Zion National Park

I know my posts have been long overdue but I’ll continue to post my trip last month. It was 15 February 2008 night. I drove from Valley of Fire to Zion National Park which is about 3 hours drive away. One thing to take note is that you must always book a hotel before you travel. At first I thought that there would be more rooms than visitors. I was wrong. I drove past a few hotels/motels and all I can see was the ‘Full’ sign. I was a bit desperate in search for a room or else I would end up sleeping in the car (with below zero temperature).
Luck was with my side- I found Zion National Park Hotel. I got a room for about $60- a King size bed all to myself.

The next morning, I found out that my car was covered with a layer of ice. Thank goodness I didn’t have to spend the night in the car or else my brain would have frozen.

In the night before, I scanned through the trails that I should be taking. I’ll have about 10 hours to spend in Zion before I head off to Grand Canyon. The trail that I chose was Angels Landing which is about 2 miles (one way). Trust me, this trail will be one of the best trails to hike when in summer. This is the view in winter and I bet summer would be much nicer (although it will be a little hotter)

Along the trail, you’ll reach a wonderful place known as Grotto Pass. It’s like a zig-zag trail and of course it was damn slippery because of the ice and snow. I almost gave up but I thought that since I’m already so near, might as well continue. Further more, there are kids who managed to climb up the trail.

When you reach the scout’s lookout, there’s another 0.5 mile hike to Angels Landing. However, it was winter so the short trail was covered with ice. It was super slippery. I tried to take a few steps with my hiking boots but it was just too slippery. I wasn’t prepared for a snowy hike so I didn’t get a pair of crampons or snow spikes. It wasn’t worth to risk my life so I just headed to another trail. You can see how steep the last 0.5 miles hike. There are metal chains for you to hold on to but if you slipped, bye bye!

After 2 mile hike, here’s the tired looking guy with his tripod and backpack full of energy bars and gatorade drinks. That would be my ‘set lunch’ for the next few days too.