Angel's Landing

The Burris & Oldham road-trip team is off again! 

We flew to Vegas on Tuesday, September 3, and set off to explore Utah’s National Parks.  We spent Tuesday night in Mesquite, Nevada, at the Eureka Casino.  A very nice hotel with restaurants, casino, pool, and a great room for $57!!  Would have been $200 anywhere else.  We went to dinner at a local sports bar and there was live music!  A guy and his guitar playing classic rock and country, then here comes another local dude with his trumpet and the guy switches to the keyboard and they do a set of jazz standards!  It was wonderful and we bought his CD.  The things you find when you hit the road.

Wednesday morning - after a huge breakfast at Peggy Sue’s 50‘s Diner - we took off for Utah and Zion National Park. On the way there, we came upon an Ostrich Ranch!  It was still early when we got to Zion, so we had time for a short hike before checking into our hotel which is in Springdale - just outside the park.  This is an incredibly beautiful place - we hiked with mule deer hanging just off the trail and not caring a bit that we were just a few feet away.  Even the doe with her fawns wasn’t concerned.

We had dinner at Bit & Spur Saloon, which you would think would be very horsey, outdoorsy kind of place.  Oh no!  It was very gourmet and “organic” and run by an aging hippie (long grey dred-locks).  They brag about all their fresh herbs out of their garden - mmm-hmm.

Thursday was a very ambitious hiking day.  The iconic hike here at Zion is the trail up to Angel’s Landing.  It is extremely challenging, there are warnings posted all around regarding how dangerous it is, and it’s all up very steep switchbacks.  Rhonda - the queen of hiking uphill - has been all about this hike, so off we go.  We got up very early to do the hike before the heat of the day and were very glad we did.  Hiking up out of the Grand Canyon is longer - but not this steep.  Switchbacks so tight they were “S” curves. 

From near the top - the switchbacks we just hiked.

The views were breathtaking, though, and we were so happy we were there.  We did this for a couple of hours, and then you get to the last 1/2 mile which is the most treacherous of the entire thing.  You stop hiking and commence climbing.  It is so steep there are chains secured into the rocks by which you haul yourself up the cliff.  

I made it up the first big climb, then my discomfort regarding edges and drop-offs got the better of me and I bailed.  Burr made it just a bit further and his desire to not fall off a cliff combined with the knowledge of how hard the descent was going to be convinced him to join me.  Ray and Rhonda continued on and made it to the top!  Judging from Ray’s photos, it only got worse and we were glad we bailed when we did.  We are, however, extremely impressed with the two of them making it to the end!!   Hiking down was almost worse than hiking up, because it's so steep. Also, it was very hot and sunny on the way down, while it had been not so hot and shaded on the way up.

After lunch back at the lodge, we hiked the Emerald Pools trail - a much less challenging walk featuring some beautiful views.  

Pool time at our hotel, a nice dinner and we’ll hit the trails again tomorrow!