Monday morning I got up at 5:00am so that I could tear down my camp and be ready for the first shuttle at 5:45. This was an "express" shuttle, meaning that it stopped at all the same stops, but drove faster between them. It was also a single van, rather than a tandem arrangement, so the driver didn't have to watch a monitor to see if anyone was getting off the rear car at a stop, so the stops were shorter.
One of the shuttle drivers on Sunday had told us that the wild turkeys liked to roost in a particular tree over the road, and sure enough, our Monday-morning express driver stopped the shuttle to show them to us. The shuttle had windows on top, so we could easily see the fat birds hanging out 40 feet up. Somehow it seems unnatural for turkeys to do that, but there they were.
Most people got off at the Angels Landing stop. I was the only one to
get off at the Weeping Rock stop for my planned trip up to Observation
Point, so I had the trail to myself all the way up. Here's a shot
from partway up, looking at the trail near the bottom. I'm pretty
sure this shot is zoomed in, so the lower trail is further away than
it looks. The guy down there must have been on the next shuttle.
After taking this photo, I waved, and he waved back.
Here's another photo looking back from a bit further up. The extreme
switchbacks on the left are a different trail that forked off, heading
for Hidden Canyon.
My trail then made a sharp turn into a narrow canyon. The trail was
cut directly into one wall, about midway up, with about 50 feet of
wall above and another 50 feet of wall below. Here's a view of the
opposite wall. I'm sure geologists love this sort of thing.
Another sharp turn, and the canyon floor had risen to meet me.
The trail followed the canyon, then climbed up to escape on the other
side of the hill.
After some more switchbacks, I found myself with a view straight down
to the trail I'd followed through the canyon. Anyone else get vertigo
from this photo?
The trail finally peaked at the level of Observation Point, but not
yet on the plateu itself. The trail then followed the edge of the
bluff as the plateau came down to meet it. Finally, the trail got
onto the plateau itself and angled out to the point.
Angels Landing is cropped off the right side of this photo. In
the lower right is The Organ, and the blocky plateau on the upper left
is The Great White Throne. Supposedly these are Morman religious
references, but the latter two sound an awful lot like double
entendres to me.
The Great White Throne has an odd castle-looking structure on top. I
assume it's just a natural jumble of rock on top of the plateau, but I
can't tell for sure. Make you can make something out in the super
digital zoom.
An awkward panorama captures Angels Landing in the lower left (of the
full image) and The Temple On The Mount (plateau on top of plateau) on
the skyline. Super digital zoom shows people on top of Angels
Landing.
After that, it's just pictures from the way back down. Here the sun
backlights a particularly jagged cliff face.
A yucca, recently bloomed.
The bridge leading into the canyon.
The interesting result of blasting out a trail on layered rock.
Yesterday's lunch at the lodge cafe (a hamburger and onion rings) had
suffered badly under the infrared lamps. So this time I indulged
myself with a soft pretzel and an ice cream cone.
Observation Point
Time: 6:00am - 10:15am
Distance: 8.0 miles
Ascent: 2148 feet
Water: 1.5 liters
