Last but not least, Zion National Park. I am now at the Southwest corner of Utah. It will take days to get back to the Northeast. As usual I attended the intro Ranger talk. Check out the incredible view from the back of the visitors center and where they do all their lectures. Zion had the most amazing landscape. Incredible rock formations, mountains, all accented by lush green forest. While there I did the Angel Landing hike. First you hike 2 miles to the top of a ridge via steep trails and switchbacks. You then venture out about a quarter of a mile along the ridge of a fin. I'm not the best with heights and I've got to say this was terrifying. It was sheer thousand foot drops on either side. A wrong step, a slip on a sandy rock could be tragic. They had a chain that ran along much of the fin. I cluched it with my heart pounding the whole way. Some pics to give you a sense of how high up you are, how thin the fin is, and how steep the hiking is along the fin. This is a view from the top and very end of Angels Landing. As usual the hard work and fear was paid off with a spectacular view. Some less terrifying hikes in Zion. Many hikers built their own carine on this rock as a way of saying they were here.
Below is one of the many waterfalls that run through Zion.
My park tour is offically done. Now it's time to start the grueling trip back to CT in the Jeep. My plan is to drive as much as possible each day to try and get home. |
