Saturday, August 12, 2017

Angel's Landing Hike

This hike had been on our bucket list for years. We were excited and nervous to finally get to do experience it! It's one of Zion National Park's most famous attractions, and it's not for the faint of heart. Lucky for us, we both love cliffs, hiking, and adventure, so we enjoyed every second of it.
By some miracle, we were following the clouds we'd been experiencing since Arches National Park, so we were incredibly lucky to have nearly our entire hike somewhat shaded. The clouds broke and the sun was shining long and hard as we were making our way back down and I felt so bad for the people who were just starting the hike at that time. Yikes! I may have not made it all the way up if we had hiked that thing in 100* direct sunlight. Anyways, the views on the way up were so so good.
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Here's a photo I snapped of the trail we had just come up. It was so dang steep!
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There's a easy portion on the hike just before "Walter's Wiggles", a series of 21 steep switchbacks.
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Here we are making our way up Walter's Wiggles.
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Shortly after the switchbacks we made it to a popular stopping point for families. It's a nice view of Zion National Park; a lot of people stop and have lunch there before heading back down.
But not us!
We went allllll the way. And McKay had James on his back! We can't even tell you the amount of compliments, gasps, and gawks we got haha. Most everyone seemed genuinley impressed that we had James. We saw one other family with a baby in a carrier but they only went to the first viewpoint, not all the way up to Angel's Landing with the 360* view of the park.
This was where the hike got crazy cool. You have to basically hike along a ridge, with sheer cliffs on both sides of you. There is a chain secured to the rock face that you use to help you, thank goodness. (McKay is faking in this next photo, by the way) haha
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Some spots are no more than 5 feet wide and super steep, others were wider and not as nerve wracking. The pictures just don't do it justice!
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It felt so good to make it to the top of that ridge! It places and moments like these that just leave me breathless. There is so much beauty in this world and I'm so grateful for the opportunities I have had to see it!
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See the rest of our National Park Trip Adventures:
Yellowstone National Park
Arches National Park
Goblin Valley State Park
Bryce Canyon National Park
Zion National Park - Angel's Landing
Zion National Park - Narrows
Kanarra Creek Trail
Grand Canyon National Park
Slide Rock State Park

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