I just got back last Tuesday for a wonderful trip to Zion National Park and backpacking in the Grand Canyon. I went with five girlfriends who are also all CHS hike leaders. Over the next several weeks, I’ll tell you about the trip in my blog entries and talk about some lessons learned that apply to equally well to dayhiking.
We spent our first four days in Zion day hiking on various trails throughout the park. The highlight of the trip for me was finally conquering the section of trail known as Angel’s Landing—a half mile section of extremely exposed trail that also requires a scramble up using hands and sometimes pulling myself up using chains imbedded in the rock (see images of trail at http://www.zionnational-park.com/images/album2/pages/angels-landing-c_jpg.htm). I did this hike with Christine Pratt who has experience hiking these types of trails and was an excellent and encouraging hiking partner.
I’d attempted this section several years ago on a trip with Matt and couldn’t even get through the first section. The drop-off from the get-go is about 1500 feet and right next to the trail. One misstep in some sections and you’re gone. I froze on that first section and it took quite a bit of work to get me down again. However, since then I’ve done a lot of work getting myself acclimatized to exposed trails and figuring out what types of situations I can handle. I conquered Half Dome last year and that added a great deal to my confidence in exposed situations. It was glorious to stand on top of Angel’s Landing and get mine and Disco Lion’s picture taken. The trip back down was even fun. Here's a couple of pictures of our trip:
Folks die each year on this trail and so the lesson I want to relate from this event is that as hikers, we need to be aware of the risks we take when we step foot on the trail. Certainly the risks involved in hiking up Angel’s Landing are more visible than most trails in Washington, but even in Zion, lots of folks are injured or die by falling into rivers and either drown or are pummeled as they are swept over falls or through rapids. When we were there, a couple of boys died on the Virgin River when their homemade raft capsized and they drowned. We encounter these same risks in the rivers of Washington. We also have our share of ledges with exposure on many trails. Just last year, a hiker died falling off of Rattlesnake Ledge while trying to get a better view.
On all of your hiking trips, either Mountaineer-led or private, you need to be aware of the risks you take and be able to rationally assess the impacts or your actions. Hike leaders and friends can help you avoid undue hazards, but only you can decide not to step too close to a ledge for a view, step onto that slippery rock at the edge of the raging river, or cross that steep-looking snow slope with the bad runout. On some trips you take, you may ultimately decide that you are unwilling to take risks that others find acceptable. It is up to you. Listen to your inner voice and take responsibility for what it tells you. I saw lots of really scared looking hikers on the Angel's Landing trail that probably should've listened to their inner voice and turned back earlier.
CHS Pictures:
John Connelly, our picture guru, has been busy posting the photographs you have sent him onto the Picassa web site. A link to this web site is listed on the Class Resources tab on the CHS web site (https://www.mountaineers.org/seattle/chs).
John asks me to remind you to please be sure to include the name and date of the hike and the hike leader name in the subject line. You can send your pictures to chshiker2008@gmail.com.
If possible, John also requests that you attach the photos to the email rather than imbed them. You can do this by using your email's attachment tool, navigating to the desired files and selecting them. In some cases because of file sizes, you might need to resize the photos before attaching them. If you need help doing this, contact John at chshiker2008@gmail.com.
WTA Work Party Signup
We have the links available for you to sign up for the trail maintenance work parties being held later this summer in conjunction with WTA. I have posted the WTA document with the links on the CHS web site>Class Resources tab>Course Documents section>2010 CHS Trail Maintenance Flyer link. You can view the date and description of each trip as well as click on the link to sign up for them.
Hike Signup:
All May CHS hikes are available for open signup. Here are the hikes with space still available.
June hike information will come out soon. More details on my next blog entry.
5/16 (Sun.)—Photography hike, Steve Payne/Heidi Walker, Point Defiance Gardens/Fort Nisqually/Camp 6 Logging Museum/Commencement Bay (2 miles, 0’ gain)
5/22 (Sat.)—Gregg Pilgreen, Wallace Falls (7 miles, 1,100’ gain)
5/15 (Sat.)—Marion Bauman, Pratt-Olallie Saddle (9 miles, 2,400’ gain)
5/16 (Sun.)—Photography hike, Steve Payne/Heidi Walker, Point Defiance Gardens/Fort Nisqually/Camp 6 Logging Museum/Commencement Bay (2 miles, 0’ gain)
5/16 (Sun.)—Matt Cleman, Middle Fork Snoqualmie River (12 miles, 1,200’ gain)
5/22 (Sat.)—Barbara Folmer, Tronsen Ridge (8 miles, 1,000’ gain)
5/22 (Sat.)—Deborah Dickstein, Leader’s Choice (10 miles, 2,000’ gain)
5/30 (Sun.)—Shep Griswold, Squire Creek (9 miles, 2,400’ gain)
Folks die each year on this trail and so the lesson I want to relate from this event is that as hikers, we need to be aware of the risks we take when we step foot on the trail. Certainly the risks involved in hiking up Angel’s Landing are more visible than most trails in Washington, but even in Zion, lots of folks are injured or die by falling into rivers and either drown or are pummeled as they are swept over falls or through rapids. When we were there, a couple of boys died on the Virgin River when their homemade raft capsized and they drowned. We encounter these same risks in the rivers of Washington. We also have our share of ledges with exposure on many trails. Just last year, a hiker died falling off of Rattlesnake Ledge while trying to get a better view.
On all of your hiking trips, either Mountaineer-led or private, you need to be aware of the risks you take and be able to rationally assess the impacts or your actions. Hike leaders and friends can help you avoid undue hazards, but only you can decide not to step too close to a ledge for a view, step onto that slippery rock at the edge of the raging river, or cross that steep-looking snow slope with the bad runout. On some trips you take, you may ultimately decide that you are unwilling to take risks that others find acceptable. It is up to you. Listen to your inner voice and take responsibility for what it tells you. I saw lots of really scared looking hikers on the Angel's Landing trail that probably should've listened to their inner voice and turned back earlier.
CHS Pictures:
John Connelly, our picture guru, has been busy posting the photographs you have sent him onto the Picassa web site. A link to this web site is listed on the Class Resources tab on the CHS web site (https://www.mountaineers.org/seattle/chs).
John asks me to remind you to please be sure to include the name and date of the hike and the hike leader name in the subject line. You can send your pictures to chshiker2008@gmail.com.
If possible, John also requests that you attach the photos to the email rather than imbed them. You can do this by using your email's attachment tool, navigating to the desired files and selecting them. In some cases because of file sizes, you might need to resize the photos before attaching them. If you need help doing this, contact John at chshiker2008@gmail.com.
WTA Work Party Signup
We have the links available for you to sign up for the trail maintenance work parties being held later this summer in conjunction with WTA. I have posted the WTA document with the links on the CHS web site>Class Resources tab>Course Documents section>2010 CHS Trail Maintenance Flyer link. You can view the date and description of each trip as well as click on the link to sign up for them.
Hike Signup:
All May CHS hikes are available for open signup. Here are the hikes with space still available.
June hike information will come out soon. More details on my next blog entry.
CHS1:
CHS2:
Thanks Kelly. I look forward to reading more about your trip. I always enjoy reading your trips and tips.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the feedback Tina!
ReplyDelete