Last day in glorious Zion

Today is our last full day in Zion.  We've really loved it here.  Determined to do something productive with ourselves, we hauled ourselves out of bed at 7:30 (gasp!), and got organized for a hike to Angel's Landing.  Angel's Landing is one of the two most famous hikes in Zion (The Narrows is the other).  Perhaps infamous is better, actually.  Not only is it a difficult hike (you climb 1500 feet, or almost 1/3 of a mile up in just 2 linear miles) but the last 1/2 mile section is along the spine of the mountain.  Six people have died from falling off Angel's Landing in the past 10 years.  It's serious business.  Forearmed with all of this information, we set off anyway.  No one ever accused us of being especially clever.  From the Lodge, it was an easy 0.6 mile hike to The Grotto, which is the trailhead for Angel's Landing.

The start.  So nice and flat.  That would soon end.

Gorgeous morning.  About 38F/3C with a slight breeze.  Chilly in the shade, but perfect for an uphill hike.

Not long after the trailhead, things started getting steep.  Really steep.  Nearly 45 degrees angle steep.  Oh, and switchbacks - my favorite.  We puffed our way up three or four of the switchbacks-from-hell at a time and then stopped for "a photo".  That was our code for "dying; must stop and rest".   This section of the trail made me wish I was back hiking out of the Grand Canyon.

It's difficult to tell from this photo, but the incline here is close to 45 degrees.  

After about a 1/2 mile of torture, things leveled off to a more reasonable 10% incline and we were able to catch our breath and enjoy the scenery.  The trail was now moving through a narrow canyon (or maybe a big crevasse?) and the rocks were amazing to look at.  

Yay!  A "flat" section.

Holes caused by water and frost

All too quickly we were out of the gentle slope and looking up at the dreaded "Walter's Wiggles", a section of the trail named for the first Superintendent of Zion who helped engineer this lovely stretch of trail.  Once again, 30-45 degree inclines in a short linear distance span.  Take a look at this photo to get the full impact of it.  We officially hate Walter, by the way.

Our photo taken from near the top of Walter's Wiggles

The good news is, Walter's Wiggles spit you out at Scout's Lookout.  It was beautiful and sunny up there, and Andrew took a couple of great pics: 

I love these shots with the sun spots

We'd now come 2 miles up the trail.  The last 1/2 mile is what people talk about, however.  For good reason.  As I said earlier, people have died.  And, as my friend Jeanne recently reminded me, dead is serious.  Here's the warning sign.  In the bottom left corner it reads "Your safety is your responsibility".  Meaning the NPS is not liable if you're stupid enough to climb this section.  Turns out, we're at least stupid enough to attempt it...so up we go!

The sign just before the last (and worst) section of Angel's Landing.  This section was no joke.

Looking up at the last section of the climb.  There are chains staked in to the rock here to give you something to hang on to; the trail is that narrow.  Unfortunately, the chains are missing in quite a few spots.  

I'd love to tell you that we made it to the top, and even share a picture of us looking triumphant in our defeat of Angel's Landing.  That picture is missing, however, because we didn't make it to the top.  We made it half way before the "trail" turned in to a balance beam with 1500 feet of nothing on either side.  Andrew, who is terrified of heights, threw in the towel.  Because I am a loving wife, always concerned for the well-being of my partner, I generously turned around to be sure he got down safely.  And if you believe that, my friends, I have some oceanfront property in Arizona that I'd like to sell you! 

Turns out, down was actually more frightening than up.  Let me assure you that gravity is not your friend when you're on this narrow of a trail.  As graceless as it may have appeared, we shimmied down most of the steepest parts on our assess, and I'm ok with that because I am alive to admit to it.  

For those of you who think I may be exaggerating about this section of the trail, or who think you would be brave (or stupid) enough to conquer it - watch this video and then reassess.  The really, really crazy thing is, I read a lot of reviews where people took THEIR CHILDREN (as young as 10) up this trail.  I can only assume they either did not like that particular child, or they had plenty more at home to choose from.  This is why we should support Planned Parenthood, people.  Not everyone should bear offspring.

Having survived MOST of Angel's Landing (I wonder if they sell that t-shirt in the gift shop?), we turned around and headed for home.  With those steep inclines, down was tough on the quads and knees, but we had our trekking poles to help take some of the weight off.   Having just outfoxed the grim reaper, we were obnoxiously chipper on the way down.  We chatted with those coming up and offered them sympathetic looks and words of encouragement.  Andrew's advice to fellow climbers:  stop at the chains.  

Looking down at the trail

View of the first set of switchbacks from about the 1/2 way mark

As long as I live, I would never tire of looking at these rocks

We made it to the back to our cabin exactly 2 hours and 45 minutes from when we started.  Total distance travelled was 6.2 linear miles and 1/3 of a vertical mile.  We showered and drove in to town for a well-deserved lunch and some shopping.  We're planning to do as little as possible the rest of the evening.  

Tomorrow we drive back to Vegas...see you there!