SF to NYC Day 2: Zion - Angels Landing & Flash floods

Zion National Park is a little less than 3 hours from Las Vegas. I probably could've done skipped Vegas but thought to be safe. Woke up at 3am to try and be at Zion before 7. Forgot the time change, went up and hour, so I booked it and got there at 715. The south campground which lives at the entrance of the park is first come first serve and I was able to get an awesome spot by the river by 8am. I gathered my stuff setup my tent and had a little breakfast. I was tired and only running on 4/5 hours of sleep but wanted to get going. I looked over the map and found a nice 4 hour hike called Angels Landing. Got on the shuttle and was on the trail by 10am. I was already in awe on the bus ride there. Must have taken 30 pics in the first 100 feet of the trail. Hate to say it because I consider Yosemite my home, but I Zion's got you beat. There are straight up cliffs and rock everywhere, thousands of feet, my neck still hurts. The native Paiutes called this place "the straight up land."

The hike up to Angles Landing isn't too difficult. However you get to the top and then look up to another razor like edge and they tell you, no that's the top. They have chains you hang on to on your way up but there were so many people passing I thought someone was going to bump someone over. There were some sketchy parts where it was like 1000 feet down on either side and I could feel the knees getting a bit weak but then some 12 year old would pass me and I would be like fug that. Most of the time you are waiting for people to pass. But once you get to that top it is magnificent. The pictures look sweet but nothing compares to being on top and looking through the entire canyon. Found out they call it Angels Landing because someone once said "that point's so high only angles can land there." So some crazy park ranger manager wanted to build a trail there. Glad he did because it instantly made me fall in love with this place. Then river cuts the canyon in two large areas. And you can see both from the top of Angels Landing. All you can see is red rock and beauty. There is so much color and detail, too much for someone who sucks at writing to describe.

So while I was at the top it started to thunder a little and we felt a couple drops but it quickly passed and I headed back down. As soon as I got to the bottom it started to pour. I regrettably left my rain fly off my tent cause I figured I was in the desert and won't need it, sleeping bag, pillow, pad all nicely places in ready for my return. On the bus back it started to pour even harder. I finally got back to my tent 25 minutes later and my neighbor was kind enough to through my rain fly on top, my stuff was a little wet but could have been much worse. Then it REALLY started to come down. I got in my car and called E. While on the phone with her it started to hail, like fucking toe nail sized ice, the big toe. I looked out and my neighbors tent was in a river of brown water. E googled it and said to get to higher ground. I threw as much as I could in my car, ran to the neighbors and told them to get out of there and we all left. Watch the video. I also lost my brand new sandal in the midst of be flood. And one of the ice cubes hit my toe nail, it hurt so bad. It rained for the next 5 hours. The road out was closed for awhile and I took refuge at a sports bar in town where the bartender/owner hated all the foreigners who came in and gave me the locals discount cause I spoke English. The flash flood dug out most of the camp but pretty much everyone was fine except my neighbors who were under 4 inches of clay. I heard it was the 4th worst flood in record, whatever that means, didn't make top 3.

Finally was able to lay my head down around 9, tried to read but actually went backwards in my book cause I was back tracking trying to remember where I left off. But I did sleep like a baby. Onto day 3!