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Angel's
Landing, from the valley floor
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After
spending the night in Hurricane, Jim and I got to the Zion Lodge and
registered. We decided to do three trails, Emerald Pools, Kayenta, and
Angel's Landing. We started at 11 AM and got back to the valley floor
at 7 PM.
First
we went to the Emerald Pools which were not very deep since it was the
fall. The upper one was the best.
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We
then walked along the river on a ledge trail called the Kayenta trail.
We took a break for lunch at the Grotto and fill our water bottles.
On the Angel's Landing trail, after walking along the valley floor,
Jim and I split up. He went on ahead up the switchbacks faster than
me. The trail switchbacked up heavily and then went through a man-made
cut in the cliff as indicated by the blue line above.
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The whole
trail was cemented which is unusual. Looking back down from the cut,
you can see the switchbacks. After
rounding the corner at the end of the cut, I walked back through a natural
break in the rocks for about 15 minutes. It was cool and secluded.
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Then I saw
Walter's Wiggle and just had to take a rest! |
Walter apparently constructed this set of switchbacks in the 1930s. Quite
an engineering feat! |
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Jim
had hiked out onto the West Rim trail and we kept in touch by walkie-talkie.
We met where the the trail branched. We went up for about 15 minutes
using chains to hang on. We got to the point where we got this view
of the Angel's Landing. I decided not to go up. I had already hiked
for 5 hours and felt I was to tired to go on. The 2000 foot drop off
on both sides was not very appealing either. The
arrows in the pictures point to Jim. 
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The view from this spot in all directions is awesome!
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