The Engelmans have landed at Angel's Landing

In order to beat the afternoon heat and the crowds on the trails, we did the unthinkable--we set the alarm clock! True to our plan, we were up at 5 a.m. this morning. We ate a good breakfast, drove the 23 miles in the dark, and were on one of the first shuttles into Zion National Park that morning.  It was barely twilight when the bus dropped us off near our trail head for the Angel's Landing hike.  It was cool, and Denisa still had her jacket on this morning.

Again, things are a little blurry because it isn't fully light yet. We usually wait to talk to a ranger to plan which hikes we will take at a new location.  But in Zion there are some iconic hikes that most hikers have always heard about.  Mark is standing on the trail, but still far away from our destination today--the top of Angel's Landing.

We had hiked straight up for thirty minutes before we got to this overlook point.  The first sun rays of the day were just hitting the top of the peaks on the other side of the Virgin River.

From another overlook still higher, we could look down on our squiggly path full of some serious switchbacks.

We found that many people end their hike at Scout's Lookout, about an hour and 15 minutes into the trail.  This is the point where things get more strenuous and a lot more scary.  You can see that we are now on a very narrow strip of mountain with ledges straight down on both sides.  Denisa was very glad to see a chain to hang on to during this climb.  On the other hand, Mark is only hanging onto the camera, taking way too many of these pictures.

Here's a look at the ridge line that we have to traverse between Scout's Lookout and Angel's Landing.  The sign at the bottom warns that since 2004, six people have died on this section.  It's a 1.1 mile round trip climb that is over 1,400 feet above the canyon floor.

Almost to the top, we can see the light at the top of the summit.  At some places the trail is only 27 inches wide.  They warn against hiking this trail when there are high winds, storms or ice.  We were glad to have blue skies and none of those other weather options today.  We were also glad to be some of the first people on the trail.  That means there aren't a lot of people coming down from the summit.  There isn't a lot of room to meet another hiker going the opposite direction in this section.

Finally to the top, it's time to take pictures with us above the surrounding mountain tops.  The sun is lighting up the mountains around us now, and we can see the canyon floor and Virgin River far below.

This peak got its name because it was so tall only the angels could land here.  But today, the Engelmans have landed here as well!

Some hardy trees still manage to survive on the top of this ridge.  It's amazing to see how their roots are clinging to the top of that rocky summit.   Even though it felt quite safe to be sitting among those roots at the time, this picture shows that it might have been a little close to the edge.

We also must include the picture taken straight down over the ledge.  You can be assured that Mark stretched out over the edge to take that one--not Denisa.  That would be the Big Bend shuttle stop, with two of those large shuttle buses far below.

Behind Mark, you can see the sheer rock face and the tiny ridge that we walked on from a different angle now.

We didn't stay at the summit long because we wanted to get down off the narrowest sections before the hiking crowds woke up.  Standing on a narrow ledge, waiting for other hikers to clear a section before we could continue would make this hike more tedious and more dangerous.

The trip down seems a little scarier, because you can see what would happen if you stumbled down these steps.  Denisa was happy to have that chain to hold onto during the narrowest sections.  It would feel a little like a "high-wire-tight-rope-walk-on-a-stair-master" without it.  There was enough of a breeze to make us realize how tricky this could be in a gale.

But on the wider section it was all right to do the classic lean over the canyon wall.




















This is the view of the straight down cliff face that they picture on the warning posters at the beginning of the trail.  We were surprised at the number of people that have every intention of hiking to the top, but once they see the cliff face and the chains and the narrow trail, decided that Scout's Lookout is a good place to stop.

Denisa is talking to two of those people when we got back to Scout's Landing.  They were trying to get more information about hiking further, and counseling to see if they should continue.  On the other hand, Mark is scrambling up the loose rock to the summit there on the landing.  He took this picture from his perch on the top of that area.

It's close to 10:00 now, and we are so glad to be off the section with the chains.  We took this picture of the steady stream of hikers just above Scout's Lookout climbing both up and down now.  They haven't gotten to the ridge yet and the area is already very congested.  We didn't like that alarm going off at 5:00 this morning, but we are so glad that it did now.  We wouldn't want to be hiking up directly behind someone, and waiting for those coming down.

About 30 minutes down from the top now, we are on the section of the hike called, "Walter's Wiggles."  Named after the first manager of Zion Park, it is a set of 21 switchbacks that makes the climb to Angel's Landing possible.  One of the few trail sections on the list of national historic places, Walter's Wiggles will test your leg muscles going both up and down.

Now back at the bottom, Mark is standing on a rock far below the summit of Angel's Landing.  It's only 10:30, but we made our strenuous hike for the day.  We are content to ride the shuttle back to the car, and head home for a nap.  It was a great day for one of the hikes we have dreamed about for a very long time.