High Heels to Hiking

All growing up, I have never been one to be crazy about the outdoors. Sure I love a good scenic drive and tubing down some rivers. But camping consisted of one night if not in a condo, and hiking? Yea.. you could forget that. Give me new pair of high heels and a dinner date in the city and call it good. But then I moved to Utah.... and all anyone wants to do is go hiking. Dates, free Saturday afternoons, you name it...

At my graduation dinner, Aaron & I sat next to Tania and her husband Alif. We instantly hit it off, and of course... here it comes... they were planning a hiking trip. And not just ANY hiking trip, but hiking the Subway in Zion. I played it cool and acted interested, and after the dinner I instantly googled, "Subway - Zion National Park".... and Oh. My. Word. I went from acting interested to being seriously excited to do this hike.

From being a gal that owned flip flops, flats, and high heels, I realized that I was severely under prepared to hike something of this magnitude. And so I started doing research and asking all my legit wilderness friends on how to best prepare. They gave me advice from Chacos to barefoot... I settled on a nice pair of Keens and called it good. Now that I've tried them out, I think I may start wearing them to church... sooo comfy. 

I am now on my way to being a serious hiker.

So the big day gets here, we have camped over night on way too many uncomfortable rocks and gotten an early start. We're doing this.

The Crew

There were three parts of the hike where we swam through ice-cold water, not being able to touch the bottom and hardly being able to breathe. Looking back these were my favorite parts of the hike. Here we are soaked from swimming in that nasty water but feeling proud.

Repelling down to the Subway. Funnest part of the hike.

After all of the adrenaline rushing and being somewhat concerned about my frozen fingers, we walked out into this.....

And now you have it. Why I will never turn down another hiking experience again. And not to mention the people who started out as strangers at the beginning of the hike are now some of my most favorite people. Its amazing what a little adrenaline and risk taking does to a friendship. 

And now the search begins for our next hike....

-Andrea