Revisiting the Land of Angels plus a little Gn’R
April 8, 2016. Distance 7.8 km, elevation gain/loss 833m, 2 hrs 47 min.
After our Grand Canyon Hermit Trail trip we headed to the north side of the Grand Canyon staying two nights in the shadow of the Vermillion Cliffs at the Cliff Dwellers Lodge. The day before heading to Zion NP we spent a fascinating time exploring the geological landforms at South Coyote Buttes.
Our time line for the end of the trip started with Coyote Buttes on Thursday ending with us flying out of Las Vegas on Saturday. Our last remaining full day on Friday started with us driving from our motel at Vermilion Cliffs to Zion NP to hike Angels Landing followed by more driving in the evening to watch Guns and Roses Live in Concert Friday night in Las Vegas. After having hiked Angels Landing with Siobhan the previous year I knew I wanted to get an early start to beat the crowds. Since it was a 2 1/2 drive to Zion NP from our motel I coerced Micah into getting up early. We were on the road before 6 am making for a very early start to what was to be a very long day.
The drive was very easy and we arrived just before 8:30 am in Springdale the town located just outside the main entrance to Zion NP. We parked the car and took the shuttle into Zion NP which dropped us off at the trailhead. Happily he bus was not very full. We were among the first hikers on the trail along with a large group of trail runners aiming to run to the top of Angels Landing.
The initial hike alongside the Virgin River is on a hard sandy trail. Where the trail starts to head upward the National Parks Service chose to pave it. At first I found this a little silly but after some reflection knowing the sheer volume of people that use the trail it is probably the best way to control erosion that would otherwise devastate the trail.
Walter’s Wiggles is a set of 21 switchbacks that takes you to Scouts Landings an area located at the base of the sections containing the chains. The switchbacks are names after Walter Ruesch, who was the first superintendent for Zion National Park and oversaw construction of the switchbacks in 1926. The switchbacks are a fun way to rise up the cliff face and makes one wonder how the route up would look without them.
This was my second time going up Angels Landing. I was so much more relaxing this time, I felt completely at ease the entire time. Being familiar with the route must have helped but avoiding the crowds made the hike so much more enjoyable.
We only stayed at the top for about 10 minutes. It was such a short hike we did not have snacks to help us linger. We had a good look around and just decided it was time to head down.
It took us less than 25 minutes to make it back to Scouts Rest. The high excitement for the day was over. It was a very simple downhill walk back to the trailhead.
After leaving Watler’s Wiggles the trail passes down through Refrigerator Canyon. The canyon at this location is very tall and narrow allowing for the rocks to cool the rising air making the canyon a cool place to rest even on the hottest of days. For those with the required skills it is possible to do a rappel down the canyon but that is out of our league.
We finished our hike to the top of Angels Landing at 11:15 am making the round trip time 2hrs 45 min. With the rest of the day stretching out before we had to leave to travel to Las Vegas for the Gun’s and Roses concert we did a little more exploring of Zion Valley. We decided to check out The Narrow at the top of the valley. The Narrows is the narrowest section of Zion Canyon where the walls stretch upwards over a 1000 feet above the river. There is a one mile paved path to The Narrows starting from the Temple of Sinawava. Just as we approached the of the pavement it started to rain.
Some informative displays about the formation of Zion Valley.
As we made our way to The Narrows it started to lightly rain. We covered up and continued on to take a quick peak. Neither Micah or I have much canyoneering experience so there is little chance we will be able to hike The Narrows so this was going to be the best view we would get.
It was only lunchtime and we had a pretty full day but we still had our Guns and Roses concert in the evening in Las Vegas. When planning the trip our flight home from Vegas was not until Saturday evening. So I thought that it would be a good idea to go to the concert in Vegas Friday evening and then drive back to Springdale to sleep so that maybe we could squeeze in a little hike Saturday morning before driving back to Vegas to fly home. Looking back it really does not seem like a very well thought out plan. It is a 2 1/2 hr drive to from Springdale to Las Vegas so that was a lot of driving which we would have to do three times.
The concert was amazing. A further dent in my planning was that Guns and Roses are apparently famous for getting on stage late. I recall the Axel and boys getting on stage at about 12:30 am and playing until 3:30 am. After the concert I then had to drive us back to Springdale to our hotel. I distinctly remember it being a little rainy. The rental car frequently hydroplaned across the water which kept me pretty alert. I checked the tires in the morning and they definitely needed to be changed. I did remember tell the rental agency about the tires when we dropped off the car the next day. We arrived back at the hotel after the concert a little before 7 am giving me about 4 hours of sleep before we had to vacate the hotel room.
After breakfast we headed out on the Watchmen trail. For some reason I had a big urge to do what is really a little hike. After our long night we had a very un-alpine start of 12:30 pm. The trail lived up to my expectations. It was short at just 5 km return with minimal elevation but spectacular views all the way. Unfortunately for us a storm blew in making the return trip a little moist and slippery. I did not help the situation by deciding to do the hike in my sandals. I remember distinctly taking a big a slide in the mud but managed to stay upright.
After all the hiking and heavy metal our trip home took another unexpected turn when we stopped in at the St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site. The origins of the dinosaur museum being located in St. George arose innocently enough when a family doing some landscaping and levelling their yard and came across some interesting looking rocks that turned out to be dinosaur tracks. After some investigation by experts the location became one of the biggest Jurassic aged fossil beds in North America. Before Micah discovered physics, they wanted to be a paleontologist. Micah displayed such a keen interest that after talking with them for a few minutes one of the volunteers went into the back and brought out the senior paleontologist to talk to Micah about some of the fossils. Micah spent an very happy hour geeky out over dinosaur fossils.
After returning the car and making our back to the airport it was time to head home and bring to end another amazing adventure. Travelling to the American South West never disappoints.
