Angels Landing

ZION NATIONAL PARK, UT

Hiking is officially cancelled.

I just hiked Angels Landing (twice) and it is so epic that I'm not sure what could possibly top it! It is part physical, part psychological, part intimidation, 100% amazing views. It has you climbing 21 switchbacks, traversing a narrow ridge with a 1,000' drop on either side while clinging to chains, and looking out from a summit with views so beautiful they will make you cry.

And like most things in life, reading about it, hearing about it, thinking about it ... is all more intimidating than the actual thing. The secret to doing epic hikes (and to doing anything in life in general) is to, yes, do your research and make smart choices, but then ... just go do it!

This hike was WAY less scary than I anticipated and less difficult (although it definitely got my heart rate up!), and the views and the experience of doing it were AWESOME!

What is Angels Landing?

According to Utah.com, "there's no view more dramatic than what you see hanging onto a chain bolted into a cliff." The mountain is shaped like a shark fin and the trail follows the narrow spine to the final viewpoint, roughly 1,500' above the canyon floor. It is one of the world's most renowned hikes.

Walter's Wiggles

The first part of the hike is relatively flat, just walking from the shuttle stop to the base of the mountain.

The middle section of the trail is considered the physical part, with a series of 21 switchbacks built in 1926 by Walter Ruesch, Zion National Park's first superintendent. They are carved out of solid rock on a sheer cliff and are considered to be an engineering marvel. Some would say a torture device. From the sky, the switchbacks look like someone drew a zigzag down the side of the mountain, so they are called "Walter's Wiggles."

Unfortunately, you can't get a picture of Walter's Wiggles while you are wiggling, so I am shamelessly sharing this aerial photo from an article in the LA Times:

Source: LA Times

Scout's Landing

Your reward for conquering Walter's Wiggles is a flat resting area called Scout's Landing with gorgeous views of the canyon. This signals the end of the physical portion of the hike and the beginning of the psychological final part of the hike, where you climb the spine of the shark fin, hanging on to chains connected to posts drilled into the rock.

Scout's Landing is also where all the people too afraid of heights or too nervous to attempt the intimidating final climb of the hike wait while their fearless friends make the final summit. Here's a photo of some of those wimpy peeps. :)

Here is a view on the way up to Scout's Landing:

The Final Summit

From Scout's Landing, you start the psychological part of the journey. You scale the spine of the fin while hanging on to chains, with drops of 1,000-1,500 feet on either side of you. There is definitely an elevation change on this last part of the hike, but you are going so slow that the exertion is low.

Here's a view of the trail that kept half the crowd anchored at Scout's Landing. The photo doesn't capture the magnitude of size. To put it into perspective, there are people all the way up the spine of this mountain, like a trail of ants, and they are so far away you can't quite see them in this photo. The trees on top of Angel's Landing are taller than me.

Fun Fact: the week before I arrived, one of the chains came loose and they closed the summit to hikers until it was repaired the day before I arrived. I shared this with some of the people on the trail. I thought it was great news - what a bummer if we had come to do this trail and couldn't hike to the top? They personally thought this news was unnecessary to share.

Getting closer:

The picture below shows just how steep the climb is. The line of people, of course, means you are moving slower, which works out because it gives you a chance to take pictures along the way while you are stopped.

People move slowly for two reasons. First, to be sure-footed although some people took exceptionally long to get their footing. :) Second, there is just one way up and one way down, so we would move a batch up people up, and then wait for a batch of people to come down. In the words of my shuttle driver earlier that day: there are moments that you're playing Twister with strangers on the chains as you pass each other.

The Angel's Landing Summit

And then you finally make it to the top. The views are incredible!

Again, it's hard to get the perspective of just how high up in the air you are. This pic sort of captures it ...

Proof that I was at the top twice - first day was in the 70's. The second time I hiked ... it was not. :)

Quick Story about Getting TO the Trailhead

I knew in advance this hike would be epic, so I planned to do it twice. The $1 shuttle tickets are a challenge, requiring you to go online and reserve them at a specific time, so on the first day I was there, rather than risk a day of sitting at the visitor center with no shuttle, I booked a driver ($35).

My driver from Red Rock Shuttles was Keith and he was awesome. I was the only passenger, so I sat up front with him. He said he dropped other hikers off that morning and would pick them up at 4:00 pm and 5:00 pm and I was welcome to catch those shuttles. He would come back one last time at 6:00 pm for me, but that was the last shuttle of the day.

Then Keith said, "If I get here at 4:00 and those hikers I dropped off this morning aren't here, I'm going to be worried.

"If I come back at 5:00 and those other hikers still aren't here, now that's when I'm going to get a little scared.

"If I come back at 6:00 and those hikers still aren't here ... well, then ... I'm gonna drive on home and eat supper with my wife."

I laughed and said, "Ok, so don't miss the 6:00 shuttle. Got it."

Keith has been married for 47 years and the secret to a long marriage is prioritizing each other, not stupid hikers. LOL! Keith is now one of my new favorite people. :)

For the record, I made the 4:00 shuttle. :)

Total distance = 4.92 miles

Total elevation gain = 1,593'

Times I've hiked Angels Landing = 2