Angel's Landing.

My friend Allison had reserved 12 tickets to hike the Subway on July 14th. (the day after my bday) I have always wanted to do that hike so we decided that would be the perfect birthday activity. A last minute trip to Hawaii forced Allison to cancel altogether, so I invited a few of Devin's friends in Provo and we decided to meet at Brianhead and make a weekend out of it!!

...That is until it decided to rain. We still had high hopes so we headed to Zion anyways. As soon as we drove up the the hike entrance the heaven's open, as if the Lord was personally telling us not to go on this hike, it started to pour like I have never seen it pour before!! 

We obeyed and headed back to the car to make a new plan. On our way back to our second car we noticed (everyone but me and Matix since we were in the trunk...don't ask) a huge waterfall that definitely had not just been that streaming off the mountain. (That should give you a hint as to how hard it had rained.) So we stopped the car and hiked to it. It was freezing and quite the adventure...but super fun! 

Afterwards we headed over to the main Zion visitor center and found out that it had indeed flash flooded in the Subway that morning, so we were glad we opted to pass. The first time the hike had been closed down this year. What are the odds?!! Ugh. We decided to hike Angel's Landing instead. I was less than thrilled about this, but eventually was convinced to do it. It was hard to go from thinking I was doing a 9.5 mile downhill slot canyon full of canyoneering and swimming to climbing 1,488 feet in 2.5 miles with straight switchbacks. However, even though there were a few times that I wanted to give up and or kill myself...I survived. And was actually really glad I did it! The view was remarkable. And I didn't want to get shown up by my four-year-old son...but I did. Matix took that hike on like a champ. He had no fear. And never even stuggled! In fact, he was always the one requesting that our breaks be cut short. He even was a real man and pooped on the peak. We have picture proof but I will spare you the visual. :)

I did have a few small heart attacks having a four year old with us looking over the edge of that ginormous cliff. But he was very obedient and loved every second of it. We had a few crazy looks taking a four year old on such an intense hike but it seriously was a piece of cake for him so I am glad we chose to bring him. However, I bet he is the first four year old to ever make it to the peak...with no help. He sure loves adventures and hiking!! We had a blast. It was fun to spend some more time with Devin's friends. We love spending time with them.

But before we parted ways...we were left with this goodbye from his poet friend....