Angel's Landing Hike, Zion National Park

The Sign at the start of the Angel's Landing trail shows a figure falling from a cliff. The warning reads "falls from cliffs have resulted in death." That's how I knew right from the start that we were going to be going up and that we had definitely chosen the right hike.

The start of the trail was difficult as you were constantly climbing higher and higher, especially with sore legs from yesterday's bike ride. About half way to the top, it levels out for about a quarter mile and you can catch you breath before heading into "The Wiggles" which are about 15 cutback where you zig zags up as if you were climbing very steep stairs. Once to the top of the wiggles, the fun really begins.

It levels out to an amazing view. However, the summit is still about 30mins away for a fast hiker/climber. There is a very narrow trail with a 500ft drop off to one side and an 800 ft drop off to the other. They are kind enough to have one chain along the trail to hold onto if you need some extra stability. It was an amazing view the entire time (or at least when you weren't looking down for your next step). I will be posting photos of the hike soon, but neither Justin or I brought our digital cameras and will need to have our disposable camera developed before I can post images.

Zion is definitely one of the top national parks I have been too (which are admittedly very few), and this hike has some of the best view and the most exhilarating drop offs I have seen in a while.

Zion National Park 24mile Ride

Justin an I drove South the Zion National Park last night following work. We departed from SLC around 5:30PM and arrived at about 11:30PM at our camp site. The trip down was interesting. First we almost ran out of gas and then we were not entirely sure where we were going to camp. Justin had been to a free campsite outside of the National Park before but the trick was going to be to find it at night. We were finally able to do so. However, finding an open spot to camp was also a challenge.

After we got somewhat set up, Justin and I loaded up the bikes and drove up the mountain road. We needed to drive because you can't ride through the tunnel that runs through the mountain. It is about 3 miles long and there isn't any lighting (other than car headlights). Once through the tunnel we drove another mile or two until we came across a good spot to leave the car. After changing, downing a few more bottles of water, packing and filling our camelbacks, and locking up the car, we took off.

Originally we were looking to do somewhere around 50 miles. However, we didn't hit the road till around 12 noon and it was soon over 90 degrees with direct sunlight. We reached about 11 miles out and decided it best to turn around. Rather than heading straight back we too a detour up a side road that led to a few ranches and took that for a few miles before turning around.

Our ride was also plagued with various stops as we each needed to work out some mechanical issues. Justin was having trouble with his speedometer and pedals. I had to make a few adjustments to my front break and seat height. However, by the time we turned around to head back those issues had been solved and we were able to ride consistently the final 15 miles or so. It is a beautiful park and I hope to post some photos in the near future for everyone. I hope to return for a little bit longer of a ride!

As always, the Garmin stats are below and the map is above!