Crapping on a yak.....overland to the other side of the world and the rest: Day 322

We are in Zion National Park today, where we meet the other Green Tortoise bus with whom we will be swapping some passengers. There is a lot of hanging around saying goodbyes until we realise that there is time for people in both parties to do a hike together up to Angel’s Landing, the best place to overlook Zion Canyon but which is a hike that comes with many warning signs.

When we take the park shuttle to the beginning of the trail, the driver expresses surprise that we are starting the trail in the early afternoon, as the heat will be at its peak by the time we reach the landing. ‘I can’t stop you’, he says, ‘but bring plenty of water’.

Teaming up with my Czech brides, I don’t really take the warnings about the strenuousness of the trail too seriously, the US legal system being the originator of the tyranny of Health & Safety. However, from the beginning, the heat is draining and it is tempting to have a paddle in Virgin River alongside the early part of the trail before the climb even begins.

For the first forty five minutes the hike is straight forward if tangibly uphill. Then we hit the hiking equivalent of Lombard Street in SF, when we come to Walter’s Wiggles, a series of twenty odd switchbacks carved to negate the slope. My thighs are aching by the time I get to the top of these. There is a flat part around the bend of the trail, but we can see a peak in the distance with chains marking the steep climbing trail up a rocky slope. More of the Green Tortoise passengers are gathered on the flat and we are surprised to see Rick, the big humoured San Franciscan with a waistline to match, climbing to be the first of us to the peak, so we follow.

Using the chains to aid our climb, we find Rick recuperating at the top with Quan, the gym instructor Vietnamese Aussie seeking refuge from the heat under a tree. We also find that we are not at the peak. Rick points to the continuing trail. I had not thought it was part of the hike as it seems to be just a narrow ledge with near sheer drops into the valley below on each side. The chains that mark the trail are not there so much as to aid the climb, but to avoid the plummet. I now realise why earlier warning signs had not warned of the possibility of fatalities, but had instead warned how fatalities have happened.

We have reached Scout Lookout, but I think ‘Chicken Point’ would be more appropriate as this is where many of us say we will stop. However, herd mentality kicks in as once the first person goes on further, and there is no stopping Petra and Adele, the rest eventually follow, including me after a quick cigarette break under the tree next to Quan.

I lead 6’4” Neil, who turns out to be even more intimidated by heights than me, and Tong, a petite Asian girl up the chain path. At times the chain disappears, not because the trail gets any less hazardous but possibly because it has fallen away. However, with Neil crawling most of the way and with me just wanting to get past the thinnest parts of the ledge, I leave them behind, finally reaching the flat peak of Angel’s Landing sweaty with nerves as much as heat. By this time, most of our crowd are already there, including my Czech brides. As for Neil, even Christina, who would surely have stopped for dozens of photo opportunities, beats him to the top. It’s a good thing he hadn’t brought his fiddle with him this time.

The view from Angel’s Landing over Zion Canyon is spectacular, but after the travails of the ascent, I feel I have earned something more than a view. Maybe I have turned into a drama queen.

After eating up packed lunches on the landing, we start the way down. Probably for psychological reasons, I find the descent much easier, with only one chainless part of the path giving me a moment of heebee geebees.

When we finish the hike in the early evening, it is time to say goodbye to Petra and Adele and others. However, I introduce myself to some more of the newcomers and find others to share a beer with.