I took this shot close to the beginning of the trail, where the going was flat and easy. The large rock promontory in the photo is Angel's Landing, and we're headed to it's top!
Here, we were only part way up the first climb on the trail. The view was already breathtaking, with the sheer wall in front of us framing up the cliffs in the distance. In many places I was amazed that a trail could exist at all. Signs indicated that the Civilian Conservation Corps built the trail through some tremendous feats in engineering during the 1930s.
After the initial climb, a nice stroll through a side canyon, and then another steep climb, you reach an area called Scout's Lookout. From the Lookout, you have an eerie, discouraging, view out and up the spine of Angel's Landing. I say discouraging because I was winded just getting up to the Lookout, and it seemed impossible to make it all way up to the Landing itself, across that narrow rock spine.
You'll notice I don't have any pictures taken on the climb up to Angel's Landing. Frankly, I was too scared to take my camera out - I wanted both hands and feet on the rocks in front of me :) But the views from the Landing itself were well worth the effort. 
At the top, we could see the smoke from a prescribed burn on the rim of the canyon. From the floor of the canyon, the angle was too sharp and you couldn't see the smoke plume at all!I will share a few more Angel's Landing pictures in my next post, including some more of the trail itself.
6 comments:
very interesting place and you have captured very beautifully.
I must say, Ash, that I was a bit scared and winded just reading along and looking at the pictures. It must have been an exciting trip and a bit dangerous too. I would have been totally winded as I have problems on flat ground. Nice photography and an excellent narrative with it.
Thanks for your generous comments on my birds blog. And yes, for some reason, the Red-breasted Nuthatches are totally fearless and I can almost touch them. The white-breasted are almost the opposite. The red-breasted finches are also almost tame but some, now and then, are suffering from eye infections and that accounts for it I think. They can't see that well out of one eye or the other.
I was wondering if you two were going to do that particular trail. I knew I could not do it, but kudos to you for doing it, and apparently surviving it. The rewarding view is worth it, really wish I was in better shape.
These are superb Ash... the rock forms and the colours are great.. I would love to walk there.. but I am more than content to let you be my legs and eyes now.. Thank you.
i wonder if I 'll ever be fit enough to do trails like those......the views sure were worth every drop of sweat!!! :)
The sheer size of these cliffs boggles my mind. How old and beautiful is our earth!
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