The Slip Of The Year Crack
Two boards fell hundreds of feet, a loud thud could be heard as a chain snapped and dangled off the edge. I stopped my foot a few feet away from the edge but suddenly, I felt a small push on my back. My dad yelled, “James, hold onto something!” as I stumbled right towards the 5 foot crack. I saw the brown red cliff hugging the rusted gray chains as the dust settled around my hand. I gripped the cliff as I was hanging for dear life. This all started at 8 a. m in the morning. I was awoken to the birds chirping and a bell that shook the entire Zion Canyon. Clang! Clang! The bell stopped after a few seconds and I stayed in my bed until my dad exclaimed, “ James get out of bed we have a big day today”. I knew it, today was the day I would finally accomplish the task of ascending Angel’s Landing in Zion National Park.
My family prepared mountains of snacks, gallons of water and a full buffet of lunch for the treacherous hike. We quickly ate a mouth-watering meal of sizzling pancakes with melted syrup, glistening strawberries and fresh squeezed orange juice. The meal is the “food for angels and saints in heaven”. The group of people who were traveling with us stopped at the base of the tiny-mountain. The burning hot sun scrambled into place from the east as it shone onto the bare necks of climbers. As we scaled the grueling path, the ground crunched and groaned as the hundreds of feet hiked up the narrow road. After about an hour, we reached the start of the unique zigzag route. The view was breathtaking as the trees danced in the cool, refreshing breeze that filled the canyon with new life. The big wooden cabin looked like small graham crackers below and the Narrows, "a long 16 mile river" looks like a small stream from this point.
As my family scaled the dusty dirt path, the thousands of different footprints were uncovered like shells revealed from the ocean waves. Each one a bit different to each other but no 2 pairs of prints the same. My mom shouted, “It’s time for a snack break everyone” as we sat down on gray and white stone blocks. My snack, a chocolate bar, oozed out of the wrapper as the hot sun baked my bar into a small chocolate liquid. After our snack break, we approached Scouts Lookout. An amazing view of Zion Canyon over 1, 000 feet in the air. Now the sun is right above us, looking straight at us with q dazzling smile that blinded us all. After Scout Lookout is the actual hard part. 200 feet of rocky, rigid and rugged rock that is connected with boards and brown rusted chains.
My feelings were mixed, I am scared for my life because one wrong step and it would lead to a horrifying accident. However, I still persevered towards the top but after around 50 feet, that is when everything began to go wrong. Crack! Two boards fell hundreds of feet, a loud crank could be heard as a chain snapped and dangled off the edge. I stopped my foot a few feet away from the edge but suddenly, I felt a small push on my back. My dad yelled “James hold onto something” as I stumbled right towards the 5 foot crack. I saw the brown red cliff hugging the rusted gray chains as grabbed the red rock. The dust settled around my hand as I gripped on hanging for dear life. There were people all around me trying to pull me up, I was probably 2 feet below the board with my feet dangling into air. I saw everything below me and I thought, this is the end. I heard my parents say, “James try to come up, ” I used all my energy to reach a person’s hand for safety. My heart was beating a million beats per minute because I knew that if I had let go then I would have died. Even after that almost tragic event, I went up to Angels Landing and took pictures and played catch at the top.
My perseverance helped me survive and even accomplish something that is on my bucket list. I have been scared of heights since then but still the rewards and consequences of this event has impacted my life forever. My urge to finish something has been stronger ever since this event and has taught me to live life to the fullest because you never know what will happen in life.
