Getting Out: Angel's Rest

 

Do you have a phobia? A fear that is so intense that it fills every cell of your body with fear, causing you to lose your breath, your heart to pound, or making you feel faint?

At the top! I'm kind of freaking out- too close to the edge for me.

Mine is acrophobia. And arachnophobia, but I'll save that one for another day (I've got several stories I could tell there). Today is about my acrophobia.

Mini strawberry!

One of my goals this Summer is to get back out to Hamilton Mountain and hike all the way to the top. About 5 years ago, I hiked it with my family, but we didn't make it to the top because I could not get myself to go beyond a certain ridge, probably 200 feet from the top (the total elevation gain on this hike is 2100 feet, to give you an idea of how high we'd already climbed). I wasn't the only one in our party with a fear of heights, but I was really feeling it in my body. I totally get vertigo, and I feel just like Jimmy Stewart in the movie. I've learned to never look down.

Little creek.

My acrophobia hasn't exactly held me back in life. I've done plenty of things that I wanted to do, keeping in mind my fear (and learning to deal with the vertigo). One of my absolute favorite things to do during my travels in Europe was to climb church towers and bell towers. I remember having a major freakout in Giotto's bell tower in Florence when the bells started ringing while my friends and I were at the top (oh god, this thing is going to crumble below me), and another major freakout two years later in the bell tower in Brugge. I love to climb the stairs, but I need to never look down.

The magical, mystical forest.

View looking back from Angel's Rest.

So this past Sunday, I took my friend Katie out for a hike up to Angel's Rest in the Columbia River Gorge. It's very easy to get to, about half an hour from the airport. Every source I looked at suggested getting there early in order to find parking before the crowds showed up. Here's my peeve with those recommendations: not one of those sources indicated what they meant by early. When is early? I know my early is different from someone else's early. Is early 6am? 8am? 10am? We got there at 9am and made up our own parking spot, but there were by no means any crowds yet. I'd say 9am will suffice as early.

Mini waterfall!

So, Angel's Rest. Elevation gain: 1700 feet (roughly). Total distance round trip: 4.6 miles. What doe
s this mean for us? We got a really good workout on a Sunday morning. It's pretty much all uphill, with few spots that level out along the way. There's a nice little creek and waterfall where it makes sense to take a break, but those come up early in the hike. Katie and I are in decent shape, but there's nothing like an uphill trek to set you huffing and puffing and make you believe you're a wimp.

Sorry for the fuzz, but this gives you an idea of what the forest was like.

The view west.

The trail itself was lovely, lots of forest and plenty of views of the gorge (I never tire of those views). Up toward the top, there comes a point when you are walking through a very rocky terrain. It's not so bad going up, but on the way down, there was a lot of wobbling on my part. If you're prone to sprained ankles, be careful here. Up toward the very top, there's a part where we had to climb some rocks to get out to Angel's rest, so be prepared for that as well. People brought their dogs and older children, so I guess it's not so bad.

This climb takes you to the top!

What is bad, though, is the feeling I got in my stomach when I had a view of just how high were were toward the top. Remember how I'm supposed to not look down? Sometimes that's easy to forget. I took many deep breaths at the very top, trying to slow my heart rate so I could enjoy the view (and resist the temptation to look down). It truly is an amazing view at the top, and there are boulders that jut out over the cliff, providing what must be an incredible view. But I stayed away from the edges, only daring to get out a little for a photo op. I took my deep breaths, took my pictures, then plunked down on a rock just like the other folks at the top. We were greeted by a cute little chipmunk up there, meanwhile other hikes came and went, and still others enjoyed a picnic on the rocks. This place was happening.

While it took us an hour to reach the top, it took less than half an hour to get back down to the bottom. I was feeling pretty jazzed for confronting my fear of heights, yet again, and also for actually making it all the way to the top. I hope to continue my Summer by gradually climbing higher peaks, in order to prepare myself for Hamilton Mountain. It will happen. I'm sure of it.

Yeah, I'm kind of freaking out right here.

Are you afraid of heights? Have you ever looked your fears in the face? Share in the comments below- I'd love to hear from you!

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