Something of Interest to Hikers out There



Zion National Park - Subway

 

And you don’t necessarily have to be a hiker to enjoy these beautiful nature pictures.  Sometimes the displays of Mother Nature blow me away with their beauty.



                                             Zion National Park - Subway

 

I have a neighbor who is an avid hiker.  She rock climbs, rappels down cliffs, and rides rapids among other adventures.  One of her favorite places to go is to Zion National Park.  The Subway is a favored spot for hikers, but I must warn you this is not for the novice hiker.  This beautiful spot requires strength and endurance.  Not only is repelling down several cliffs involved, but it also requires swimming through two 40-degree pools.  (Year round, it is this temperature.)

Zion National Park - Subway

 There is such a waiting list to hike this canyon.  They only give out permits for 80 hikers a day and it is always booked up, despite it being somewhat dangerous.

Zion National Park - Subway

 So if you’re a hiker and are ever in southern Utah, you may want to try this adventure.  Most of us will never attempt his trip, so I wanted to post pictures of the beauty in this slot canyon.  Enjoy!

 

Zion National Park - Subway

 

 

 

Zion National Park - Subway

 

 



Determination is the Only Way to Achieve Things

Free Clipart

To me, this is an important quality. You can never achieve or accomplish anything without it. I am not just talking about writing either. It takes determination to do everything in life. This can mean cooking, playing sports, painting, taking photographs, or about anything that may take you out of your comfort level, in the beginning.

Cooking - Public Domain Photo

Swimming

Without sheer will, and especially if you are shy, you will never be able to scale that cliff, jump into the deep end of the pool, paint a landscape if you’ve never painted one, or try out that new recipe.

Photo from Elyse C33 At Flickr

Rock Climbing - Free clipart

 

Of course, along with determination, a bit of common sense should prevail along with a strong desire. I would never jump into the deep end of swimming pool knowing I can’t swim, or go off hiking and rock climbing out in the wilderness without survival gear and a guide who’s been there before. It doesn’t matter how much I want to do these things. Sometimes it takes a bit more preparation to get ready when it can be something dangerous, or life threatening.

Painting- Public Domain Photo

Thank goodness, this doesn’t really apply when writing, drawing, painting, photographing, cooking, gardening, or any other number of things that don’t fall into the dangerous category. What is the worst thing that can happen here, if you don’t succeed? You try to salvage it, or throw it away and start over. Still, you will learn something because you tried. Your life isn’t at stake doing any of these things and failing a time or two is not going to kill you, unless you leave raw food on the kitchen counter too long.

Fishing

We learn by doing and sometimes it is in our best interests to push beyond our limits in order to grow. Who really cares if we are not the “best” in the beginning? To become the best, we have to do it repeatedly. The best chefs in the world didn’t wake up one day and go into the kitchen and from that day forward everything was perfect. The same goes for all of these things. We all start out the same and have to hone our craft with desire and determination, whatever that may be.

The next time you are inspired to do something new, remember that you will never get anywhere if you never try. Don’t let a little constructive criticism stand in your way ever.