Tuesday, April 15, 2008--Angels' Landing

Today was an exciting day! Florian and Nadia ate breakfast with us this morning. After breakfast we sat and talked for a couple of hours. We discussed the economy in Germany and in America. Both seem to have the same problems but in Germany the euro is climbing as our dollar drops.
We shared e-mail addresses and said our goodbyes. They were on their way to Las Vegas and we were off to hike Angels Landing.

We rode the shuttle to the Grotto to get to the trailhead for Angels Landing. For those of you who don't know about Angels Landing, it is a very steep trail to the top of a mountain. There is a quote that says: "Only angels could perch on a ridge this narrow." The trail hugs the mountain and is very steep. Most of the trail is paved, but it is still steep with drop-offs that go straight down! http://www.zionnational-park.com/zion-angels-landing-trail.htm

This was our first view of the trail as we made our way to Scout's Landing the rest spot before you hike the last .5 mile to Angels Landing. The trail is on the outcropping on the left side of the picture.
We walked a little farther and stopped to view the trail again. If you look closely at the middle of the picture, you can see the bricks that were used to reinforce the trail. And yes, that is the incline of the trail.
At this point we turned around to look at the trail below us. It was much easier to see!

Then we looked to the top of the ridge--Angels Landing! It runs along the ridge of this mountain.

We made the corner of the trail and turned into Refrigerator Canyon. Today it wasn't a refrigerator, it was a refuge from the wind. Did I tell you that the wind was blowing a steady 25-30 mph! And, oh by the way, the gusts were up to 60 mph! The wind was roaring right before we made the turn. We made a few rest stops along the way.

We were almost out of the mile long canyon which meant we were almost to Walter's Wiggles. Time to rest again!

We made it to the top of Walter's Wiggles and took a look back at the wiggles. The wiggles are switchbacks that each run about 25 feet. Yes, those are people on the lower wiggles.
We finally made it to Scout's Landing--2 miles from our starting point! And the wind roared even louder! Angels Landing was in our sight!
We watched for a while as people attempted to make the final climb holding onto the chains. Many of them turned around and descended after a few minutes. The wind was too unpredictable. We ate a light snack and decided we had gone far enough. The wind was roaring and blowing sand in our eyes. We took one last picture overlooking the 1400 feet drop-off and started our descent.
We walked down the wiggles much faster than we ascended. It's amazing how that happens on all our hikes!

Refrigerator Canyon was a breeze until we were almost out of it, then the wind roared until we made the turn out and the wind continued to roar at us for about 30 more feet. We hugged the wall of the trail as everyone else was doing.

We finally made the turn where the wind was blocked and we enjoyed the view of the last part of the trail.Since our descent was so much easier than the ascent, we decided to walk the Grotto Trail to Zion Lodge to meet our shuttle.

It is a nice lodge, but Cumberland Lodge at Cumberland Falls, Kentucky is nicer.

We rode the shuttle to the visitor center and then we walked back to our campsite for a late lunch. We spent the rest of the afternoon updating the blog, reading the news, and filling the fresh water tank. Our campground has no hookups so we are dry camping again. The solar panels are keeping up with our needs.

Tonight we will ride the shuttle back into the canyon to watch the sunset and stargaze.

Tomorrow we will visit the museum and maybe do a couple of geocaches. Whatever we decide, we will keep you posted.