Day 2 began bright and early around 7 a.m. (which was actually a bit too late). Again, this is a holiday weekend + it’s hot as balls outside, so climbing up a 1400 ft. rock formation over 2.4 miles in 100 degree weather was not the best idea. My sister Morgan, myself, and Tony made this trek alone–as we felt it wasn’t appropriate for kids. We did see quite a few mature young ones up there though.
(This was the hike I had been Googling the entire time. I was scared. Many people have died on this trail and it certainly is an unforgiving fall.) The trail is called Angel’s Landing because it was once said that only angels could land on the sandstone fin at the very top of the cliff.
The trail immediately started gaining elevation with switchbacks and led us to Walter’s Wiggles shown in the picture below.
We finally made it to the Scout’s Landing. A beautiful view of the park and of the remainder of the climb. This is where many people stop their journey. The remainder of the hike is along cliff slide with a chain to hold on to. Even if you aren’t scared of heights, it’s a bit daunting. The picture below shows how the rest of the trail. You make your way up the spine of this cliff and get to the top. (This is where many people have fallen to their death.)
We continued on through the path and go about half-way up the last trek and ended up turning around. It was getting dangerous. There were waaaay too many people climbing that day and we were trying to pass people on a trail that is 2 feet wide. We were really bummed, but it was craziness. At one point a gal was so afraid, she was frozen on the chain holding on for dear life as everyone was trying to dance around her while stepping on slick sandstone on an incline.
While I wanted to get pictures during the last trek, I concluded a selfie was not worth it. Next time, I’ll bring the GoPro + lots of water + and go on a non-holiday times.
