Miles Travelled: 3,191
Miles Hiked: 49.7
Current Location: Virgin, UT
After a great night at the campsite we got up early and headed back to Zion National Park. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately if you ask LD) the most popular hike at Zion, called The Narrows, is closed due to the level of the river. On this hike you actually descend through a narrow canyon and are forced to hike in the river which is normally in the 50's this time of year. Since that was not an option we chose to take on Angel's landing, a difficult 5.4 mile hike with some very interesting scrambles. Here is the view from the base.
You start off with a walk along the river with some great views like this one...
You then begin ascending a series of switchbacks. They are so steep it was difficult to get a good photo but this will give you an idea of what they are like.
After the switchbacks you reach an area known as Walter's Wiggles, so named because the trail folds back on itself almost 20 times in succession. You then reach Scout's Landing which is where most people stop and go back. Laura and I pushed on to the actual landing by following a very difficult trail with sheer drop-offs on both sides. No picture could do the trail justice so on the photo below I drew a red line to illustrate the trail we took to the top.
I know it looks impossible from the picture but we did it. The trails were insane. Here is an example of one tricky section out of dozens. Remember that there is a sheer cliff on either side of the trail.
Once we got to the top it was well worth it. There are several pictures in the album link below that we took at the top but none of them capture how cool it was up there. Also in the album you will see a picture of a chipmunk attacking LD. Apparently, idiot tourists feeding the chipmunks has caused them to become aggressive and in some cases they even bite people who are eating snacks. Here is one picture from the top.
After Angel's Landing we ate lunch in the park and mapped out our next hike. We decided on another difficult trail called Hidden Canyon. The trail itself is somewhat short, 1.2 miles in and the same back out. However, it ascends almost 900 feet in the course of that mile. I don't care how good you are on the stair master or treadmill, this hike will wear you out. Here is LD checking out the downwards view on the way up.
There are some great views as you climb the trail and once you reach the top. The real fun of this hike begins when you reach the end of the trail. At that point it is no longer maintained by the park and you are on your own. So we decided to see how far down the canyon we could get. It was filled with tough climbs like this one.
The adventure of exploring the canyon was better than the views and the trail itself. Although, it did provide a great look at some different sandstone formations like this one.
Once we descended from the canyon we took a shuttle back to our car. We were both so exhausted I think we both nodded off on the way back. We got back to the campgrounds, hit the hot tub and then made a great pork chop and potato dinner. We are pretty much packed up and we will head out early in the morning for the 10 hour drive to Yosemite National Park.
Click here for the full Zion National Park - Day 2 photo album
