Sister Power! The West Rim Trail and Angels Landing

With our sweet Talia leaving for Argentina soon, we have been trying to squeeze in special experiences every chance we have. So with BYU finals over, we planned a last minute sister's trip to Southern Utah to hike the West Rim Trail. On May 1st, Callie, Talia and I left Salt Lake around two, picked Brooklyn up in Provo around 3:30 (Friday afternoon traffic). We made it to St. George just in time to eat some yummy Peruvian food at Viva Chicken before heading over to Washington, Utah to see the new temple. It's beautiful!

So many thanks to the Richins Family for letting us stay in their home, even while they were gone hosting youth conference. Next time we'll be sure to connect!

We got up early Saturday morning and hurried into Springdale to park the mini-van before catching a shuttle up to the West Rim trailhead. After miles and miles of driving through rather wild terrain, we found this sign pretty comical.

Off on an adventure: Talia, Brooklyn, Callie, and myself. Better watch out Brooklyn! Talia looks up to mischief.

Not to worry, Brooklyn got her revenge.

Here's Talia pinky promising to behave.

So do I take an outrageous number of photos? Yup. And I'll share 'em all if I want to.

Here we are enjoying some Baby's Bagels for breakfast. The dill pickle spread is delicious, but turns out that the dill will stay stuck in your teeth all day.

Prettiest breakfast spot ever.

Farther down the trail we learned that Callie is terrified of snakes. She screamed so loudly and jumped back so far that I thought we'd encountered a nudist. (She's since informed me that if there had been a nudist, that would not have been her reaction. So now I wonder what that reaction would be?)

Taking in more of the beauty.

I think I could hike this every week and never grow tired of the experience. Now if only I were strong as the superwomen who passed us twice running both down and back in a day!

Beginning our descent.

I always love it when the cacti are in bloom.

Taking in Zion in all her majesty.

Eyeing Angels Landing. I'd applied for a permit at the spur of the moment the night before, and lo and behold, it was granted! So in the end, we ended up hiking an extra mile or two for a grand total of 16-17 miles!

This was Callie's first time hiking Angel's landing! I promise that we kept her safer than it appears from this photo.

Thankful for the chains.

Does this trek bring back memories, Alesia? We certainly thought of you. I will say, we loved our experience hiking this section with fewer crowds. Even though getting a permit is a hassle, it felt safer and more enjoyable.

This squirrel chose quite the scenic (and precarious) perch.

Almost there!

Ta da!

The smiles mean more when you have to work so hard to get there.

Winding our way down Walter's Wiggles.

How we love sisters!

To round out the most amazing day, we enjoyed a delicious meal at Oscar's.  As always, we went with high expectations and Oscar's delivered.

Callie, Brooklyn, and Talia--thank you so much for hiking with me. Sister power forever! Next time we hope the boys can join us as well.