Shanna Irving — Blog - Joshua Forester

Zion National Park/Angels Landing - Day 4

The advice to get an early start on Angels Landing is no joke. By the time we worked our way down from the phenomenal views of the painted cliffs and meandering valley, we were facing down a long line of terrified hikers just inches apart and clinging to the chains. They were packed too tightly to move out of the way for people descending, despite the obvious truth that the more people that descend, the fewer people in their way and the less time they’d have to cling to the chains in deadstop traffic. Irony doesn’t affect physics, though, and we were all, those ascending and us on the descent, left with few options…

HikingShanna IrvingApril 2, 2019Utah, Zion National Park, hiking, Shanna Irving, Angels LandingComment

Zion National Park/The Subway - Day 3

I genuinely loved this portion of the hike. The thousands of small waterfalls cascading down the pancake-like red shale made every step precarious but satisfying. I wish we had a picture of my favorite portion, the steepest subsection of this second stage. The rest of our crew took the trail. I couldn’t help myself. I needed to climb this gorgeous stack of red rock. I needed to touch it, be a part of it. I felt the implicit peer pressure pulling at me, but the pull of the falls was stronger. Much stronger. I made the right choice.

HikingShanna IrvingApril 1, 2019SubwayUtah, Zion National Park, hiking, The Subway, Shanna Irving, canyoneeringComment

Zion National Park/Yankee Doodle Canyon - Day 2

I just love the colors! The intensity of the water that must have flooded through, polishing these walls and creating miles of masterpiece! I would both love and hate to be in the canyon when those waters came rushing through—flood waters have always intrigued me, rolling and swirling as they do like a cement mixer of debris and destruction. My mind sometimes wanders through cartoonish surf-board rides atop such a flood, but alas, I am only human and not protected by plot armor. As much as it would thrill me to see such flooding in person, I will be sticking to YouTube videos, I think.

Zion National Park/The Narrows - Day 1

The Narrows are incredibly beautiful, another spot in our nation’s backyard that looks and feels completely alien. Besides the windswept sides and miles of colorful stones, there are gorgeous striations from the sediment eroding and staining the rock in various patterns. The walls are hundreds of feet high on both sides, and the canyon goes on far longer than the several miles we explored. Its grandiosity is difficult to fit into the pictures, but suffice it to say deciding to turn back was tough.

Zion National Park/A Character Study

On this trip, he surprised me. Our first long trip with other people together in over two years of dating, I had yet to see him on anyone else’s timing. We are always rushing around on his energetic, ambitious schedule, me trying to keep up, always forgetting something, finagling a “fix” to work around its absence. This time, I found myself tapping my foot at times as Joshua comfortably dawdled, and I had to check myself. Joshua is not careless or flippant; even his dawdling has a purpose…

OtherShanna IrvingMarch 30, 2019Utah, Zion National Park, Shanna IrvingComment

Mount Monroe Winter Ascent

I have to credit Josh for getting me moving. He encouraged me lovingly then reminded me in no uncertain terms that, if I did not move from that spot, I would die in it. I got to my feet, and together we locked arms and leaned into the 90mph winds, trusting one another and our crampons to keep us from slipping down the many hundreds of feet of cascading rock and icefall.