Sunday, July 21, 2024

Starting mileage: 17049, Miles travelled: 0

Miles hiked: 9 (Brady & Susan), 5.5 (Laura & David)

It was an early start to get everything ready and hit the trailhead to Angel’s Landing by 8:30am. Susan had scored a rare permit to hike the trail back in April through the quarterly lottery system. Our permit allowed us to be on the hairy final half mile after 9am. It took us a little over an hour to climb the first two miles, including some very stacked switchbacks called Walter’s Wiggles. We gained nearly 1000 feet of elevation in those two miles but it was almost entirely in shade. Laura was feeling much better and everyone was in good spirits.

With the day beginning to warm and the shade disappearing, we started up the ascent to Angel’s Landing. The half-mile trail is straight up the knife’s edge with only a thick chain to hold onto and single-file two-directional traffic. Although incredibly intense and strenuous, everyone loved this last segment of the climb. The view was spectacular and the team spirit on the trail was really fun and inspiring. From the top you could see in all directions, including up and down the length of the canyon.

By the time we made it halfway down, we were feeling incredibly grateful (and smart) for starting so early. The temperature was rising and although we got back into the shade at the bottom of Walter’s Wiggles, the last 30-40 minutes was in unrelenting sun. We all agreed that this final stretch was by far the hardest and we were so happy to get back on the air conditioned shuttle at the bottom. We passed many people heading up as we were finishing up around 12:30 in the sunny, 104-degree heat, and couldn’t figure out how that was possible.

We got lunch at the cafe back at the lodge and basically recovered the rest of the afternoon, chilling out in the cabin. Some of us iced sore knees and took showers and rehydrated. We headed back to the lodge for a giant pretzel and a drink in the beer garden before having dinner at the Red Rock Grill. After dinner, Brady and Susan decided to take the shuttle back up to the Grotto stop and hike the Kayenta Trail to Emerald Pools. The air temperature had cooled down and the sun was long gone from the bottom of the canyon. We saw all three: lower, middle, and upper Emerald Pools. In the evening we saw more lizards and tadpoles on the trail than fellow hikers. We also missed the last shuttle and walked the half mile extra back to our cabin, much of it followed by a wild turkey who took an interest in us.