Zion National Park, Angel's Landing and Other Cool Stuff

We arrived at Zion National Park from the west, through Springdale, Utah because the route from the east goes through a tunnel too small for our RV. When I came into Zion in 1992 we came from the east but weren't allowed to ride through the tunnel. Back then my bike was too small, now my RV is too big! Eventually I got to drive through it...in the car!

Zion National Park's prominent feature is Zion Canyon, 15 mile long, half mile deep canyon formed by the mellinia long cutting action of the Virgin River. The canyon was originally settled by a succession of Native American tribes including, Anasazi, Parowan Fremont, and  Paiute.
Mormon settlers discovered the canyon in 1858 and started settling in 1860 In 1909 William Howard Taft declared the canyon a national monument called Mukuntuweap National Monument. In 1919 the newly named Zion National Park was formed. Last year Zion NP had 4.2 million visitors.

The Cottonwoods were in full fall color and highlighted against the red rock cliffs of the canyon.

The Virgin River

Two of the most visited areas of the park are Angel's Landing and the Narrows. To get to Angel's Landing you get to hike a 2.2 mile, 1060' elevation gain, steep, switchbacked trail to Scout Lookout.  Scout Lookout is the start of the .5 mile hike along a narrow ridge to a plateau called Angel's Landing.
There are some beautiful vistas and interesting points along the way. Coming back down Lynda counted 59 switchbacks!

The trail switchbacks up from left to right to the cutout section in the right center of the picture. Grades are 10-12%

This pic was taken from the switchback in the above picture looking back down the canyon. You can see the trail on the right.

The park service was doing trail maintanence and as we were going up, these tracked vehicles were going down. I was shocked because the trail is really steep, the dropoffs are really high and these vehicles looked scary to drive. One of the drivers looked really unhappy.

After a bit we hiked through a small canyon called Refrigerator Canyon due to the shade and breezes that blow through there. At 1.8 miles and 810' of elevation gain we came to the bottom of "Walter's Wiggles". These 21 tight switchbacks (gaining another 250") were named for the first park superintendent who designed and built this portion of the trail.

From the bottom:

From the top:

Unfortunately we only made it as far as Scout Lookout where our hike ended. 25 years ago I tried Angel's Landing, didn't make it past the chains (which you hang onto while climbing to prevent you from falling 800' in one direction or 1200' in the other) didn't make it this time either.

Me at the chains

I did take a pic of the valley from Scout Lookout.

We finished our hike and took the shuttle to The Narrows. The Narrows, an area where the canyon walls close in on the Virgin River creating a narrow, walkable trail through the river. People who were hiking the Narrows were all wearing rented drysuits and booties similar to fishing waders. We hiked the paved trail to where it ended and took a few pics.

The Weeping Wall on the path to the Narrows

We then headed east through the tunnel to Checkerboard Mesa  and the Beehives.
Both of these features have eroded in a way that leaves horizontal and vertical striations which give them their distinctive shapes.

Checkerboard Mesa

The Beehives

Unfortunately we only had one day in Zion but I'm going to add some random pics to give an idea of just how beautiful the park is.

The End

Grand Canyon National Park South Rim

After spending a few days in the Valley of Fire State Park, we added the Nevada state sticker to our USA map and headed back to Arizona and the Grand Canyon. This time it was the South Rim. Even though it was my third visit, the view still takes my breath away. Lee had only been to the North Rim before this, so I was eager to see his reaction. He was blown away by the magnitude. You get a much better sense of the enormity of the canyon from the South Rim.

On our first evening, we watched the sun setting on the canyon.














We took a bike ride through the park and along the rim of the canyon. There were several miles of paved paths. The views were great.

























The next day, we planned to hike down into the canyon on the South Kaibab Trail. What started out to be a 3-mile hike, turned out to be 6 miles. Once we got started, we didn't want to stop. I have a fear of heights, but I was not at all nervous on the trail. Here are some photos from the hike.

Some switchbacks to start off the trail

Lee oohing and aahing!

Ooh-Aah Point, our first stop

Cedar Ridge, our second rest stop and our original turn-around spot.











Several other hikers told us how beautiful Skeleton Point was, so they convinced us to keep going.

Pack horses along the trail

We made it to Skeleton Point! The views were spectacular. Definitely worth the extra 3 miles.

We could see the Colorado River and Phantom Ranch from here.

Time to turn around and head back up.

Two wranglers, each leading pack mules up the trail, passed us on our way up. When they pass hikers, the mules have the right of way. Hikers are told to step to the inside of the trail and stand quietly while the mules pass.

These are the switchbacks that were at the beginning of the trail. It was fun watching the mules as they climbed.

We followed the mules to the top. We made it! This was a spectacular trail with so many beautiful vistas.

On our way out of the park on our last day, we drove to the end of Desert View Drive to climb the Desert View Watchtower. From the top of the tower, you have a 360-degree view of the canyon, Colorado River, and surrounding landscape.

The walls and ceiling of the inside of the tower were painted with Native American art. These are some examples.

One last look at the canyon and the river and then off to Sedona.