Hello fellow wanderers!
We hiked Angels Landing in Zion National Park on Jan. 30, 2022. We were in Kanab for a long weekend because we won the lottery for the Wave (blog and video coming soon) so we decided to hike Angels Landing prior to the permit system taking effect starting April 1, 2022.
There is currently no permit required to hike to the top of Angels Landing but that changes starting April 1, 2022. Please visit NPS.gov for more information on how the Angels Landing permit system will work.
We watched several YouTube videos of this hike trying to understand what is required for a safe and successful hike but even after watching quite a few videos, we had no idea what we were in for.
We arrived at Zion around 11:30am. But first, please stop in at the Park House Cafe in Springdale for an amazing breakfast burrito! Staff was friendly and the food was great!
The Grotto parking lot is where Angels Landing trailhead starts but when we got there the parking lot was full and the ranger was closing down the road due to the capacity being full. The ranger re-directed us back to the Zion Lodge for parking. After driving around for a few, we caught a family leaving and sat and waited for their spot. We felt very lucky at this point to have made it in since it was about noon at this point and there was no parking available, and the roads were closing.
Parking at the Zion Lodge added about 0.8 miles each way to our hike. We hiked the Grotto Trail from the lodge over to the Grotto picnic area (restrooms available) and then headed across the road and then took the bridge across the Virgin River to the official Angels Landing Trailhead via the West Rim Trail.
If you can park at the Grotto parking area, the trail is 4.4 miles roundtrip with an elevation gain of about 1,600 feet. Parking at the lodge, we clocked in 6.5 miles roundtrip with closer to 1,800 feet in elevation gain. The map below is from AllTrails which we use for all of our hikes.
We started the hike at 1pm and got back to the Lodge at 5:30pm.
After all the research we did, we knew we had a set of steep switchbacks called Walter's Wiggles to hike up. But we did not realize that there is a lower set of switchbacks that we found to be more exhausting than Walter's Wiggles.
The photo below is the lower (first set) of switchbacks.
Once you hike up the lower set of switchbacks, you start up Walter's Wiggles, shown below. Photo credit unknown (taken from google). We experienced ice on Walter's Wiggles and stopped and put on our spikes. Even with spikes, the trail was slippery. We watched people try to attempt this with no spikes. It was not easy for them, and we highly recommend spikes to be on the safe side.
Now that we are finally at the top of Walter's Wiggles, we took a break at Scout Lookout. Scout Lookout is a flatter area that branches off into multiple trails including Angels Landing and there is a restroom at the lookout (the only restroom on the trail). Good spot for a snack or lunch.
We now start the official "chain section" of Angels Landing. The chain section was very icy and required spikes (although we saw people hiking it without spikes, in sneakers and in one case, two boys were hiking it barefoot, which we do not recommend). The chain section also requires four points of contact in several areas. My daughter and I brought gloves that we used for Crossfit. We are so glad we did. The chain was cold (temp was in the 40s) and the grip of the gloves helped quite a bit. We highly recommend gloves with a grip for this section of the hike!
There are quite a few portions of the chain section that go straight up. We highly recommend that if you are afraid of heights or are not sure footed, do not attempt this portion of the trail (unless, of course, you want to conquer your fear). Do not risk your life for that Instagram moment. Your life is not worth it!
Even though it was cold, we still drank about 2.0 liters of water each and ate plenty of snacks. It was a tough hike, and the ice did not help.
Tips:
Plenty of water
Salty snacks
Good hiking shoes/boots
Spikes in icy conditions (put on prior to chain section, where you can sit)
Gloves with grip for the chain section
Strapped camera to your body for four points of contact
We do not recommend this hike if it is windy, snowy or dark.
We finally made it to the top of Angels Landing. The views are epic, and the hike up is well worth making it to the top!
Please check out our video on YouTube. Seach for Wandered Off or click the link on our website. We hope this video and blog help you successfully hike Angels Landing.
Thank you so much for wandering up to Angels Landing with us. We hope you enjoy your hike as much as we did.
Chris, Brandi and Makenzie
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