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le slip and fall into the water although i did it without trekking poles i wish i had brought them one of the first stand out features in the canyon is mystery falls which is the steep orange slope in the center right of the photo above there are several opportunities for technical requiring specific rock climbing equipment and knowledge canyoneering within the park and mystery canyon is one such opportunity mystery canyon requires 12 rappels and the final rappel is down the 120 foot mystery falls on my return hike i stopped to watch a few hikers rappelling down the slippery algae covered waterfall seeing hikers rappel down a waterfall is a rather interesting activity to watch if you want more info on this technical hike visit this canyoneering usa page the narrows is probably the most popular hike in zion when i did it i passed hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people people are drawn to this hike not only because of the beauty and ease of access but also because of the opportunity to escape the harsh heat of the park although it was 90 some degrees out in most of the park when i went the canyon itself was about 70 degrees the virgin river was very cool too but not uncomfortable because of these features tourists flock to the trail the first mile or two can seem like an amusement park with the amount of people present but the number of people on the trail drops off steeply after about 2 miles i have to admit i didn t expect it to be as busy as it was but you quickly leave the hordes of people after about an hour of hiking the soaring walls of the canyon quickly narrow as you make your way upstream the giant boulders and carved sandstone walls remind you of the time and power that it took the virgin river to carve out this canyon about 2 5 miles from the start of the narrows you run into a fork in the canyon if you hang left you continue on with the narrows if you hang a right you enter orderville canyon a smaller side canyon orderville canyon is narrower and darker than the narrows proper and it was a lovely little place to explore those like me who are doing the bottom up trek cannot go past a certain point in orderville canyon the turn around point for bottom up hikers is just a bit around the bend in the photo above you can however get a permit and do the entirety of orderville canyon from top down it does however involve some technical canyoneering skills rappelling if you want to read more about the orderville canyon hike check out this canyoneering usa link wall street in the narrows with 1 500 foot canyon walls and the river reaching from wall to wall in most sections i hiked in low water levels so there s more exposed land than what there normally is it wouldn t be a post on a slot canyon without talking about the inherent dangers of hiking in one i did this hike during the north america monsoon season during the late summer months storms with torrential rain can pop up anywhere out west flash flooding is a serious concern and even more so in a slot canyon the narrows regularly closes several times a year when there s a threat of flash flooding why because there can be literally no place to go in some sections there can be high ground to seek refuge on if you re caught in a flash flood however many sections of the canyon don t offer such protection take for example the wall street section of the narrows just upstream from orderville canyon as you can see in the photo above the virgin river stretches wall to wall there is no safe high ground if a flash flood comes roaring in while you re here you will die you cannot outswim a flash flood mainly due to the force of the current and the debris the river picks up imagine having trunks of trees ripped out from the flood hurtling toward you at 30 mph it s not going to be a pretty ending check out this youtube video of a flash flood at the narrows to see the danger of such a flood the national park service will close the narrows to hikers if it seems a flash flood is potentially possible for that day that doesn t mean that one can t pop up unexpectedly with no warning even if the sky is blue over the narrows a rain event out of sight at the headwaters can send a wall of water downstream be aware if you hear a rumbling in the canyon get to high ground if the water begins to change color get to high ground if the water seems to be ever so slightly rising get to high ground just be aware and if it seems like it might be a bad day to do this hike don t do it remember in a national park your safety is your responsibility not the national park service s if you re ever in zion national park and you can safely hike the narrows i highly highly suggest that you take the opportunity to do so it is not an experience you are going to ever forget the towering walls the interplay between the sunlight and shadows and the refreshing water of the virgin river all combine to create a fantastic hiking experience thanks for reading posted by kyle brooks at 1 21 pm no comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels nature ohio photography parks american southwest geology hiking national parks road tripping travel utah zion national park location zion national park utah 84737 usa tuesday september 20 2016 hiking angels landing i woke up early packed up my tent and drove the short distance from my dispersed campsite to springdale utah with my daypack on my back and my trek poles in my hands i boarded a zion national park shuttle bus and rode into zion canyon stop number 6 the grotto i got off the bus filled my water adjusted my poles and started off down the trail as the tall fremont cottonwoods gave way and the view opened up my eyes gazed upon the towering sandstone cathedral so appropriately named angels landing before me what in the world did i get myself into angels landing is a large rock formation cut from the massive layer of navajo sandstone by the virgin river it is just one of the many features in the iconic zion canyon in southwestern utah i hiked the famous trail back in mid july during my arizona to ohio roadtrip this post is essentially just a pictorial journey up to the top with some fun facts and tips thrown in soaring 1 488 feet above the canyon floor angels landing received its appropriate name when frederick fisher who was exploring the canyon with 3 others back in 1916 gazed upon the formation and claimed only an angel could land on it back then there wasn t a trail leading to the top ascending angels landing was an incredibly difficult task and required a lot of rock climbing and the first recorded ascent was in 1923 by park ranger harold russell although this was the first recorded ascent it doesn t mean this was the first time someone ever got to the top if anyone had previously their name is lost to history we humans have an insatiable urge to get on top of tall and hard to reach places and angels landing is no exception in 1926 walter ruesch the park superintendent at the time began a project to build a trail that would reach the top allowing the visitors to the relatively new zion national park to make the trek up this formidable formation upon completion the trail came in at 2 4 miles from the start point to the top of angels landing 4 8 miles round trip the trail starts at the grotto trailhead crosses the virgin river and begins a gently ascending path along the canyon floor toward the wall upon hitting the canyon wall a series of winding paved switchbacks pictured above begin this is where the hike really kicks in after the first set of switchbacks the trail rewards you with a slight respite the trail levels out as you make your way through a much smaller side canyon called refrigerator canyon the name fits quite well the temperature in the shady canyon is much much cooler than the exposed parts of the trail this cool canyon offers a lower elevation foothold for the rocky mountain douglas fir pseudotsuga menziesii var glauca typically douglas firs begin to appear around 6 000 feet above sea level in utah yet this canyon is about 1 000 feet lower than that nevertheless the cooler temperatures allow the persistence of this cooler weather pine the refreshing break of refrigerator canyon ends all too soon the trail quickly arrives at the bottom of the infamous walter s wiggles a section of 21 tight and steep switchbacks the photo above shows only 9 of the 21 switchbacks just to give you an idea check out this link to see a photo of the entire section back and forth and back and forth you go slowly gaining more and more elevation this section of the trail is named after walter ruesch who i mentioned a bit earlier the creation of this section of trail allowed for hikers to reach scout lookout without having to climb the sandstone cliffside as you round the 21st switchback of walter s wiggles you come to a flat sandy area called scout landing this is an area where most people take a long breather and decide whether or not to make the final push up angels landing the paved trail ends here and the remaining 500 vertical feet of your 1 488 foot climb towers in the distance for many people scout landing is far enough i passed several people who turned around at this part of the trail i don t blame them looking at the final half mile of the trail made me seriously consider turning back it looked terrifying i knew that i would never forgive myself if i didn t finish the trail after coming this far so i took a deep breath calmed my nerves and started toward the trail and i m so glad i did as the trail looks much more difficult and scarier than it really is a word of caution many people like to leave their backpacks at scout landing before climbing up do not do this there are rock squirrels all over scout landing and they know that humans keep food in their packs these squirrels will chew holes into unattended packs leaving a nice surprise for returning hikers i passed one unattended pack with a squirrel butt sticking out of a nice two inch hole don t let that be your pack the final leg of the trail up the actual angels landing formation starts at this and yes this is as steep as it looks after arriving at this point i couldn t help but utter seriously thankfully this was probably the most difficult part to navigate this is the beginning of the chains portion of the trail from here on up chains were installed to help hikers make their way up more safely these chains might offer more of a sense of safety than actual safety however a good rule of advice i read is that if you feel you couldn t make the hike without the chains you probably shouldn t attempt this section the angels landing trail is infamous in the hiking world and the photo above shows why that s the trail on the left and that s a 1 000 some foot drop right next to the trail there s little room for error on much of this last section as sheer cliffsides are often only a few feet away add dozens of people going up and down crowding the already narrow trail and say hello to your adrenaline rush the section of trail pictured above is the narrowest section in the hike but just how narrow is it it s this narrow this is a photo of me standing right on that section pictured previously the trail is maybe 2 2 5 feet wide at most on either side of me is a 1 000 foot cliff the national park service stresses that you shouldn t attempt this trail if you re afraid of heights and this is exactly why if you aren t at least comfortable with this this trail isn t for you you have to pay close attention to every step you take and that becomes hard if you re overwhelmed with fear i took the final half mile of the trail very very slowly the trail can be really busy at times and you often have to stop at a safe area and wait for groups of people to pass you either going up or down most of the trail is only one person wide so there s a lot of this stopping and starting this is definitely not a trail to do if you re in a hurry you can see from the photo above that the last half mile isn t actually a hike but a rock scramble rock scrambling is a method of navigating up or down steep rocky terrain using both your feet and hands it s the non technical middle ground between hiking and rock climbing after 2 grueling hours and 1 488 feet in vertical elevation gain later i stepped onto the summit of angels landing it was one of the most rewarding feelings i ve ever felt squirrels and chipmunks scampered around the exhausted hikers and stunted trees two peregrine falcons which nest on the cliffsides darted through the air a lone california condor soared by on a rising thermal the hike was all worth it the views of zion canyon from 1 488 feet above the mighty virgin river were astounding this is the view from looking down the canyon angels landing is relatively far up the wider portion of zion canyon this is the view looking up the canyon the narrows another incredibly famous hike begins where the canyon walls pinch together near the center of the photo looking down toward the organ from angels landing from atop angels landing you are rewarded with a bird s eye view of the big bend here the virgin river lazily winds around a small rock formation named the organ on the other side of the river you can see where echo canyon another side canyon joins the main zion canyon the confluence of echo and zion canyons is the trailhead for 3 popular hikes weeping rock hidden canyon and observation point of course you have to get the obligatory photo of yourself while atop angels landing this was personally the hardest hike i ve ever done so far but i m so glad i did it here are a few personal tips for those considering hiking angels landing someday take plenty of water and drink it i knew i was going to need a lot of water and even then i still became stupidly dehydrated by the time i got back to scout landing and the adrenaline wore off i realized i had pretty bad heat exhaustion it got pretty serious before i got back to the shuttle bus you need way more electrolytes and water than you think you do i highly suggest using trekking poles for the paved portion of the trail they really help take the strain off of your legs especially your knees while heading back down however if you do use trekking poles make sure that you can safely store them on in your pack while doing the chains sections of angels landing you ll want both hands free for this part using trekking poles during the last half mile adds unnecessary risk use very small steps when hiking uphill to save energy people tend to take large steps when going uphill but this utilizes more energy as your muscles must perform more work big steps equal quicker exhaustion and soreness take it slow and take it small there is absolutely no shame in turning around at any point during the trail if you feel like you can t continue turn around don t risk your life more than 5 people have died on this trail in the past few decades this isn t a trail to mess around on than...