Our flight to Las Vegas and first night stay were uneventful and an early morning departure took us through St. George, Utah and into Zion National Park. A family trip to the area (Oddessy II) 17 years earlier had burned into my mind the goal of summitting Angels Landing. Mom, Dad, sister Amy and I had made it to the narrow col between the canyon wall and the tall, thin rib that is Angels Landing. As a 16 year old kid, I lacked the authority to forge ahead. Now as a 33 year old kid, it was my call.
The climb begins with an easy walk across the valley floor to the foot of Walter's Wiggles, a series of sweat soaking switchbacks that deliver you to a saddle connecting the canyon wall and Angels Landing. The trail flattens out some and even winds through some welcome shade. A sign is soon encountered that reads "Angels Landing 0.5 mi." It doesn't sound bad, does it? This is where we turned back 17 years earlier. Hindsight being as accurate as it is, turning back in 1979 was a good move. Stretches of Class 2 climbing and areas of significant exposure made things very interesting.
The last half mile of trail follows the spine the Angels Landing across boulders and thin ledges. Some sections have permanent chains to help maintain a purchase on the edge. The spine is a mere 3 feet wide at points. It's a very dramatic sight from 1400 feet above the valley floor. The last half mile took nearly an hour. Despite the challenge, we joined a dozen other climbers on the sunny summit. As they say, getting down is not optional. Ask Angie and she will tell you it was the hard part.
Our path continued east to Brice Canyon National Park. This spectacular array of vivid orange and red hoodoos offers endless day hikes on good trails through an unforgettable landscape. The Douglas fir at left has spent its entire life working its way out of a hoodoo canyon; we hiked in and out in a matter of hours. We enjoyed several of them and relaxed the afternoon away reading and enjoying the vista on the veranda of Brice Lodge.
We left Brice in the late afternoon in time to have dinner at the Trail's End in Kanab, Utah. The country fried steak was fabulous! Our packed agenda took us clockwise around the east end of the Grand Canyon past ancient cliff dwellings in northern Arizona, across the Colorado south of Antelope Pass, to the Anisazi ruins at Wupatki, through Sunset Crater, and north to the awesome El Tovar Lodge on the south rim of the Grand Canyon. Jump at any chance to stay at this historic hotel.
Our relaxing evening at the El Tovar was spent strolling along the South Rim Trail, reading on the veranda, and resting up for tomorrow's descent into the canyon. Dawn came early and after repacking and loading up with six quarts of water each, we hopped the shuttle to the South Kaibob Trailhead. The trail plummets steeply from the upper rim down a series of switchbacks. Crossing the wide plateau above the inner canyon gave our knees a welcome break. Most visitors never see the inner canyon. "Dropping off" into the inner canyon is an entirely different experience. The trail is cut into barren vertical rock walls. Phantom Ranch is still several miles away at our first glimpse of the Colorado River. By the time we crossed the suspension bridge to the north bank, we had climbed down nearly a mile. Yes, we did it in tennis shoes.
Phantom Ranch has a few private cabins, but despite making reservations over eight months in advance, we got separate bunks in the dormitories (no, they are not coed). As we crawled into our separate beds, it was hard to believe that would be hiking over nine miles and gaining nearly a mile in elevation in a few short hours. We drew the 5:00 am breakfast and were on the trail before dawn. We made good time in the cool pre-dawn light and had made it clear to Indian Gardens by the time the sun eclipsed the upper rim. This is where the going gets tough. Climbing out on the Bright Angel Trial involves an endless series of steep switchbacks. Lightning and thunder caused us to pick up the pace as we neared the rim and we barely escaped a hail storm that left an inch of hail on the South Rim Trail. Most of the people we shared our night at Phantom with got caught in this storm. We made it out in a respectible six hours.
Sore but safely atop, we headed for Mesa Verde. The short hikes to cliff dwellings, kivas and sipapus were a welcome relief. Mesa Verde National Park had already restricted traffic on the ruins by requiring advanced ticket purchases. Without proper measures, the throngs of cigarette butt tossing, tree bark carving, pottery shard stealing tourists will reduce these ruins to rubble. Take only pictures, leave only footprints, just not too many footprints.
After some indian pottery shopping (hey, the stuff was made by indians living today) in Gallup, New Mexico, we beat it for Sedona. We dropped into Oak Creek Canyon just as an afternoon thunderstorm cleared and the light on the red rock was incredible. Our first time in Sedona was all it took to convince us that we should come back. This is a beautiful place.
The next morning we were back in Vegas and before we knew it, back in Columbus. This adventure set the stage for future trips and was the beginning of a long tradition of seeing our great nation in person. Get out there and do it.
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