Day 6: Angels Landing

We signed up for a doozy of a day at Zion. Rob and I were up late packing and up early to start the day. No cars are allowed in the park, so pretty much everyone rides the shuttle, which starts running at 6 a.m. That’s pretty early, but if you actually get there at 6, expect a multi-hour wait (and that’s if there’s any parking left at the visitor center). Instead, we were up at 5 a.m. and in line by 5:50. Even then, we still had to wait about 90 minutes in line.

The kids were champs standing in line, and we got some tips from a family with similar aged kids that had arrived the day before. As a side note the bathrooms at the visitor center was some of the filthiest we have ever seen. Garbage cans overflowing, no TP, garbage and TP all over the floor in the stalls. It felt so odd to see a bathroom treated so badly by people here to enjoy the park’s beauty.

Today’s goal was to do Scout’s Lookout Trail. It is a steep hike with 1,115ft of elevation gain over 2 miles (out and back, so 4 miles round trip). This includes the “Walter’s Wiggles” portion of the trail, which is 21 switchbacks right at the end. The kids wanted to know what was at the end of the trail, since a few days ago it was a cool cave tour. This time, we said “nice views,” which definitely resulted in less enthusiasm. There were many stops and snack requests, but they did it without complaining, and we successfully made it to the top.

Once we were at the top, Cooper locked his eyes on Angel’s Landing up ahead and really wanted to do it. Nicholas said he was done and wanted to go back. Cooper said it was a “once in a lifetime opportunity” and so we should agree to give it a try. Angel’s Landing is only another half mile more and 500 feet up, but the kicker is that nearly all of it is on a narrow path with chains installed so you have something to hold onto as you’re walking near the edge of huge dropoffs.

Once we were on the way, we frequently stopped to check in with the boys. Cooper always wanted to press on, and Nicholas wanted to go back. With the offer of ice cream when we were done, Nicholas quickly jumped on board and didn’t complain or change his mind the whole time.

We are so proud of the kids and ourselves for doing this hike. It was incredibly challenging, but also showed that we can do literally anything together as a team. Nicholas got tons of kudos from everyone we saw for doing this portion of the hike, and Cooper got tons of compliments on his banana socks. Rob carried the backpack which also had my phone so he was the only one who took pictures on that portion of the hike.

At the top we enjoyed a much needed energy boost from lunch and lots of water to hydrate.

Going down this crazy path we all felt was easier; we mostly just had to be careful for the flatter, sandier parts that were quite slick.

We finished all our water in the final mile, but were able to quickly rehydrate when we arrived at the trailhead. From there, it was a quick shuttle ride back to our car.

Side note, for what it’s worth: Rob and I have both said looking back at these pictures it looks way more treacherous and scary than if felt when we were doing the hike.

As promised, we went directly to the ice cream shop and enjoyed the reward. Rob and I were both wiped at this point, but the kids had their continuous bucket of energy, so they really wanted to go to the pool. After I took an amazing shower (full hookups = unlimited water, so I can actually get clean) the 3 of us headed to the pool in the rain, while Rob made dinner. The boys loved diving for rings that I tossed out as I sat under an umbrella on the lounge chair, a parent winning moment.

Rob made us a delicious breaded chicken, green bean and cheesy pasta dinner which was followed by some downtime and an early bedtime. I headed to the laundry room for my first loads of this trip. Between loads I headed over to rent special shoes for hiking The Narrows tomorrow. It’s a 6-mile hike that is primarily walking through a rocky river. The person at the desk said there is a risk of flash floods, and when I mentioned we had Friday as an option she agreed this was definitely the best choice, so we will delay this hike a day. Probably best after the crazy hike today anyways.

Our weather for this portion of our trip has been perfect. The high was 107 the night we arrived, and today for our first day it was only in the mid 80s. The highs are going to stay in the 80s while we are here. Even more crazy is the weather back in Kirkland is supposed to be 100+ this weekend. Who would have guessed a summer trip to the Utah desert is the way to get a break from the heat?