Angel's Landing - Zion National Park - 9/6/13

View Down Canyon from Chain Area

Classic View of Angel's Landing from the Saddle

 On Friday, two groups of hikers got off the Zion National Park canyon shuttle at the Grotto stop, crossed the Virgin River bridge and turned right. There were fifteen hikers in the large group that were headed to Angel's Landing. The other group would break off at Scouts Lookout to continue their hike on the West Rim. They all climbed up the paved trail through the cut out in the rock wall of the canyon and continued into Refrigerator Canyon. Soon, Walter's Wiggles were history and the object of their fears lay before them!

View Down to Big Bend Shuttle Stop from Scout's Lookout

The Beginning of the Chains

 After saying good-bye to the West Rim group and getting an eyeful of the beginning of the last half mile on Angel's Landing, five of the fifteen hikers decided to sit it out at Scouts Lookout. The remaining ten hikers started up the chains. (In the writer's opinion, the first set of chains is the most scary since it is on a section of the fin that is not flat under your feet.) Anywho, the hikers, most of whom had never done the hike before, bravely took the challenge and joined in the rambunctious line of people already hiking the fin.

Jan Captures the Image of Her Fears!

Roger, Paul and Rozi Defy Gravity

 I wonder if the guy sitting up to the right is the guy that fell and broke his leg that day. Perhaps not but someone did and the rescuers had to spend the night with him so that a helicopter could come the next day and fly him out. Hey, at least he lived. (The trail was closed for the first part of Saturday.)

Jan Looks Down from Where She Came

 After a very hot day before, the ten hikers were thankful for the cloud cover providing some relief. They continued dealing with the climb, chain section by chain section, until they arrived at the summit ridge. Views up and down Zion canyon were unbelievable. The weather only added to the scenery. At the end of the fin, there were around ten others celebrating the view and the club members took photos and a snack break.

Rozi Hikes Out the Final Balancing Act

AtBF on Top of Angel's Landing

 While they were taking their break, a few sprinkles were felt urging the ten hikers to start down. No one wants to be on top of Angel's Landing in the rain. On the way down, the rain got a little heavier then stopped. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they reached Scouts Lookout relatively dry. With the aforementioned injury and heavier rain the next two days, we were very lucky that this hike was scheduled on Friday and not later. Five miles with 2000 feet of elevation gain.

Hiking Down at the Saddle

Looking Back - We did THAT?

One Way Graph