Angels Landing: Zions National Park

Difficulty: Hard

5 miles round trip

I can honestly say that I have never done a hike quite like this in my entire life, and probably never will again. I am surprised that I did as well as I did, considering that I get scared on a ferris wheel (much to my children's enjoyment). When I first saw the spine of rock that we were going to climb up, I told Aaron that I didn't know if I was going to be able to do it, but in the end there was only one part that I peed my pants a little - the rest I was surprisingly calm. This is NOT a hike to do if you are terrified of heights, or have small children with you, but if you are daring and ready for an adventure - holy cow, this hike is for you!!

Angels Landing starts out innocent enough - it's a paved trail for crying out loud. Beautiful views and a gentle climb make this a very pleasant and easy hike. A few switchbacks start in soon, but nothing to write home about.

The last leg of the hike, right before you actually get to the spine of Angels Landing, is a hard push up. The switchbacks become very shallow and short to get you up the last steep step to the top. This portion of the trial is called "Walter's Wiggles" and is definitely a thigh burner and will get your cardio going strong.

Here is where things get real and you find out what you are truly made of. The spine of Angels Landing is only about 8 feet across at a lot of the areas, and there is a chain that goes down the center of it for you to hang onto. A lot of the other areas of the climb are up the side of a cliff on one side, with a deathly drop of over 1,000 feet on the other. The view point at the top is around 1,500 feet above the canyon floor and the chain is there to aid you in your climb almost the entire way up. I didn't use it so much to help myself up as I did as a lifeline, in case I slipped I was holding onto something to keep myself from falling to my death.

 (That skinny spine of rock right behind us?.... yup, that's what most of the hike looks like. We are heading up that direction)

I tried to get a picture from the bottom of Angels Landing to show just how far up we were, but pictures don't really do it justice. It was a pretty fun and exhilarating hike though, and one I recommend highly.

 

Directions: From the Zions National Park South entrance, take the tram into the park. You will be getting off on the Grotto stop, which is the 6th stop on the tram tour. Cross the hiker's bridge over the Virgin River and follow the paved trail north and up the west side of the canyon.


SIDE NOTE:

We decided to hike further up this trail. If you still have some energy in you it is very worth the time to keep going. The views are spectacular, and almost everyone does Angels Landing and then turns around to go back, so there are hardly any people there. I very much recommend hiking another mile or two.