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Tuesday, November 23, 2021

Hiking - Part 13

Zion National Park

Welcome to Zion!  Located in southern Utah, it's one of American's great national parks.

The central feature of the park is Zion Canyon.  There are trails leading up the cliffs to scenic overlooks such as the one above (I've been there, but alas, without the scenery in the foreground).

Another scenic overlook.

One of the most popular trails is The Narrows, leading through a slot canyon carved by the Virgin River.  You have to wade upstream through the river.  At its narrowest, The Narrows is only 20 feet wide, and the cliffs are a thousand feet high.

This is Parunuweap Canyon, another slot canyon, partly in Zion National Park.

The park has landscapes other than canyons.

This guy is not lying on sand.  It's rock that has been scoured by the wind

We end with an intrepid unashamed male on Angel's Landing.  The trail leading up to the top of this 1488-foot-tall rock formation has been called the scariest trail in America.  The final stretch of the trail follows the top of a narrow rock fin, only a few feet wide (narrower than a sidewalk in places), with a thousand-foot drop on both sides.  There are chains to grab onto to keep from falling that are bolted into the rock along most but not all of this stretch.  Even so, to date, 14 people have fallen to their deaths.  I've been to Zion, and I love to hike, but there's no way I would hike that trail.

3 comments:

whkattk said...

I've been there. Gorgeous place. And, yes, naked hikers can be seen upon occasion. Though, I'd have to say, I wouldn't be climbing that trail to Angel's Landing.

SickoRicko said...

Thank you for the scenery, and, the "scenery"!

Greenmarkut said...

Loved hiking Angel's Landing, however it's become so crowded. I will say that as long as you are careful and hang on to the hiking chains- you'd be fine. Just have a healthy respect for Mother Nature :)