The Angels’ Landing Trail in Zion stands apart from other trails in many ways.   First of all, it is very popular and it can have hordes of people going up to Scouts’ Landing.   It is one of those trails that is a rite of passage, one from the Bucket List.   Second, the route is surprising, engineered to provide a trail when it should be a scramble or a climb.   The views are spectacular all the way.   It is an exhilarating journey, although I saw a few pale-faced people with white knuckles.   Most of the nervous hikers stopped at Scouts’ Landing, but a few followed their group onto the ledges to the top.

The trailhead starts at the Grotto and crosses a bridge over the Virgin River, then traverses toward the saddle between Cathedral Mountain and Angel’s Landing.   The saddle is at the top of a sheer red sandstone cliff, but switchbacking ledges have been cut into the face, providing an access route.   It is south-facing and the temperature was close to 100 degrees Fahrenheit.   The route is steep and a number of hikers lingered in the shaded alcoves at the corners of switchbacks.   Over the top we entered Refrigerator Canyon, a narrow forested route protected from the sun, a cool respite from the heat.   At about the 2 mile mark, the canyon ends and we looked up at Walter’s Wiggles, a steep set of 21 switchbacks going up the cliffs.   The trail emerges onto Scouts’ Landing, a level area, the junction with the West Rim Trail and Angels’ Landing.   No one seemed to be interested in the West Rim Trail.   Hikers were clustered at viewpoints looking over at the route to Angels’ Landing.   Every step beyond this point is a challenge for those afraid of heights.   A ridge scramble is followed by a very narrow ridge traverse with 1300 foot sheer drop-offs on both sides.

Posts and chains support hikers on some of the most exposed sections, but not on others.   Passing hikers here was not easy.   As I skirted hikers going up and down, curses were heard from stressed-out adventurers.   At one bottleneck, I jumped down from one ledge to the next and a shriek was heard.   I apologized for frightening the stressed hiker.   This trail was a big challenge for a number of hikers who went beyond Scouts Landing.

A huge condor circled above in the heat of the sun.   From the narrow ridge, the route wound up another narrow spine to the top.   The top was a long rugged ridgetop and had a number of people sitting to enjoy the views, above and across to the peaks of Zion Canyon and below to the Virgin River.  A number of awkward spots on the route create bottlenecks of hikers.   Going around these can be done, but great care must be taken.  I passed dozens of hikers coming down.

We returned to Scout’s Landing and chose to continue up the West Rim Trail, a red ridge heading up to the plateaus above.   The views continued to be impressive.   This is a hot and dry 14 mile route on slick rock up to the Kolob Terrace, best suited to a backpack from Lava Point, for a return trip.

We returned to Scouts Landing and hiked down to the Virgin River to cool off.   Looking back at Angels’ Landing, we could understand how the Mormon pioneers named it so appropriately.   This is one of our favorite hikes and we will do it every time we return to Zion National Park.