didn't quite know what to say, so he sort half smiled and kindly said they were mostly just for decoration and walked away awkwardly. It was a weird but memorable way to end our "elegant" meal.
On the second day, we didn't go into the park. We stayed closer to home and explored our hotel more and the surrounding area. One of the cool aspects of our hotel was all the lizards we found, they were everywhere. After spending a really relaxing day together, we had dinner at Zions Pizza and Noodle Company. It was very good food once again, and the setting was pretty unique too. We read that the building it was in was once a mormon church. I kept wondering about the history of the building because it seemed like it would have been a very historic site, and I couldn't figure out how it changed hands and wound up being a restaurant and store. I guess if there are any readers who are history gurus, you will have to let me know about that one.
On our third and final day, we got checked out of our room and headed into the park for one last hike before heading home. We had been really trying hard to decide what we would do with our final hours in the park, and I'm still trying to figure out who stole all of our reasoning and logic, but we decided to hike Angels Landing. For those who have never heard of, or are not familiar with Angels Landing, here are a few interesting points about it. Just looking at the trail information before the hike wouldn't make it seem too difficult because it is a 5.4 mile round trip hike that should take about 4 hours. Then would learn that in about a 2.5 mile stretch, the trail rises approximately 1,500 feet, that bugger was steep. If that wasn't enough to deter us, we learned on the shuttle ride to the trail head that it was named Angels Landing by a minister because he thought it could only be accessible to angels. He could have been right. Finally, we were told by several people that this particular trail had one of the highest mortality rates. I never heard weather it was one of the highest in Utah, among national parks, in the nation, or whatever, but still.......gulp! So the first two miles of the hike consists mostly of very steep switchbacks. Sadly though, that is the easy part of the trail. The last half mile or so you have to venture out on to a very narrow ridge to reach the landing. There are chains a good portion of the way to help you either pull yourself up rock faces, or help you slide down them. Even though there were chains, it was still really nerve racking. At some points, the ridge gets down to only a few feet wide, the phrase "don't look down" took on a whole new meaning that day. We did eventually make it to the landing. I was glad we did it, and now we have the bragging rights, and we NEVER have to do that again! The only problem at that point was getting back down the trail. I was hoping for a giant escalator or an elevator once you reached the top, but there was no such luck. By this time, my nerves were shot, and my knees weren't far behind, so it took us a little longer to get down. I have decided that Ruth is part mountain goat though. If it hadn't been for me slowing her down, she would have finished the trail in half the time it took me to do it. As always after I have blabbed on for long enough, I get to the part that most people are interested in, the pictures. Enjoy:

The Grounds / Hotel

Our hotel had a cement labyrinth on top of the lookout point.

The prettiest thing I saw the whole trip, and the flower looks good too!

Home Sweet Home

Zions / Angels Landing

The blissful ignorance before the hike.

Some of the switchbacks we had to climb.

Only half a mile, that should be a piece of cake.....


THATS THE LAST HALF MILE!??!

Don't look down


Seriously, don't look down!

One view from Angels Landing


The conquerors pose!

The survivors pose.

Oops.... The Victory Kiss.... How did that get in here?


Almost halfway down...... if only we could... reach!


A proud onlooker.


Neither myself or the bagel can believe what we just endured.

Can you believe it????

One last note, today happens to be the birthday of my beautiful wife. She is so awesome and I love her very much! Thanks for being so great babe, love ya!