Daniel Eagan
Active member
Squeezed these two in around a wedding in Springdale. We arrived 8/11, a day after heavy rains closed the trails and the only road through the park (thanks to a house-sized boulder). Virgin River was fast and very muddy.
The trick to these hikes is to do them early in the day — or not in August, where temps reached 107 midday. Traffic is so heavy you have to take shuttle buses, which can slow down start times. We did Observation Point first, 8 miles round trip and about 2100 feet up. Hidden Canyon trail was closed for trail repair so we continued up many switchbacks, through Echo Canyon, up past the East Rim Trail, and then the ridge to Observation Point. Four hours including a long time at the Point.
After a long wedding celebration, we got a late start for Angels Landing, getting off the bus at 9:00 a.m. This is a very crowded route with a lot of exposure once you get to the ridge. Chains are actually more trouble than they're worth sometimes. Steps carved into the sandstone can also be difficult as they are round and smooth and covered with grit. But the real problem: people who freeze in place, holding up progress in both directions. This one is five miles and 1500 feet up; took three hours, again spending a lot of time at the top.
This isn't the top but you can sort of see where and how the trail goes.
It was really hot. If I went back I would go in early October. Would also consider Kolob Canyons and Plateau rather than Zion, although Cable Mountain looked interesting.
The trick to these hikes is to do them early in the day — or not in August, where temps reached 107 midday. Traffic is so heavy you have to take shuttle buses, which can slow down start times. We did Observation Point first, 8 miles round trip and about 2100 feet up. Hidden Canyon trail was closed for trail repair so we continued up many switchbacks, through Echo Canyon, up past the East Rim Trail, and then the ridge to Observation Point. Four hours including a long time at the Point.
After a long wedding celebration, we got a late start for Angels Landing, getting off the bus at 9:00 a.m. This is a very crowded route with a lot of exposure once you get to the ridge. Chains are actually more trouble than they're worth sometimes. Steps carved into the sandstone can also be difficult as they are round and smooth and covered with grit. But the real problem: people who freeze in place, holding up progress in both directions. This one is five miles and 1500 feet up; took three hours, again spending a lot of time at the top.
This isn't the top but you can sort of see where and how the trail goes.
It was really hot. If I went back I would go in early October. Would also consider Kolob Canyons and Plateau rather than Zion, although Cable Mountain looked interesting.
