Zion 2

another pretty interesting site, though not much of a hike, was the Weeping Rock.  apparently there is a layer of shale resulting from mud deposits and the mud was covered up with sand.  add a few million years to this and you get shale covered by sandstone.  sandstone being permeable and shale not, the water from on top of the plateau seeps through the sandstone until it reaches the shale.  once it hits the shale it can go no further and begins flowing down any angle it can find.  at this particular spot the shale and sandstone are exposed and we get to see the water leaking out of the rock.  science is pretty nifty.

Angel's Landing is the most popular/populated hike in Zion.  it's got a whole lotta switchbacks.  for those who aren't hiking savvy, a switchback is a point in the trail where it zig-zags back and forth and there is a steep elevation change.  so here's some pics from that hike.

the top of the big cliff on the right is the final destination of this hike:

looking back down the trail:

natural wind tunnel at the mouth of the canyon:

view from the top:

hike specs: 

distance - 2 miles one way

elevation change - 1,070 ft.  that's a fifth of a mile

i did this hike, one way, in 41 minutes and i am damn proud of myself for that.  i passed many people and was never passed myself.  well, not entirely true.  i started off the trail at the same time as this group of 20-somethings from europe who were acting like smug dicks when i said hello and we kept passing each other back and forth but i made it to the top nearly 5 minutes before they did.  suck it europe.

alright, and here is the biggest issue i had with Zion:

the first of those two pictures its a bit hard to see but there is basically a solid line of people.  i thankfully was able to avoid these traffic jams for the most part but it just looks like people waiting to check out at the grocery store when they need to open up another 2 registers.  i'm not saying there is any solution to the over-crowding issue and maybe it doesn't bother most folks but for me it just took some of the "magic" out of the hike.

all in all though, a beautiful and challenging hike.  a good deal of fun.