My Sassy Dog Mocha

So I know we all want to believe and say that we have the cutest or best dog on the planet, but that can only be true for one dog. Which, I'm sorry to break it to you all, is mine. Her name is Mocha and she's a chocolate lab at a very old age of 12! She's outlived her life expectancy and we all hope she continues to power along. She can be a stinker at times, but of course I always love her.

Today I decided to take Mocha on a walk down by the river by my house on a trail. As most dogs tend to do, she couldn't pay attention to the road. Every flower she had to smell and every bush she wanted to trample. I feel like I was constantly telling her to "heel" so she would stay with me, but that didn't do anything. She's also going deaf which is part of the problem of why she wouldn't listen to me. We didn't even make much progress into our journey before she started panting and foaming out of the mouth everywhere. Concerned by her immense amount of tiredness, I decided we had to turn back around to the car and head home.
The jeep ride home her poor legs were shaking and she was practically sitting on my lap; clearly she thinks she thought she was smaller than she really is.

When we got home I hadn't pulled into the garage yet but it was open and I decided to let her out of the car before pulling in so she had more room to jump out. I took her leash off her but held her by the collar so she wouldn't run away as she got down. As soon as I let go of her, that little snot rocket bolted away from me. I was convinced she was faking about being tired earlier so I would be foolish enough to let this kind of situation happen. The keys were still in the jeep and the garage was open, but I had to chase after her. I looked like an idiot running around the neighborhood with a camera around my neck yelling "Mocha!" She would stop ahead of me a safe distance away and turn her head to look at me, like she was making sure I was chasing after her with that mocking look on her face (she's such a sassy dog). Yeah, she definitely thought this was a game. By now we were far away from my house and it made me nervous leaving the car and garage how they were. Fortunately enough, she had to relieve herself and when she was taking a tinkle I caught up and grabbed her by the collar. She had a hint of walk of shame on the way home, but mostly pride because she deceived one of her humans.
Mocha is crazy and I can't even begin to tell the times of all the silly things she's done, but I'm so grateful for her and bonding time with my dog is better than sitting at home watching TV on a beautiful day like this anytime. :)

Staring Death in the Face (Angel's Landing)

On top of Angel's Landing (LR: Hailey, me, Hudsen)

On top of Angel's Landing (notice the small brown road at the bottom)

 When we departed from our home to the road to Zion's National Park, my dad told us there were two rules we had to follow this trip. The first one, he said, was that we could do whatever we wanted. The second one, was that there were no rules. I guess you could say I have the best dad ever. Off to an already great start to our adventure, my sisters Hailey (18) and Hudsen (13), my dad (age unavailable) and I headed off. We stayed at a quaint little inn in the city of Hurricane, not far from Zion's.

Small waterfall as we went on the Emerald Pools trail

Oh boy, that following day was sure a treat for us all indeed. We parked up at Zion's and took a shuttle up to the trailhead beginning our climb to the top of Angels Landing. Angels Landing, for those that don't know, is the second highest hike in Utah, at a height of 1,600 feet. Round trip it's 5.5 miles, and the trail is pretty strenuous. I was not aware of what was in store for us that day, or the danger we would be putting our lives in. ;) you have to walk a while and go up quite a few switchbacks which are killer and made me feel very out of shape, even though I don't think I am. We got to an exposed flat top, but looked up straight ahead to notice to get to the actual top of Angels Landing, you practically had to go straight up the cliff. My dad told us it wouldn't be that bad, but once we saw what he had to deal with, we weren't too happy. Some parts of climbing up it were so narrow only one person could safely go by it at one time. If you tilted your head down in any direction you could see a clear view of your certain death at the bottom if you were to slip a few inches off course. There were some safety chains, which I clung on to for my life. Finding safe footing and secure stepping areas was difficult because of all the sand and slippery rocks. I couldn't believe we were doing it, it seemed unreal. I thought for sure I was going to fall and die. I slipped a number of times, we all did! Luckily, the reason we're all here today is because we held on to the chains to catch our clumsy feet. 

 When we got to the top, we were all still shaking out of fear, and my dad felt bad for making us go through that, haha. However, the view was BREATHTAKING and absolutely worth it. Looking down, you felt like you were on top of the world. Zion's National Park is so beautful with all the red rock and the jagged lines they form, even the trees were awesome! I'm so glad my sisters and dad and I could accomplish getting to the top of Angels Landing to experience such a magnificent view. We still had to be careful, though, because the top was exposed as well, and you could still fall and die. Oh well though, we're okay now! Looking back, I don't know how I worked up the courage to face such great heights. 

Cute sisters under trickling water

We took a detour through Cedar Canyon on our way home, the wind was crazy! But the view was tremendous :)

Reaching the top of Angel's Landing!

We got back down very wearily, but eventually made it to complete safety at the bottom. Hailey and I were going to attack another hike that day to the Emerald Pools, but my shoe broke and our day at Zion's was brought to a hault. Fortunetly, the next day we came back and I had new shoes! We did go to Emerald Pools and it was beautiful as well there too. It was so serene and peaceful, you really feel pure joy in nature and walking through it. 

Hudsen jumping for joy because we made it to the top.

Approaching the cliff of Angel's landing

On the trail looking down at the progress we made not even halfway

Looking down from Angel's Landing

 You can't be a true Utahn unless you go to Zion's, and it's great for anyone at any place in the world to try out. Angels Landing sure tests your courage, so go as you may, and risk your life for the experience of your life. The world is awesome you guys, I can't even grasp all the amazing creations and adventures there are to offer, but I try, and I love it. Don't miss out! No pictures on any camera could possibly capture the full beauty of nature, it's all about seeing it with your own two eyes in person. :)