When Your Kid is Cooler Than You (Part III)

It is always a pivotal moment when your kids surpass the ability you had at their age. These moments happen from time to time. When Grant was on two championship Town Sports Teams in one year, when I hardly did any Town Sports. When Sam earned a ROTC Scholarship when I did not get offered one.  Every once in a while there is a big one, like the one TJ accomplished last week.  

At 13 years old I had a terrific fear of heights; a fear I still have, but manage, at 53. To see TJ face a fear of heights and accomplish something truly amazing at 13, something most other people would balk at made me pause and admire him.  

TJ climbed Angle's Landing at Zion National Park.  Angel's Landing is a 1,500' foot tall stone formation that has sheer cliffs on three sides of it and a long sloping spine that rises on a forty-five degree angle around the back. The access to Angel's Landing is through the back, up a long winding steep trail.  After an hour or so of hiking you go up Walter's Wiggles, twenty-some-odd switchbacks at even steeper inclines until you are finally at the start of the real climb.  

The real climb is The Chains.  

Most average people can hike up to the start of The Chains because no "climbing" is required. However, the canyon floor of Zion National Park is at about 4,200'. The top of Angel's Landing is 5,790'.  At that altitude, a mile up, you are certainly getting a work out if live at an elevation of 327' above sea level. There is nothing really dangerous or challenging about the first part of the hike.

The start of The Chains is a broad, flat, multi-tiered rock that serves as a nice view point of the canyon below, a place to eat before going on up the trail, or a place to wait for people to return from the top of Angel's Landing.

The four of us hiked up from the floor of the canyon and the boys decided they wanted to try The Chains.  TJ, then Grant, then I passed a sign that stated 13 people have died doing this hike since 2010 and started hand over hand gripping 1/4" steel chain up the rock.  To be honest, the start of The Chains is not hard, the chain is there to help you pull yourself up the rock because there are no stairs.  There is also no fence, guardrail, or anything else to prevent a fall if you got near the edge.  If you focus it is easy to just keep going. Unfortunately, your focus is usually interrupted because the same chains that you are using to get up, someone else is using to get down.  There is teamwork among strangers and everyone seems to get where they are going.  Even Grant, who got 10 lengths up the chain (six more than he said he would do), and then abruptly turned around. Once he was safely back with Lisa, I headed back up to where TJ was waiting for me.  

TJ and I continued to head upwards.  At times I held on to the chain and looked over the edge to a 1,200' drop and then looked over my shoulder to see the other drop, just half a sidewalk's width behind me.  I kept TJ in front of me so I could see him.  It was intimidating. It was far more than I would have done at 13 years old, period.  Yet there was my son being a Rock Star.  We got about half way up and hit a small, open, flat area to rest.  TJ said he was ready to turn around and I didn't dissuade him.  I took his picture with the rest of the mountain behind him just to show everyone how far he went and how hard the whole climb was.  

The view was - without a doubt - stunning.  It was made more stunning by the realization that you had to earn it. No staircase or paved trail will ever be made to get to this vantage point.  

I wish I had gone to the top, but this was TJ's moment so we hiked back down to Lisa and Grant.  TJ acted nonchalant about how far he went so Lisa asked TJ to take just five more steps than I went, just to say she went farther.  TJ shrugged and turned back uphill.  They were gone for 90 minutes and I knew exactly what happened.  They went to the top. 

Without pushing him, Lisa just kept asking if they could climb a little higher. To the next tree, the next stone, the next resting point until they were at the summit. Lisa really wanted to go to the top ever since we learned about this dangerous and exciting hike and I am happy she did it, but it was TJ's victory.

It's a proud moment because I tell grown adults about Angel's Landing and they say it is a hard pass for them. It's a proud moment because decades from know TJ can always brag that he went to the top of Angel's Landing at 13 years old...and his dad didn't.  It's a proud moment because I know I wouldn't have done it if given the opportunity at the same age.

We made a video of the climb using the GoPro strapped to my head.  Click the link here and you can see some of the best parts of the hike and, of course, The Chains.  Pay attention to the 6:30 mark when I look over the side of the cliff.

TJ has played this whole event off. He is seemingly unfazed by his accomplishment. But I know. I know.