Angels Landing summit, Zion National Park, UT, 11/7/2006
Here is the view from atop Angels Landing in Zion National Park looking south along Zion Canyon toward Springdale. This photograph was made just after sunrise, although it is still effectively dawn within the canyon. At far left is Red Arch Mountain. Beyond that is Mountain of the Sun and Twin Brothers, followed by Bridge Mountain, and then The Watchman. Below and to the right of Bridge Mountain is Mount Spry and well beyond The Watchman is Eagle Crags West. The close red formation at middle far right is The Spearhead; beyond that at upper right is Jacob Peak - one of the Three Patriarchs. Mount Moroni is at the end of the red fin extending into the canyon just right of center beneath Jacob Peak. Roughly 1,500 feet below us, the North Fork of the Virgin River can be seen snaking through the canyon among the yellow and green trees. On our fourth day visiting Zion, my friend David Ellison and I decided to hike to the top of Angels Landing (formerly Temple of Aeolus) to see the view at sunrise. We started at 4:30 AM on the canyon floor as fallen leaves swirled around us in gusts of wind. As we began our ascent, we had no idea how strong those winds would become! Our nighttime climb was quite pleasant until we reached Scout Lookout and commenced our final half-mile push to the summit in gale force winds. I remember saying "This is fun, but I could sure do without the hurricane"! Along the way, we squeezed by many steep and sharp drop-offs from the narrow trail. Because it was pitch-black, we couldn't see how far they dropped. We passed a sign warning of the "narrow route with cliff exposures - hazardous during thunderstorms, darkness,...", but didn't read the sign because it was too dark. What we didn't know didn't worry us. As we reached the summit (elevation 5,790 feet above sea level), the winds subsided, dawn turned to sunrise, and chipmunks greeted us! The magnificent view you see here was well worth our fun but crazy hike. On our descent later that morning we clearly saw that some of those drop-offs by the trail are 1,000 feet or more straight down. My friend David - an experienced hike leader - said: "If I had known, I never would have allowed this"!
