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| View from Angels Landing |
“Conquer the mountain way down by the riverside”
To Zion Goes I – OAR
After leaving behind the monsoon at Grand Canyon we headed
north then west towards Zion National Park.
The drive was not without its excitement. The storms continued to stalk us in the
desolate region of Northern Arizona.
Then we hit Utah and suddenly everything became great again. We were still half an hour from the park and
with no guarantee that there would be a place to stay we decided to stop in a
town called Kanab. We checked Trip
Advisor (my best friend since Belize) and found the best rated motel in
town. We lucked out and got the last
room at the Canyon Lodge, at a very discounted rate after I told him about the
road trip. We slept like babies in the
most comfortable beds yet. The next
morning we continued the trek and arrived at Zion.
One might think "how can you be impressed after just seeing
the Grand Canyon?", but there was something instantly special about this
park. Where this canyon may pale in
comparison to the grandeur of the last park, it makes up in the details. The color contrast is remarkable between the
red and white rim peaks, the blue sky and the green valley below. The drive into the park would have been
enough. We zigzagged down into the canyon
and ended at the mouth (I think that’s the term) at the visitor center. Our campsite was not far so we got to setting
up our rain soaked gear in the dry, sun soaked valley. It was all instantly dried. It was already too late in the day to start
the hike I have been dreaming about since the day I added Zion to my
itinerary.
Instead we took the shuttle to the a small hike, that dad
was able to do the first portion. The
exercise felt great after being cooped up in a car for so long, but the hike
overall was nothing spectacular. As has
become routine, some nasty looking clouds made there way over the canyon. This particular park has great reception so
we obsessively checked the weather reports and indeed a storm was coming. We got back to our site and since there is a
fire ban in the park, we went into the town of Springdale, a stones throw out
of the park and got some pizza and local Utah beer. The clouds continued to position themselves
overhead. Then something changed. The setting sun bursts through the clouds and
gave us a light show as it lit up various parts of the canyon rim and
peaks. Every color imaginable was on
display. We went to bed under the stars
knowing our luck had finally changed. Though when it doesn't go below 80 degrees at night, you don't really sleep.
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| Sunset in Zion |
The next morning, Andy and I woke up nice and early with the
sun, and made our way to the trailhead for the famous Angels’ Landing
trail. Many people have recommended this
hike and could not wait to get started.
Initially I was worried that it be crowded because at 7:30 the shuttle
was already packed. Fortunately, the
Grotto stop was not the destination for most and we got off and headed toward
the trail. At first, it was only Andy,
myself and three guys (Matt, Caleb, and Spencer) from Kentucky. They too were on a road trip to celebrate
graduating high school. This is a
strenuous climb to nearly 1500 feet over 2.5 miles. They were clearly in better shape and powered
upward. Andy and I did pretty well
ourselves, passing the majority of hikers who had started earlier. During a water break we met Liz, single mom
from Chicago whose kids were back at camp, she stuck with us for the rest of
the hike. Meeting new people is my
favorite part of traveling. We continued
upward and finally reached the point that make this hike so famous. The last portion follows a narrow ridge to
the top, at moments you can see straight down over a 1000 feet on either
side. If you look down too much your
legs get weak. Many do not continue, but
we did and it was absolutely worth it.
After about an hour and half we were at the top with a view that can not
be explained (so check out the picture).
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| The last part of the Angels Landing hike |
At the top we met up again with our Kentucky friends who did
a couple acrobatic tricks for us, including a handstand closer to the edge than
I would have done. Not that I can do a
handstand. We had a snack, took turns
taking pictures of each other and all walked down together. I was satisfied, the hike was everything a
hike should be, hard work with a great pay off.
This pay off will be burned in my memory forever. We made our way back to the campsite and
found dad. He was ready to move on to
the next step of the trip, so we packed up and headed west to Las Vegas. But first we treated ourselves to a much-deserved
Double-Double cheeseburger from In-and-Out Burger.
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| Spencer on top of Angels Landing |
Stats:
Miles Driven: 3734
States: PA, MD, WV, VA, TN, NC, AL, MS, LA, TX, NM, AZ, UT
Hours Driven: no idea, lost
track a while ago
National Parks: 6
State License Plates: 43
(still need Rhode Island, Montana, Hawaii, Alaska, North and South Dakota and
Iowa)
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