Published: 13.05.2025
Today in Zion National Park is fully dedicated to hiking. Our goal, 'Scout Lookout', is on the way to the famous 'Angel’s Landing' – hiking there is not only too demanding for us, but one must also enter a lottery to obtain a permit for the ascent. Reaching Scout Lookout is challenging enough for us.
We first take the free Springdale shuttle bus from the campground to the Visitor Center, where we transfer to the Zion Shuttle – the dreaded, often mentioned wait time of over an hour is spared for us, as we can directly board a waiting bus. Entry by private car has not been possible for several years – Zion is one of the most visited national parks, and the canyon was in danger of choking on traffic.
At Stop No. 6 'The Grottos', we disembark along with many other hikers, and it’s time to go.
At first, the path is almost flat, allowing us to enjoy the wonderful views of the surrounding mountain peaks. But soon the paved hiking trail begins, and the first very steep section up to the entrance of the 'Refrigerator Canyons' must be conquered – quite sweat-inducing! In the canyon, it is indeed a bit cooler, and we can also observe and photograph owls here.
The path continues to rise almost continuously, and the next 'switchbacks' announce the start of the particularly challenging key passage 'Walter’s Wiggles'. The Wiggles are the 21 switchbacks that take you directly up the extremely steep wall. The images include an aerial view of this spot, which of course is not ours, but from this perspective, it can be recognized accordingly.
We manage this passage too – quite slowly for our age, and then we stand contentedly at Scout Lookout. From there, you can see across to Angel’s Landing and the path where one has to navigate along a partially very narrow ridge using fixed mounted chains. As said – not for us!
We can't enjoy the view down into the main canyon for long, as a threatening black cloud moves in behind the peaks, and the beginning rain makes us start our descent.
Fortunately, the precipitation soon stops. The valley path is no less strenuous than the ascent – in some places, the true steepness is only now becoming apparent.
But a squirrel and some beautiful flowers and views accompany us back down to the shuttle station – now in the early afternoon, there is already considerable crowd for the exit, but the buses run very frequently, and we can catch the second one, where we are even offered designated seats as 'seniors'.
Feeling quite exhausted, we haul ourselves the short way down to our campsite spot. We are quite proud that we have reached today’s hiking goal.
In the late afternoon, a really heavy rain falls, which likely caught some people still on the mountain.
