Day 6 - Zion National Park

Zion is a very interesting place. The majority of the park is based around a main road with tall rock formations on either side. At the suggestion of a friend, I attempted Angels Landing - a 5 mile hike ascending 1500 feet. The hike is basically broken up into 2 parts, the "sure I can follow this trail up for a couple miles" and the last half mile of "what the hell was I thinking??" (names not official). The first part wasn't so bad - just long and tough with the elevation but with wide, mostly paved trails. The second part is unpaved with chains most of the way up and extremely steep drops. At one point, you have to walk a 3 foot wide section of rock with a 1200 foot drop on one side and a 900 foot drop on the other and only a chain going down the middle for "safety". As I've mentioned, I'm not one for heights so after climbing a bit on the second half, I stopped at the first point where the chains were 6 feet apart and decided I'd live to see the remainder of my trip. The best part was the area between the two points where most people decide whether or not to go on. About half decide to stop there so most just take a breather and enjoy the view from that point (pic 4). I met some really cool people while hanging out there. Again, it was one of those conversations where people want to know what brought you there and share their own experiences.

I also checked out the Lower Emerald Pool with a waterfall that flows year round (pic 5) as well as Weeping Rock (pic 6) which has constant water permeation.

I should mention that I drank water directly from the canyon stream today so if I don't make it, I'd recommend not doing that - if I do make it, I'm probably fortified with lots of minerals, algae, and sediment. ;)

Enjoy.