February 29
March 1
March 2
March 3
March 4
March 5
March 6
March 7
March 8
March 9
March 10
March 11
We were up fairly early again, eating at the Pioneer again.
Today’s hikes were our longest for the park. The morning hike was most of the way up the Angel’s Landing Trail. Many, many switchbacks to a hanging canyon.
Along the narrow canyon to another set of switchbacks. This second set actually has a name - Walter’s Wiggles. The Wiggles don’t get a lot of sun, so some of the segments had packed snow and ice on them. Not hard to navigate - most could be stepped over - but the only ice we actually encountered in Zion.
At the top of Walter's Wiggles is a nice level area (Scout Lookout) where we stopped to eat our lunch. The trail continued up from there another half mile, but the park service had hung chains to help you climb it. We decided not to try it - the backpacks changed our balance too much to comfortably try it. Total of four miles round trip.
So we returned the way we had come up. Much, much warmer on the way down than on the way up.
The three photos above were taken on the Angel's Landing Trail. The photo on the left is a bunch of tree roots clinging to the canyon wall at the base of Walter's Wiggles. The center photo shows the view we had across Scout Lookout, where we ate lunch. The photo on the right looks up at a tree clinging to the side of the trail that continued to the top of Angel's Landing.
The photo on the left is looking down Walter's Wiggles from near the top. The elongated shadow in the middle is me....
Since we had eaten lunch already, we just stopped for ice cream at the Lodge before continuing on to the afternoon hike.
This one was the Watchman Trail, a 2.7 mile round trip hike through some sunny areas to a plateau that gave a good view of the valley and the town of Springdale.
We returned to the hotel to clean up. Dinner was pasta at the Pizza & Noodle, an interesting little place almost across from the hotel. They handed you menus as you entered. You seat yourself, then return to the counter to place your order. They did bring the food and drinks to the table, but that’s all the service there was. And they don’t take credit cards!! Good food.