Where angels dare: Best. Walk. Ever.

Ahhhh Zion. I'm getting shivers now just thinking about how amazing it is. It is now also the home of my favourite walk ever - Angels Landing.

You ascend this gigantic cliff to Scout's lookout with an amazing view down the canyon. The next half a mile winds its way along the spine of the outcrop with chains to help you. At its narrowest the ridge of rock is about 6 ft wide with a 1500 ft (450 m) sheer drop to the canyon floor on either side. Most exposure I have felt outside of a rock climbing harness!

I started the walk about 9 am when the temperature was well below freezing so I was pretty much the only person on it. Luckily there was a couple of women up the top when I got there to take my photo! They had been feeding the chipmunks (very naughty) so they, the chipmunks, went crazy when I got there, climbing all over my bag looking for food like cute little mice.

We stayed in the watchman campground at the mouth of the canyon, with huge cliffs rising up on either side of us. Only a small part of one of the campgrounds was open, and there were only about four other people crazy enough to be camping in tents :)

Zion was great, and I'm already planning my next trip. Multi-day hike over the rim up to the north of the park and canyoning the narrows from the top. Maybe some climbing, although it is not for the faint hearted!

I also want to go back to other parts of the Grand Escalante-Staircase National Monument which encompasses Bryce, Zion, Canyonlands, Arches, Capitol Reef etc. Utah is one gigantic geological outdoor playground!