Built To Roam: Angel's Landing

I know, I know, it's been a wile since my last update but I've been much to busy lying on the beach in Florida to pick up a computer and write a post. It was a spur of the moment trip planned while still coming down from the high that Utah gave me. While Utah was an all out adventure, Florida was more of a relaxing, aptly named, vacation. I will have an update in the near future about my "hiking" in Florida, but for now I still need to polish off some of the Utah hikes.
On our second full day in Zion National Park, Nicole and I set off to hike the famous Angel's Landing. Having only two real full days to devote to hiking in Zion I had to make some important decisions as to which hikes would be the best allowing us to see the most. As opposed to our first hike (The Narrows) which took us through a narrow slot canyon in the walls at the base of Zion Vally, this hike was to showcase the grand scale and height of the valley itself. It was a sharp, narrow, dangerous climb to a thin outcrop of rock jutting out from the edge of the valley which offered a 360 view of the surrounding country. We took the shuttle in to the Angel's Landing trail-head and started off on the trail later in the morning. The sun was high enough in the sky by the time we set out to be above the canyon walls and facilitate the burning of my ginger skin if left exposed for more that 8 seconds. It was pretty immediately an uphill climb and it was at this point, as with every uphill hiking trip, that that part of you deep inside your brain starts saying "Sick idea bro." but you ignore it and remember what the hike is all about and the feeling of accomplishment you get when you finally get to the summit and see what you've been working for the whole time.
After about a mile of hiking in the sun, we headed up a long series of switchbacks and eventually made it into a shaded pass through the rock and onto the back side of Angel's Landing. We passed by some sandstone caves and took our time exploring them since the shade felt so good. It was finally time to start our ascend again and as we climbed the second set of switchbacks the sun made its way over the top of the surrounding cliff walls and again put us in direct sunlight. We reached the top of the last of the switchbacks and hiked by tons of people who had made it this far but didn't want to continue on to the dangerous final part of the hike, no doubt because of the large amount of sand they had kicked up into their lady parts. The final half mile or so was along an open ridge with a series of chains to hold on to as you make your way up to the summit of Angel's Landing. Something like five people have died by falling off the side of the cliff during this portion of the hike. The view at the top was spectacular and we stopped to eat a snack and snap some pictures while fending off mountaineering chipmunks before heading back down the trail and hopping on the bus. This is a definite must do hike in Zion National Park and at only 5 miles round trip can be easily done in the morning with plenty of time to do another hike later in the day.

Mileage: 5 Miles.