I didn't ride today, which always gives me mixed feelings when I'm on bike tours.

After a lazy morning and a stroll into Springdale (I was hoping to find a camping pillow I liked) and learning the town lacks charm, I took the park shuttle bus up the restricted Virgin River road. As I mentioned, the canyon there is the centerpiece of Zion National Park and every recommendation I saw was that the hike to Angel's Landing was the best in the area. I'm a little embarrassed to say I couldn't finish it!

It seems that the final part of the hike is over an exposed, narrow ridge where the Park Service has added handholds because the drop on either side of the slimmest part of the trail is about 2,000 feet. How narrow is it? To my eye, it looked like it was less than five feet wide and steep enough to require one to clamber with hands as well as feet. I have a fear of heights that made the first tricky section (next to what looked like a 600-foot drop) to Scout Lookout more than enough to tell me I couldn't finish the more exposed part of the trail. I was terrified, but waited until I was past the first scary part to decide to quit!

Here's a view from Scout Lookout. The narrow ridge to the left is the trail and there is no reason for a sensible hiker to traverse that!


(click to see a larger image)