Observation Point and Hidden Canyon (May 13)

OBSERVATION POINT

I tried to get an early start today but it was slow going once I got out of bed! It was closer to 9:30 when I hit the trailhead and not long after I was down to my short sleeve shirt. The climb started immediately with switchback after switchback after switchback. The trail got you high up pretty quick with amazing views. After a couple of miles, I reached Echo Canyon. It was gorgeous! The trail went right through it and opened up to more climbing and breath-taking scenery.

The coloring changed once out of the canyon. It had yellow golden shades.

Then not long after, it changed again to the Navajo sandstone.

It was an 8 km trek to Observation Point and it was worth every meter. Behind me in my summit shot is the Zion Canyon and down below me in the middle is Angels Landing. I thought I was high on Angels Landing.

I met some friendly folks on top who I sat and had lunch with. They were two ladies who worked doing trail maintenance at the Grand Canyon. We shared our hiking stories. I stayed for about an hour and then headed back down thinking I would like to try Hidden Canyon. I passed by Echo Canyon and played around on the sandstone formations.

I love this shot! See the pool down below?

I hiked along quickly on the way down after Echo Canyon to give myself enough time to explore in Hidden Canyon.

HIDDEN CANYON

When I reached the fork in the trail, there were a few folks just heading in so I caught up with them and followed for awhile just to make sure I wasn't alone when I got to the chain section. As it turned out, it was steep but not near as scary as the Angels Landing chain section. You can see the hikers following the edge on towards the chains.

I let them go, and then hiked the chain section on my own.

I explored in the canyon for about a kilometer and then came to a gigantic rock that I didn't know how to get up and over. The others did, but I didn't see how they did it. I checked out what was around me and admired the colors in the walls.

It was looking like this would be close to a 20 km hike so I was quite content to be turning around and heading on out.

Instead of taking the shuttle from this stop, I walked along the river to the next stop which was about a nice 30 minute walk. That was where I saw the wall climbers. If you look closely you can see them!

This was an amazing hike to end my trip. I took my time leaving the Park area yet was thinking about that last beer in the fridge! It was a very warm evening, I sat out for a lengthy period enjoying the scenery and being very thankful for all I was fortunate enough to experience this week.