Zion - Yikes...

We are a few days behind on the blog updates. On our last day at Zion (Sunday), we decided to get up early before we left the park and hike one of the overlook trails. Billed as “not for acrophobes,” we were intrigued by the description of the Angel’s Landing Trail and it seemed like a must do in the park. The 6 mile trail climbs from the Zion Valley floor about 2000 feet to a steep sandstone peak which provides 360 degree views of the canyon. The first few miles were quite steep but on a well maintained trail. The remaining mile or so out to the end was best described as… terrifying. Sara and I are not afraid of heights and love to scramble on rocks to get great views but this one is different. Imagine crawling, crouching and climbing up the saddle of a ridge where the trail is sometimes less than 3 feet wide with sheer 2000 foot cliffs to each side. The Park Service put chains into the rocks to assist you; without these chains the trail would be impossible to climb without ropes and a harness. Sara and I looked at each other several times and said, “are we really going to finish this one?” With our stomachs in our shoes, we managed our way to the top and were rewarded with some great views of the valley. We can’t believe that people don’t die on this one each year. We left Zion and headed to Bryce Canyon a bit further East in Utah along the Colorado Plateau.