Giuseppe 
Sunday, 12th of July 2009 at 04:33:37 PM
The day started very early at 5.30 a.m. checking out at Flamingo Hotel and taking I-15 north for a 2h45min drive towards Zion N.P. in South Utah. I was really looking forward to this long awaited hike. I had read so much and seen so many
nice fotos of this hike. Originally I had planned to do it in my 2008 tour. Unfortunately there was heavy snow back then and I had to postpone. Now the day has come and i was so curious to experience myself how difficult and beautiful this hike is really.
I had had no breakfast before arriving in Springdale where I used a refueling stop to have a quick Mc Donalds cappuccino.I arrived at the Zion N.P. visitor center around 10:30 a.m.Here I took the shuttle bus to The Grotto stop, the trailhead to the Angels Landing hike. The weather was sunny when I crossed the bridge over the Virgin river spotting the first time the Angels Landing.
Seen from here it looked really high. I could not imagine how the trail could overcome this altitude so quick, particularly cause the hiking trail was yet not visible. After a long left curve the ascent came to view leading steep to the refrigerator canyon.
Hiking along the canyon I reached soon Walters Wiggels, a steep zig-zag serpentine trail. They helped quickly overcome altitude and the first viewing area Scout Lookout was now near. I first thought havin arrived already on Angels Landing, cause the view from here into the valley was already awesome.
Looking to the left I noticed that Angels Landing was still some 30 minutes ahead, another steep hike along a chain. Unfortuantely the weather had worsen during the ascent, big clouds were announcing rain. So I enjoyed the views from Scout lookout only shortly and continued along the chain towards Angels Landing plateau. It was around noon time already and many people where on the way to and from the plateau, so it got sometimes narrow at the chain and the rim hike.
When I reached the Angels Landing plateau I made plenty of photos and then the rain began and urged all hikers to climb back to Scout Lookout. The Hike down to the Grotto shuttle stop was easy. Down at the Vigin river the weather had again changed, sun was back again and the clouds had disappeared.
It was 3 pm now and my plan was to do some sunset photos at Bryce Canyon where I had booked a night at the historical Ruby’s Inn. After 2 h drive and a photo session at sunset point I had a very nice steak dinner with red wine at Ruby’s Inn. I went to bed early.
Related Posts:
Angels Landing, Wave phototour 2009, Zion N.P. | 
Photography, The Wave 2009, Wave 2009 | 
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