Angel's Landing | Zion Nat'l Park
Mar
29th
Trent, United States
Trip in United States ~ Beginner difficulty
Date: March 29, 2008
Summary: 8 mile day hike up Angel’s Landing and around Emerald Pools.
Location: Zion’s National Park, Southern Utah
Picture Gallery: Click here.
Three of my college friends and I hiked Half Dome last summer: Eric, Matt, and Amy. After the successful Yosemite adventure last summer we tried coordinating a Zion / St George trip for the early Fall to no avail. Plans began to freeze with the approach of the autumnal equinox.
In the Bay there is no snow to melt to indicate the close of the winter months. Instead, the starkest indication of the change in season is the gradual increase of daylight lingering into the evening. And when we Bay Area-ites spring forward for daylight savings, only then is springtime truly thrust upon us. As the sun’s rays began faintly loitering at the close of the business days in February my thoughts returned to the unaccomplished southern Utah trip. Fitting the approach of the vernal equinox would thaw our scheme for Zion.
One evening late March, the second quarter of calculus culminated. Civic packed with camping gear and mountain bike attached to the hitch I was on the road. I rolled into Elko, Nevada at 1:30a and checked into a hotel. Rather than taking the southern route from San Jose down the I-5 to Bakersfield and east through the Mojave into Saint George via Las Vegas, I opted for the northern route - through Sacramento, over the Sierras via Reno, across the top of Nevada, into Salt Lake City, and then south into Saint George. The move added four hundred miles - or five hours - to the journey. I had the time and Kat, a friend from SLC, wanted to join the adventure.
Arriving in Saint George Matt had already arrived from Fresno. Amy was still driving up from Phoenix and heading towards Vegas to pick up Eric from the airport - he having flown in from a conference in Colorado. Matt, Kat, and I grabbed some dinner and found Amy’s parents house – which would become home base over the following 5 days. Her dad, a soft-spoken, soberly humorous, weather-worn rancher and gentle, amiable mother greeted us. Along with Amy’s two younger brothers, they kept us entertained as we awaited Eric and Amy’s arrival an hour hence.
The following day we awoke early and awaited the arrival of another friend from college named Jeremy. He had since relocated to Vegas and spontaneously accepted the offer to join up with us, bringing two others with him. Once we all rendezvoused at Amy’s place we caravanned to Zion National Park. At Zion’s we met the remaining portion of our group. A friend named Deonne and her son, from around Berkeley, had planned on vacationing through Zion over the previous week. We had decided to coordinate and overlap their last day with our first day and hike Angel’s Landing together. She was looking forward to hiking Angel’s with her ten-year-old boy Joseph, but was a little nervous just the two of them due to the inherent risks of the trail.
To our pleasant surpries, for that Saturday, the original group of four had grown to ten. We hopped aboard the shuttle from the visitor center and headed up 7 miles to Grotto Campground where we disembarked and began the 6 mile round trip trek up Angel’s Landing. Angel’s Landing is one of the most popular trails in the national park system. The last 2.5 miles of the trail takes the hiker out on an elevated pathway with sheer drops on both sides (1,200 ft on one side and 800 feet on the other) to a phenomenal landlocked peninsula and an overlook with drops on all sides minus the one which returns to safety. The pathway up is laden with chains and posts to help secure the hiker. However, unlike Half Dome, the chains are not absolutely necessary, though they are beneficial. Returning to our vehicles, we took a detour through Emerald Pools before hopping the shuttle. The side excursion showcased a number of wateralls.
