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- Thread starter Nittany Ned2
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Awesome. The most exciting scramble we have ever done is Bearfence Mountain trail in Shenandoah. It’s fun but NOTHING like that hike in the video. Old Rag is on my list this summer if we can find the time. I’d love to hike the trail in the video. I’d be leery of doing it with my 10 year old though. That kid pictured looks pretty young.
No, but I did the Kalalau trail. That's another good one. I've also hiked the Grand Canyon. Angel Landing is on my list. Hiking is a joy.
I get the shakes and weak knees even watching this stuff on video.
Love our national parks. When younger, loved hitting the trailhead with my best friends for a 3 to 4 day. After graduation 6 of us jumped in a truck for 30 days and hit Rocky Mountain, arches, canyon land, glacier, Olympic, crater lake ..... Babb Bar, Forks WA bar, sunset beach .... everyone should have the chance to enjoy those parts of our country
The Precipace Trail in Acadia NP is pretty interesting if you're into climbing.
I didn't do Precipice but did do Beehive at Acadia, which is supposedly similar. That was more than enough for me...
Haven't done that one yet. It does look scary but I think the bug eye effect of the go pro makes it look a little worse than it actually is.
Awesome trail. IMO, it is the best, most exciting trail in the national park system. Did it for the first time at 64. I thought it was tough going up, but for me it was much tougher coming back down because you are forced to look down the entire way....scary as hell. I felt a real sense of accomplishment after doing it. Would highly recommend it. IIRC it's about 3 miles round trip... Parking lot to the top and back.
Been there. It's pretty safe -- you just hold on to that chain for dear life. People do fall and die there. The most dangerous thing is when the trail is crowded, there isn't really room in places for two-way traffic so people have bumped other people leading to falls.
Interestingly, Angel's Landing isn't where the most people have died at Zion. The most dangerous trail is Emerald Pools, which doesn't have the 900 foot dropoff but it does have a lot of very slippery places because of the moisture. Another dangerous place is the Narrows trail, which is a gorgeous slot canyon -- but deadly because it can suddenly, without warning, fill up with water and there's no escape.
Anyway Zion is probably my favorite national park. The best time to go is early spring, so the days get to about 75-80 and the nights drop down to 40. Late spring and summer is tough because the heat gets so intense during the day.
Interestingly, Angel's Landing isn't where the most people have died at Zion. The most dangerous trail is Emerald Pools, which doesn't have the 900 foot dropoff but it does have a lot of very slippery places because of the moisture. Another dangerous place is the Narrows trail, which is a gorgeous slot canyon -- but deadly because it can suddenly, without warning, fill up with water and there's no escape.
Anyway Zion is probably my favorite national park. The best time to go is early spring, so the days get to about 75-80 and the nights drop down to 40. Late spring and summer is tough because the heat gets so intense during the day.
awesome...jealous....I did this a few weeks back:
Acadia is great hiking. Same for the Green and White Mountains and the ADKs. I digress. What a great country.
Hell yeah. This year I’m taking my vacations at National Parks. Just got back from Yosemite and Sequoia/Kings Canyon. Going to Zion, Bryce and the North Rim this fall. Angel’s Landing is Day 2 at Zion.
As an aside, a guy died at SeKi on the same hike I did about 4 days before I did it - the Lakes Trail in Sequoia from Wolverton Road to Pear Lake. I was just going to the first lake as a day trip. Anyway, he ignored the trail closure and took the exposed Watchtower Route up to the first lake. It did not end well.
As I was ascending the alternate route - the aptly-named Hump Route - a mule train passed me going down carrying the SAR gear from the body recovery efforts.
http://fox5sandiego.com/2018/05/15/san-diego-hiker-falls-to-death-at-sequoia-national-park/
As an aside, a guy died at SeKi on the same hike I did about 4 days before I did it - the Lakes Trail in Sequoia from Wolverton Road to Pear Lake. I was just going to the first lake as a day trip. Anyway, he ignored the trail closure and took the exposed Watchtower Route up to the first lake. It did not end well.
As I was ascending the alternate route - the aptly-named Hump Route - a mule train passed me going down carrying the SAR gear from the body recovery efforts.
http://fox5sandiego.com/2018/05/15/san-diego-hiker-falls-to-death-at-sequoia-national-park/
Sedona?awesome...jealous....I did this a few weeks back:
The Devil’s Bridge - Sedona. I could hike there for years and not get tired of itawesome...jealous....I did this a few weeks back:
The view back at Nevada and Vernal Falls from the Muir Trail is astounding. Getting up to Nevada Falls was a slog, but what a payoffGlacier Point view .... bucket list material ...
I did do this hike on Thanksgiving Day a couple of years ago. I had taken the trail to the top of the switchbacks before deciding whether or not to finish the hike (through the scary stuff). Fortunately for me, I met a two other guys that were about to start and they generously let me tag along with them. I'm not sure I would have done it by myself. I'm glad I I did this; it was a fantastic experience.
Northern Arizona is cool.
If you're a true adrenaline junkie, bang a right east of Winslow after the train tracks along Clear Creek and enjoy some great cliff jumping.
I feel fortunate to have hiked pretty much every trail mentioned in this thread. Devil's Bridge, Grand Canyon (went down to the river and back up), Angels Landing and Emerald Pools in Zion, Beehive and Precipice in Acadia, The loop trails in Bryce, Vernal Falls, Glacier Point, Moro Rock in Sequoia. All of them were fantastic!
Lol....yea, we knew we were getting close to the top when we hiked Grand Canyon because we started seeing people come down the trail with no backpacks or water and wearing flip flops or heels.
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anon_1eeb2b426hv3y
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Yup. Many times. My fave, in part BECAUSE I’m afraid of heights. Was thrilling. And for those following suit, I highly recommend a cabin at Zion mountain resort. Nothing like waking up with a cup of coffee, mist in the air and a herd of wild (fenced in) bison outside the porch.
And the hand holds aren’t intermittent. It just feels that way when you’re doing it. If you did it, congrats on making a great choice.
I got dizzy just watching the video! I did a Google search on Angel's Landing Zion and got hit after hit about people killed doing the climb. Be careful!
The craziest one i've done personally is Mooney Falls on the Havasupi Reservation inside the Grand Canyon. It's just a chain attached to rock that goes up an almost shear rock wall. And it's slippery on a good day, I remember it being wet and was certain I was going to die. This one is up, but down might actually be worse:
Downclimbing is always more dangerous. Worst is people getting rimrocked after jumping down to a ledge or something. Then they find there’s no way up or down
I hiked Angel's Landing one year when the park had its unofficial spring opening. There were only a few people in the park, and I was the only person at the top. I passed a few people on the way down. In more recent trips to Zion, I avoided Angel's Landing because of the lines of people waiting to go up.
Another fun trail is to Crypt Lake in Canada's Waterton Lakes National Park. You take a boat to the trailhead, and Crypt Lake is partially in Montana and Glacier National Park.
Another fun trail is to Crypt Lake in Canada's Waterton Lakes National Park. You take a boat to the trailhead, and Crypt Lake is partially in Montana and Glacier National Park.
Everyone in Colorado wants to climb the 14ers (mountains where the peak is at or above 14,000 feet).
There are 53 of them in Colorado. I've done one myself -- Mt. Bierstadt, the "easiest" of the bunch.
Arguably, the most dangerous of the Colorado 14ers is Capitol Peak out southwest of Aspen. FIVE people died climbing it just last summer. Knife's edge - no thank you. The guy in this video is an idiot (IMO).
There are 53 of them in Colorado. I've done one myself -- Mt. Bierstadt, the "easiest" of the bunch.
Arguably, the most dangerous of the Colorado 14ers is Capitol Peak out southwest of Aspen. FIVE people died climbing it just last summer. Knife's edge - no thank you. The guy in this video is an idiot (IMO).
Kalalau Trail on Kauai is breathtaking and has some dicey spots
My 63 year old sister climbed Angles Landing this April. She had one knee replaced in January 2017 and the other in June 2017.
I recently hiked to the beginning of the Angel’s Rest trail, but I get vertigo when skirting along trails with precipitous drop offs these days, so I decided not to attempt it. This stuff never bothered me in my teens through 40’s, but once I got in my 50’s for some reason these type of trails just get the best of me. I used to hike to the edge of sheer drop offs without batting an eye when I did a lot of backpacking when I was younger, but just can’t do it now (although I have hiked Conkles Hollow in SW Ohio quite a bit even recently but shy away from the edge as much as possible).
Within the last year or two, a man from Ohio fell to his death on the Angel’s rest trail. My daughter completed the trail in her early 20’s, but not without incident as she came very close getting bit by a rattlesnake, nearly putting her hand right on top of it when grasping for a hand hold on Angel’s Rest trail.
Within the last year or two, a man from Ohio fell to his death on the Angel’s rest trail. My daughter completed the trail in her early 20’s, but not without incident as she came very close getting bit by a rattlesnake, nearly putting her hand right on top of it when grasping for a hand hold on Angel’s Rest trail.
I did a 2-day ridgeline hike in Waterton NP (Canada - immediately across the border from Glacier NP) about a month before 9/11. Breathtaking, as the trail was at about 8,000 ft above sea level so we could definitely see snow caps. Not a difficult hike once acclimated to the altitude....nice, easy switchbacks to the ridge.
The hardest damn hike was Mt. Washington (Ammonoosuc Trail)....the folks who designed the trails up in NH do NOT believe in switchbacks....just go straight up the damn mountain, over boulders, through streams!!!
The hardest damn hike was Mt. Washington (Ammonoosuc Trail)....the folks who designed the trails up in NH do NOT believe in switchbacks....just go straight up the damn mountain, over boulders, through streams!!!
Ditto that, I did the Beehive Trail at Acadia that was enough for me. I was hugging the mountain face in a couple spots. I didn't know what I was getting into. I was dumb to wear worn out old sneakers climbing up the steel rungs. But felt amazing hitting the summit and then hanging out on Sand Beach after the whole hike. I jumped in the 50 degree ocean after that hike! Can't imagine what Precipice was like. I have heard that is a bit harder.
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I've done two that could be considered scary. One was the hike up Half Dome using the cables. I've done that hike several times. One time back in the day when permits weren't needed I hauled a few gallons of water and spent the night up there with a friend.
The other hike is Longs Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park. I've climbed several 14ers but didn't make it to the top of this one. The night before there were thunderstorms so there was a little ice and snow up there. It was windy and cold in the morning. Past this notch in a ridge called the Keyhole you walk along this steep slope called the Narrows, no chain or cables to hold. At few points it's narrow cliff edge with a straight drop off and that's where we turned back, too cold and slick in spots. That's one hike I won't do again. There's just no margin for error.
https://www.14ers.com/route.php?route=long1&peak=Longs+Peak
The other hike is Longs Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park. I've climbed several 14ers but didn't make it to the top of this one. The night before there were thunderstorms so there was a little ice and snow up there. It was windy and cold in the morning. Past this notch in a ridge called the Keyhole you walk along this steep slope called the Narrows, no chain or cables to hold. At few points it's narrow cliff edge with a straight drop off and that's where we turned back, too cold and slick in spots. That's one hike I won't do again. There's just no margin for error.
https://www.14ers.com/route.php?route=long1&peak=Longs+Peak
We just recently returned from days in Arches and Canyonlands. The rest of our trip which included Zion sadly had to be cancelled. There is no possible way you could ever get me up that Angels Landing trail. I can't handle cliffs without some kind of guard rail. I even cringe watching other people get close to the edge. The hike up to the Delicate Arch pushed me to my limit, especially when it rained some just as we got to the top.
We did Kathadin in 1995, the whole family, son was 8 at the time. While I'd have loved to do the Knife Edg e we did the Abol Slilde on the west side, not a drop off but a mile long climb up a rock slide with rock moving under your feet, two steps up, one back. Hardest climb I"ve ever done.
My wife nearly fell on the north side of Mt. Mansfield, while not technical it would have destroyed and possibly killed her due to the jagged rock where she would have landed. I was boosting our children up ahead of her and looked back, saw the look in her eyes and tried to descend to her position where she was hanging and couldn't go up or down. She lunged and got a hand hold before I could get down to help but it tore up her knee, internally, and she leaned on my shoulder the entire way back down the Long Trail North of the peak.
Her knee was swollen that night and I purchased several bottles of Advil, a knee brace and a cane for her use. In my opinion she could not climb Kathadin in two more days as our itinerary was tight. She said she wanted to try and she did, heck of a lady. I was never as afraid as that moment on Mt. Mansfield when I saw her eyes and then saw the jagged rock strewn field below her envisioning her back hitting several pointed boulders that would have surely crushed and penetraed her back, horrible sight in my mind but she made it thank God. It was on that trip that I discovered just how much he enjoyed hiking and climbing mountains with me as we continued to ascend state high points. We collected 37 states in our quest but now any more are out of reach due to my inability to climb yet we had a wonderful time doing it for 15 years.
I have to agree with several posters above, some of these precipices on hiking trails are beyond my sensibilities. I'll pass on them and take the tamer ones.
