In Zion National Park, the ultimate thrill for hikers is the Angel’s Landing trail. It’s 5.4 miles round-trip, with an altitude gain of 1,488 ft. It’s a cardio-vascular test, for sure, and it is also a challenge for anyone who has fear of heights. Lots of 1,000 foot drop-offs a few feet from the narrow trail.
It’s not for everyone; in fact, Zion hiking literature warns would-be hikers about the risks, and there are signs at the trailhead reminding hikers that this is the real deal: Beware, “don’t bit off more than you can chew”, etc. Most people who start up this trail don’t get anywhere near the summit; they back off when they realize what they’re up against.
I did this hike last year when I when I was an out-of-shape 68 year-old. Then, it took me 2 hours to get to the top, including many rest stops. I feel that I’m in better shape this year, so I thought I kill a morning and give it another try.
Angel’s Landing is a sandstone monolith that is situated toward the back of Zion Canyon where the Virgin river makes a sweeping turn.
The trail from the shuttle stop to the base of the mountain is a mile long with some pretty views. Then begins a serious slog up a steep series of switchbacks. Most tourists poop out on this section of the hike, particularly those with little kids, out-of-shape desk jockeys, and old geezers who have no business trudging up a steep slope in the heat of the day.
After that, there is a more benign trail which meanders along and between rock cliffs, with a stream and trees; very pretty in there.
At the end of this leisurely segment, the hiker must trudge up Walter’s Wiggles, a series of 21 switchbacks that were cut into a very steep canyon wall in 1926. I had to rest many times here last year. Atop the Wiggles is Scout Lookout, where most non-serious hikers and parents with children bow out.
From Scout Lookout to the summit, the carefully manicured/paved trail is replaced with a roughly-defined dirt path which takes the hiker along sheer cliffs, over and in between boulders, and atop sandstone slick rocks. (I read today that five people fell off this trail to their deaths, as of 2015!)
There is a ridge/spine of rock which connects Scout Lookout with the summit. Basically, there is a 1,000 foot sheer drop-off on either side of the path, and the “trail” at this point is very steep, so a series of posts with steel cables are imbedded into the sandstone to give the hiker something with which to maintain balance. The narrow path along the cable routes must be shared by hikers going up the mountain and those who are descending. So, it is important for everyone to be safety conscious and thoughtful of each other. In this environment, everyone seems to be very mature and serious. And, thank goodness for that!
This part of the journey is not hiking, per se, but more like “scrambling” over and around obstacles, while contemplating some stupid mistake that will send you off the cliff, out of control. It’s not for everybody; I just keep my eyes on the path and watch where and how I’m stepping. If you do this, and have good quality hiking boots, it’s manageable.
Eventually, if you gut it out, you reach the summit of Angel’s Landing, and it’s a sublime view from up there.
Most of the hikers who make it to the top are twenty year-olds, to be honest. I felt pretty good in their company.
While at the summit, I had my usual lunch of jerky, trail mix, and Gatorade.
At the summit of virtually every peak that I’ve climbed, there are “food bandits” waiting for their share of the hiker’s meal. In this case, I was quickly surrounded by a pack of miniature chipmunks, who were quite brazen in their panhandling, running in between, under, and atop my legs to get at my ziplocks full of goodies. I got a nice video of the episode, but can’t include it here.
It’s a beautiful place up here; really makes you feel small and insignificant.
My trip to the summit took me 80 minutes this year, as opposed to 120 minutes last year. So, I think the Grand Canyon hiking and the other hiking I’ve done here at Zion has done me some good. In fact, I didn’t need to take any rest breaks from the river to the top of Scout Lookout.
Unfortunately, a senior citizen appeared to have met his demise on the trail while I was coming down the mountain. I was through the Wiggles, coming down the steep trail, when I came upon this scene.
The gentleman had a cardiac arrest and some Good Samaritan was giving him vigorous CPR while others held some material over him for shade and privacy. I could hear the chest massages going on a minute or so before I came upon the sad scene. The really bad part of this tragedy was that the nearest road is probably 1.5 miles down a steep trail, and there’s no cell phone reception at this point. I was at least a quarter mile down the hill (past the victim) when I saw the first responder (Forest Service) speeding up the trail to render assistance. Then, maybe another ten minutes before I passed paramedics huffing and puffing their way up the trail. And, maybe another five minutes before local Fire Dept guys with a stretcher came up the trail from the road. They were a mile from the victim at that point. Too little, too late, I’m afraid. (I ran into a Zion shuttle driver this morning at the laundromat. She told me the victim was a 71 year-old man.)
What many older, out-of-shape “hikers” don’t realize is that the ascent up those steep trails and switchbacks to Walter’s Wiggles is tantamount to an hour-long cardiac stress test, with no doctor present if the heart starts to fail. Anyone who has taken one of those tests knows that the heart can get exhausted quickly when the treadmill is ramped up.
On Wednesday, for our unfortunate, nameless hiker, that long, steep slope, at almost 1 mile in elevation, turned out to be his Stairway to Heaven.
On a lighter note, we’re having a good time here in Hurricane, Utah at Willow Wind RV Park.
We saw a Tiny House the other day:
Booger appropriated the water dish at the local leash-free dog park for unauthorized uses:
Here, I’m resting my aching feet with my little doggies after a long hike:
We’ve met nice people here, all of the amenities in Hurricane are close by, and we are adjusting to the RV life again…plus one. So far, so good.