To start off with, I just want to warn you that this blog post is picture intensive! We had a fabulous day hiking and Steve took 169 pictures...he managed to get them down to 112, but they are all so unique. It's hard to capture the area's beauty! We also have WiFi included in the resort here...bonus!
We wanted to get an early start because the park has been very busy. So we headed off just before 9:00. After parking the truck in the RV parking lot, we walked over to the Visitors Center and caught the shuttle. Today we are hiking the West Rim trail that goes up to the trailhead of Angels Landing.
(Reminder...You can click on photos to enlarge)
It was a very chilly morning...especially since the sun hadn't reached over the mountains into the canyon.
That's Angels Landing ahead where a death defying trail ends at it's peak...
We're going up there?! The trail zig zags to the top...look hard and you can see hikers on their way up.
See the people walking the switchbacks as they make their way up the trail...
Wow, look how far we've come up...see the trail down below?
See the hikers centre left?
And the start of 'Walters Wiggles'...a series of about two dozen switchbacks up the side of the mountain...
We made it up to Scout Lookout...and time for a rest!
Scout Lookout is also the start of the trail that goes up to Angels Landing...absolutely crazy! It's almost all rock-face climbing with cables to hang onto as you climb up (and down). It's also very busy...can't quite figure out how you have two-way traffic on that trail. Looks way too dangerous, but apparently it's a real adrenaline rush...but not for me! Six people have died doing this. The peak in the distance is the top.
Sorry about the foggy look, don't know what happened there.
The trail up to Scout Lookout is a 4 hour hike with an elevation change of 1488 feet...and we saw 4 people RUNNING this trail, and a couple of fellows pushed a young girl in a wheel chair to the base of Angels Landing!!!
Big Bend shuttle stop below...
After a bit of a break, we continued up the West Rim Trail...
Angels Landing, from here you can see how much higher and narrow the mountain is...
Can you see the hiker top right?
We found a nice shaded spot to eat our lunch...
...and the view in the other direction...
After our lunch break, we continued on the trail....up and up...
And up...and up...
And up...
Temple of Sinawava shuttle stop below...
A close-up...
And we're still climbing up!
Angels Landing in the distance...
Steve installed his telephoto lens to show the hikers on top of Angels Landing...
See the hikers climbing up Angels Landing in these two pictures?
That's Observation Point across the canyon, it's a 6 hour climb with an elevation change of 2148 feet!
And those are hikers standing on top of Observation Point (gotta love the telephoto lens on the camera!)
Lots of cactus up here...
And this is as far as we went. The trail started going down, so we decided that was far enough...besides, we were already "on top of the world"!
And now it was time to start back down...
As we were heading down, we heard music way off in the distance. Steve got out the binoculars and spotted the fellow playing is saxophone on the trail down below. He would play a couple of notes from a song and then wait for the echo. It was really cool to hear! By the time Steve got his telephoto lens on his camera, the fellow had packed up his sax and was moving on. Darn it!
Time to do 24 switchbacks!
It was really busy on the trail today! Still lots of people going up as we were going down...
It's a pretty steep trail...it was quite a climb on the way up and now, going down...well, it wasn't long before my knees were screaming!
Yup, we have to go down there...
Look hard to see the people zig zagging their way up....
Angels Landing...there are people standing along the top and people zig zagging their way up on the left...
And there's the bridge and the start of the trail...we made it!!
We grabbed the shuttle back to the Visitors Center...and finally the truck. What an awesome hike we'd had! But, yes, we were tired!
I took a couple of pictures on the way home. These are gem rock stores...beautiful turquoise rocks out on display...
Back home, we put our stuff away...and then it was time to relax with a cocktail...ahhh...the end to a great day!
We're going up there?! The trail zig zags to the top...look hard and you can see hikers on their way up.
Wow, look how far we've come up...see the trail down below?
And the start of 'Walters Wiggles'...a series of about two dozen switchbacks up the side of the mountain...
Scout Lookout is also the start of the trail that goes up to Angels Landing...absolutely crazy! It's almost all rock-face climbing with cables to hang onto as you climb up (and down). It's also very busy...can't quite figure out how you have two-way traffic on that trail. Looks way too dangerous, but apparently it's a real adrenaline rush...but not for me! Six people have died doing this. The peak in the distance is the top. Sorry about the foggy look, don't know what happened there.
We found a nice shaded spot to eat our lunch...
See the hikers climbing up Angels Landing in these two pictures?
Yup, we have to go down there...
I took a couple of pictures on the way home. These are gem rock stores...beautiful turquoise rocks out on display...
It was really cool to see the pictures of the trail up to Angel's Landing. I remember when we got to Walter's Wiggles looking up there and think "no way" but we made it.
ReplyDeletefabulous photos as always!
ReplyDeleteglad you made it to the top and back down again!
Wow, awesome pics of an awesome place. You guys sure earned your bevies that day!
ReplyDeleteMike in Orleans, ON