My friends and I just returned from our Retired Ladies Road Trip to southwestern Utah. My post for part one of our trip is here. It covers the first three days of the trip.
On day four we hiked to see some petroglyphs at Anasazi Ridge above the Santa Clara River west of St George.
After lunch we hiked in Snow Canon State Park to a natural amphitheater set in white sandstone.
On day five, Saturday, we hiked again in Zion National Park. We hiked the Angels Landing Trail. It was amazing and spectacular. The first part of the hike is up, up, up a trail cut into the rock of the canyon wall. You can see my friend Amy on the trail about two thirds of the way up the cliff.
From the first cliff top we switched back through a narrow canyon.
And then along the cliff face and up using chains to hold on. This was the part of the trail that was scary although if I didn't look down it wasn't too bad.
We stopped for lunch at a flat spot with a fantastic view. From there the trail goes up a very narrow crest to the top. We decided to go no further. The trail is challenging enough without adding ice and snow! The picture below is of our lunch stop. You can see the top and the crest that the trail goes up to get there.
I think the Angels Landing trail is perhaps the most amazing trail I have ever hiked.
On day six of our trip we headed home across Nevada on Highway 50. It is a beautiful drive. We saw very few cars but we did see plenty of hawks, some pronghorn, and a very unusual weather phenomenon, hundreds of little mist columns coming from the clouds to the ground. It was beautifully unearthly. Here is a picture of some of the pronghorn from the truck window.
Wow! Looks like you had a great adventure. Fantastic photos!
Posted by: Vicky Vermazen | March 09, 2010 at 02:25 PM