Hiking Angels Landing at Zions National Park

While in St. George for Lizzy’s Icebreaker tournament, Alex and I camped out in Zions National Park. During a break from the tournament Liz accompanied us up to the top of Angel’s Landing. This is one of the coolest hikes I have ever been on. Click HERE for more pics. It is actually paved most of the way but is quite steep rising 1500 feet along the West Rim Trail. Along the knife’s edge there are chains to protect against the sheer drop-off on one side of the trail. We did not get to the viewpoint of Angels landing due to the heavy ice and snow that covered the trail. We made it to the chains but no further. Walter’s Wiggles (a steep series of switchbacks near the top of the trail) was packed with snow and was a bit dicey on our return trip. We had a great time that made us want to go back in slightly warmer weather.
Camping was fun though it was much colder than I expected. Overnight lows were in the mid to lower 20s. Thanks to some warm sleeping bags we stayed toasty in our tent. I was a bit taken aback at the new pricing for the National Parks fees. It is $25 for a weeks pass or $80 for a yearly Interagency Parks Pass. I went for the Interagency Pass which will also allow us access to all Federal, Forest Service and BLM land. Now we need to go have some fun camping to make it really worth it!

It was great spending time both with Alex and Lizzy. It is great fun being part of their lives and watching them grow up.