Gotta go.
For the decades, I’ve listened to students and friends tell me that I MUST go explore southern Utah. While teaching at Helena High, the suggestion often came during our geology unit as I explained the formation of rock layers and tried to impress students with photographs of local examples. “Benson, you need to check out southern Utah!”, they would say. Those students would be happy to know that I finally made the trip, thanks to a couple friends who invited me along.
No foolin’.
Jerry and Jim are also former HHS science teachers who (unlike me) are both very familiar with adventuring in southern Utah. Together they mapped out four days of hiking and backpacking, including one of the premier day-hikes in Utah. Through the recreation.gov lottery, Jerry applied for and secured a permit for three people to climb onto Angels Landing in Zion National Park on Tuesday, April 1st – our first full day in Utah. Although the rest of the week didn’t go as planned due to unseasonably cold temperatures, the climb to Angels Landing was fabulous – great weather and one of my favorite day-hikes ever!
Start to finish.
Despite the constant flow of people on every part of the trail, I never felt crowded. Hikers are generally nice folks, especially when they’re hiking. Plus, the trail features a nice variety and every part was fascinating in its own way. The sidewalk switchbacks overlooking the scenic valley, the narrow Refrigerator Canyon, Walter’s Wiggles, and the final ascent to the landing along the chain rail – all were amazing! Check out the photo tour to see what I mean (link below).
Next?
After climbing Angels Landing we lunched at the Zion Brewery then made the 2-hour drive to Stateline Campground on the Utah-Arizona border. We tent-camped there the night before our day #2 adventure – a walk through some incredible slot canyons in the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness, about 60 miles east of St. George, Utah. This is the topic of my next blog post on Bigskywalker.com.
FYI – I have an Instagram account. I will try to post something interesting at least once a week. Check it out: rodbenson406
- Photo tour of our Angels Landing adventure.
A very popular place. - Angels Landing Permit Information.
Recreation.gov.
Below: This map marks hikes that have been featured on bigskywalker.com so far, including several in Glacier Park – Select full screen to expand, zoom in for more detail, or click on a marker for a link to the post.
.
