The Long and Winding Road

— The last full day when we visited Zion National Park was reserved to hike to Angel’s Landing, arguably the most famous hike in the park. We started early to enjoy the views with fewer people. We were lucky to have a nice day, but when we got to the Scout Lookout point, there were several people enjoying the beautiful weather, while others were getting ready for the last stretch of the hike.

We started the last stretch, but I got very concerned about the number of people trying to negotiate the difficult and dangerous stretch with the chains in very narrow spots. After the first short hill and chains, we stopped and watched dozens of people coming back from Angel’s Landing. We watched them for a while and decided not to continue. I was very concerned that we’d have to negotiate that treacherous track with total strangers. So, we went back and hiked the other way.

Angel’s Landing is 2.4 miles (3.9 km) long. The steep switchbacks shown in the first photo occur before one gets into what is known as Refrigerator Canyon, then followed by Walter’s Wiggles (see last two photos), which is a series of 21 switchbacks right before reaching Scout Lookout. From that point on, there are chains on the side of the steep rocks to assist hikers to make it to the very top of Angel’s Landing. Those are the most dangerous sections where hikers need to negotiate who goes first while holding on to chains on the fin rock side.