ZION NATIONAL PARK – ANGEL’S LANDING

There are many great sources discussing this hike but by far, my favorite was found at citrusmilo.com. He has every hike at Zion planned and mapped out & much more.

The below summary will be our experience of the hike…. I’m going to assume you know what Angel’s Landing is and not delve into too much of the “facts” of the hike.

Our overall plan was to get into the park and park at the Canyon Junction Bridge where there are about 12-15 spots. We figured we would get on here and ride the shuttle up to Stop #6- The Grotto earlier and faster. While we did leave the house at a good time (approx. 7:45am), we didn’t leave early enough to secure a spot. This ended up working in our favor because the shuttles were packed at that time and we would not have fit on at stop #3 – I can’t imagine how long those people waited to find a partially full shuttle.

So we say skip the parking at the Junction, park at the Visitor center and get on the #1 bus as early as possible….

As we rode up to stop #6, everyone had the same idea as us… all were headed to test their will at Angel’s Landing. Stop #6 has a bathroom so use that before you start your trek. By this time it was about 10:30am so you will not actually get to start your hike for a while from the time you leave your house, get into Zion, park, wait for the shuttle and get to your stop.

Our morning was beautiful. We all dressed in layers. Some in shorts, some in leggings. Depends on how your legs are and if you’ll chaff. Haha. I wore a flannel over a tank and hiking boots. My aunt wore hiking shoes.

CLOTHING TIPS:

Wear layers – flannel (nothing heavy to throw in your backpack)
Hat
Sunglasses
Wool socks
Bandana or gaiter to get wet
Watch
Good non-chaffing bottoms
A backpack filled with snacks, sandwiches, crackers, dried fruit
A camelback – if you do not have one – get one. The bladders are cheap on amazon and you can throw in most any backpacks. YOU WILL NEED APPROX 2 LITERS OF WATER FOR THIS HIKE!! NO LESS.

Part 1 of the hike: BASE TO SCOUT LOOKOUT

Strenuous but doable for most anyone in decent walking, physical condition.

I am splitting up the hike into 2 sections because I believe my dad could have done the hike to Scout’s Lookout no problem. He stayed behind as he was too nervous after seeing the second leg of this hike which is the terrifying leg of the hike.

From the Grotto trailhead you’ll go over the bridge that crosses the Virgin River and work your way into the canyon below Angel’s Landing. We were so lucky the sun was not high yet and this canyon was shadowed. Make no mistake though, as we were going up the West Rim Trail it was steep and a very long walk up the whole time. My dad broke off before we started the first set of switchbacks and a few people gave him their sweatshirts because even though we were in the shade, it was steep, and your heart was pounding already. We stopped a few times on the West Rim Trail to take some photos which were beautiful in the morning. YOU WILL ALSO NEED TO STOP FOR WATER A FEW TIMES. I consider myself a fast hiker, but pacing is so important here. You’ll need your adrenaline for the 2^nd half of the hike later.

Once you get past the first leg you’ll find yourself in Refrigerator Canyon which is a nice cool walk before Walter’s Wiggles. We were lucky enough that again, we went early enough that we were in the shade for the whole first half of the hike. Walter’s Wiggles came next and while there are a lot of switchbacks this is all paved and not a rugged area. Actually, the hike is all paved up to this point… we all found that odd.

Once you get to the top of Walter’s Wiggles you will find yourself at Scout’s Lookout. Here we stopped for some snacks and to rehydrate. I think my mom went through one bottle of water so far… she packed 2 bottles and it was NOT enough… as I said before, buy a camelback. Scout’s lookout is a great view. Make no mistake that this is perfectly fine for people to get to this point and take some fantastic shots of the Angel’s Landing summit, valley below and Zion Canyon on the opposite side. Do not be afraid to hike to this location. It is 100% safe.

Part 2 of the hike: SCOUT LOOKOUT TO ANGEL’S LANDING SUMMIT

Strenuous, nerve-wrecking, straight up climbing at some points, 1,000ft + drop offs on narrow walkways, you must have balance and upper & lower body strength.

We could see the trail going up to the summit start to get busy by this time, so we decided to not waste any more time and get moving. The last leg of this hike is everything I mentioned above and more. My mom who was 58 at the time of this hike & did it… but it’s worth noting that she was very reserved, and her lips were white by the time we go to the top. This hike is exposed to the sun without any shade and climbs 500ft in elevation.

If you are nervous, I would say to attempt it with a sense of the following:

Have a healthy fear of the hike – you cannot just jump around here with no regard
Have some Hiking IQ – many “tourists do not have a clue! They just want the photo”
Take people who are encouraging. My Aunt helped my mom so much push thru to the top.
Go at your own pace – everyone else can wait.
Do not trust the chains to hold your body weight – these are merely for guidance
People have DIED doing this hike. Understand the risks.

From Scout’s Lookout you will experience lateral hiking, vertical hiking and slippery sandstone as you make your way to the top. The first set of chains you come to are a straight scale up & vertical to the next set of chains. The group we had was perfect as I led the group, my mom and Aunt Laura went next to make sure my mom didn’t fall behind – then my sister and Ricky went while our Uncle Tom followed close behind to watch us all. This was a great group for the simple fact that along the route there are times you need to plan who’s going up and who’s coming down. Many times we got in other groups and were able to hold up folks coming down so we could go up.

I do not want to take too much time describing this part of the hike as there are many videos out there & information to see the heights. I WILL say you must be so mindful of other people on this hike. You will literally encounter about 25% of people who are not in the proper shoes, clothes, do not have control of their bodies & do not bring any snacks or water for a 2.5 mile hike that takes about 5 hours. Madness.

I saw about 3 ladies with newborns hiking and thought this was the most dangerous thing I saw. Imagine slipping … I can’t.
I saw another guy try to lower himself from one ledge to the base of another landing and he misjudged and fell backward almost over the edge. Luckily there were people there and a chain.
The last and scariest thing I saw was an elderly lady in long pans, long sleeve, long everything clothing – who was using hiking poles and trying to enter the 2^nd leg (first leg with poles, ok – second leg, NO!) This lady slipped approximately 3-4 times in the 10-15 seconds I encountered her. I had to walk away because she stressed me out so badly.

The other 75% of people are wonderful. Many people stopped to let others go by and everyone worked together to move in a safe path.

Reaching the summit was a huge relief and a massive weight was lifted off of us. My mother and aunt were very moved and emotional about reaching the top – a sense of satisfaction and awe was written all over their faces. We stayed here taking photos, taking others photos and congratulating everyone. We ate a lot of our snacks and hydrated too. My mom had a white ring of salt around her mouth and at the summit she was out of water so I forced her to drink more of my camelback.

After some rest and enjoyment at the top we decided to head back down as we knew it would take time due to the way we had to come up — with stopping to let others go. It took us 3 hours to get to the top and then 2 hours to get back down. I will say that going down was extremely tough on my knees. They were not used to this downward climbing and many times we all scooted on our butts. The path back from Scout’s to base was exposed and hot hot hot. We saw people going up again without water and in long sleeve gear and there we are running to the Virgin River to wet our gaiters to cool off.

We found dad hanging out at stop #6 & he was perfectly happy to see us all return in 1 piece.

TIPS:

I shared some tips throughout this entry but a few more are here:

Do not go if there is a chance of rain – the sandstone is extremely slippery even when dry.
I would not recommend going if there are strong winds or gusts – you’re at the mercy of the weather.
If you go in the summer, go early to stay in the shade as much as possible. It was in the 90’s when we went.

All in all it was a magnificent hike. YES – it’s hard. YES – it’s stressful. But you NEVER know unless you try. You can always go to Scout’s Lookout and there’s not shame in that! It’s just as beautiful. Through all this travel you can learn. I would absolutely love to get back here soon to re-do this with less stress & knowing certain things before you go. Next time I would take more snacks and take my time exploring a little more. I think back and I can remember some scenes but mostly the terrifying parts – not really the parts i enjoyed. I guess the high stress of seeing someone almost fall to their death etches in your brain than the summit. I’m definitely thankful for GoPro’s & cameras! HAH!