Angels Landing, Zion National Park with Rihana Cary & Amanda Caldwell
I’d be willing to argue that fewer places are more beautiful than Zion National Park in Southern Utah. I’ve driven through it a few times and hiked one of the shorter trails that’s close to the entrance, but it took me 1.5 years to finally TRULY experience it. Living just 45 minutes from Zion is a dream and I plan to go back ASAP! A Spring trip in May was the perfect timing, as the afternoons were already starting to warm up. For a short weekend trip (2 days for us), it doesn’t get much better than this schedule!
SATURDAY schedule:
Woke up around 4:45am, left the house by 6am, and arrived to meet our canyoneering guide at 7:30am.
Dirty hands at the end of our canyoneering trip! PC: Rihana Cary
We went canyoneering with Red Rock Adventures. This was our first time, so we booked a half day trip! It was right around $600 for all 3 of us combined (after the tip), which wrapped up around lunch time.
We then drove a little over an hour to start hiking to Angels Landing, but I’ll be honest, we got lost trying to find where to start. HA! So we rode the eBikes around for longer than necessary, soaking up the mountain views and draining the batteries. When we finally did get on track, we were rewarded with a fairytale-like ending that’s well worth the climb! There truly isn’t anything like Angels Landing. The elevation change is roughly 1,500 feet and will take 4-5 hours round trip; however, if you push it up the mountain you can make it to the top in less than 2 hours. We did!
Then, we went to dinner at Oscar’s. Be prepared to wait! They currently use physical buzzers, so you’ll have to stay close. You most likely won’t be able to walk around town or sit in your car while waiting, unless you get lucky and snag one of the few nearby parking spots that the buzzer can reach. However, I highly recommend getting eBikes (further explanation below) so you can cruise right up and lock your bikes together. No parking spot necessary! Side note: The girls were doing #75Hard so no alcohol was involved this trip; however, if you’re a fan of sangria wine, do yourself a favor and order Oscar’s sangria. It’s the only sangria I’ve had that competes with fresh sangria at Park Guell in Barcelona, Spain. Oh, college study abroad memories are coming back to me, but that’s for another time!
After dinner we drove to our campsite, which I want to say was about 25 minutes away from town. Rihana found an incredible deal (only $52/night for ALL 3 of us) on the HipCamp app and we’ll definitely be going back. We stayed at the Wright Family Ranch, where you get to choose your campsite! It’s amazing and so beautiful!! We each had a Canvas Cutter Fortress bundle to sleep in, a cooler of food, and chairs to sit around the fire pits which are already built around the property. If you have camping essentials (be sure to bring your own wood), I doubt you’ll find something better than this place honestly. They even have CLEAN porta potties around the property.
Last pic of the trip; midway up the mountain on the Left Fork trail
SUNDAY SCHEDULE:
Woke up at 7am, drank coffee around the fire, enjoyed some girl time before packing up camp.
We decided to get one more hike in! We chose Left Fork trail, which is just the start of the Subway hike (bottom up route) that I’d like to eventually conquer. This trailhead was right next to Zion Wright Family Ranch where we camped, so that’s the only reason we peeled off and started there. Keep in mind there’s a nice bathroom in the parking lot before you start hiking just in case the coffee hits ya! This trail dropped us into a steep canyon and we soaked our feet in the water, ate some lunch, then headed back up. There are way easier hikes than this!!! Check out the AllTrails or Gaia GPS app for some ideas, preferably before you get to Zion because cell service isn’t great throughout.
Loading up to head back home. Throwing the Canvas Cutter Fortress Bundles into my truck! PC: Amanda Caldwell
ITEMS WORTH MENTIONING:
Getting lost before finding Angels Landing - not even a little mad about it!
Bakcou eBikes: without a doubt, this was the materialistic “thing” that made our trip so special. Of course, the company with you is the most important item and I had some pretty awesome gals by my side. It’s really important to note that we used ELECTRIC bikes! You can rent them in Springdale, UT, and while I haven’t personally rented from a shop, there are several with great reviews. We decided to bring our own Bakcou eBikes with us (use code HUNTINFOOL for $300 off your purchase), and they’re way more “heavy duty” than what you’ll get from the Zion bike shops because they’re made for hunting in rugged terrain. The bikes allowed us to bypass the headache of riding the shuttle to Angels Landing, which requires obtaining high-demand tickets to get on the shuttle. Furthermore, it’s so much prettier on a bike!
Bike Lock: only relevant if you go the bike route, but extremely important if you do! We had over $15,000 worth of eBikes with us so a lock was crucial.
Canvas Cutters: this isn’t the first or last time you’ll see these in one of my articles! I’ve used them on mule deer, elk, & turkey hunts, and numerous camping trips. This is a quality investment for avid outdoorsmen! We each had a fortress bundle and slept like queens!
Personal Cooler: in an effort to save some money and eat quality food, we had a large cooler full of the good stuff. As I mentioned before, the girls were in the middle of #75Hard and I recently completed the program, so eating good was really important to us. Also, in May, it’s not too hot to have refrigerated items last the entire weekend.
Park Pass: you’ll need to get a park pass to enter Zion National Park! This can be purchased when you get there, but it’s good to know of all fees associated with trip planning. We parked Rihana’s jeep outside of the park, then all 3 of us rode together in my truck to avoid paying for two vehicles.
Day Pack: take a day pack with water, snacks, your park receipt, a map, a phone charger, etc with you. We even had a bluetooth speaker with us to listen to some good tunes on the bikes and on our hikes, but keep in mind you might get yelled at by others hiking who think music shouldn’t be played in National Parks, even around the bathrooms and shuttle drop-off areas. I’m not making this up! You can also add saddle bags to your Bakcou bike if you go that route. I’m not sure if the bike rentals in town offer saddle bags though.
Peak Design Camera Clip: if you plan to take a nice camera (as in, something other than your cell phone), this item is hands-down the best option for protecting your gear and having it conveniently located on the strap of your backpack! I’ve used this setup for multiple seasons while hunting, we even used it while canyoneering. Each of us girls had one so it was perfect to pass the camera around and get shots of each other.
Cheesing at the top of Angels Landing and loading up on some MTN OPS Ignite for the hike back!
My Zion Bucket List:
Subway: a strenuous hike involving hiking, climbing, wading, and swimming. I was told to give the trip 9-12 hours to complete! Sounds challenging and the photos are breathtaking. I will probably do this next!
The Narrows: less strenuous than the Subway, but still involves water and more beautiful scenery.