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Zion National Park and Angel’s Landing

Last time I went to Zion National Park was several years ago, and while we did one fairly strenuous hike (and a bit of casual wandering), I have always wanted to hike Angel’s Landing.  This monolithic outcrop of red rock is 1500 feet from the canyon floor and the round trip hike is about 5 miles.  If you are the kind of person to do that kind of math, you could calculate the elevation gain and come up with a really crazy number.  If you don’t do that kind of math, um, you should know that it is really really steep.  The trail is super narrow in some places with sheer cliffs dropping away on both sides; the park rangers have installed chains in the rock to help you climb and on more than one instance those chains were the only thing that saved me from certain death.  But, the views are incredible.  So I filled up my Camelbak, stocked up on snacks, tied on my hiking shoes (ok, actually running shoes) and slathered on the sunscreen.  Angel’s Landing: I will dominate you…or, you know, at least not be dominated by you. Ahem.

View from the trailhead of Angel’s Landing.  See that enormous cliff on the left?  Yeah, the one that is so tall I couldn’t actually get the whole thing in one photo?  Yeah, that’s Angel’s Landing.  You zig-zag up the canyon wall for a while and into a blessedly cool slot canyon.  It was at this point that I cockily thought to myself “Huh, this isn’t so bad!”

When I rounded a corner and looked up I was faced with Walter’s Wiggles, which sounds like child’s play but is actually 22 steep switch backs that send you up the back of the cliff.  (You can get a better idea of what those look like here–look at the bottom of that photo).  I took a deep breath–an auspicious beginning to the heaving that would come later–tightened my Camelbak and headed up–and up, and up–hoping my calves wouldn’t give out on me mid-way up the rock.

The view from Scout’s Lookout, approximately two thirds of the way to the top and before the most technical hiking segments.  Do you see the skinny little road down at the bottom?  And the tour busses?  It’s really kind of impossible to describe how tremendously high up you are.  My calves needed to be stretched and I had to pee like nobody’s business. (Please note: there are port-a-potties at Scout’s Lookout, but they don’t have toilet paper.  Tremendous gratitude to my awesome roommate, D., for rescuing me in that department.  Lesson learned.)

After a little rest, a photo session that was ruined by my cramming my face with a CLIFF bar and then laughing (see above), we were off to the fun part.

Or, in other words, the scrambling/climbing/holding onto chains for dear life part.

Lookit, I made you a diagram so you understand what I’m talking about here when I say “narrow trail” and “chains required” and “you’ll probably plunge to your death if you don’t pay attention to your feet.”  The trail?  It’s steep, yo.  And skinny.

Yipes!  Hello, Death, nice to see you up here; they don’t call it “slick rock” for nothing.  This was taken when we were most of the way to the top.  The slot canyon on the left is where the trail starts, you know, 1300 feet and 2 miles ago.

But you guys, the view!

Looking towards the mouth of the canyon, one of the more stunning vistas I’ve ever seen.

Team photo!

After hanging out at the top for probably an hour, eating snacks and stretching our legs, we headed back down the steep trail.  I want to say it was easier coming down than going up, but that’s just not true.  The trail was far more crowded–big crowds on tiny trails with sheer drop offs is not an awesome combination–and my poor knees were making sure I knew they were unhappy.  (I think this means I’m getting old.  Or “mature.”  Or something.) That being said, I will totally hike Angel’s Landing again; and I would absolutely recommend it to anyone else as well.  Yes, it’s hard.  Yes, it’s technical.  Sure, it can be a little scary.  But is it worth it?  Absolutely.

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