Ramblin' With Dan Blog Post #2: Hikes With Wide (& Skinny) Views
Hope you enjoyed Ramblin With Dan #1. You’ll note in #2 that I’ve added Logistics Tips and Dining Tips at the end of each entry. You’ll also note that I’ve tried to include a variety of hiking types in each offering from peak bagging, to scenic ridge hikes, hikes featuring spectacular flora, and desert canyon hikes. Enjoy RWD #2 and please share this link with your hiking friends.
Panorama Trail – Glacier Point to Happy Isles (Yosemite National Park)
8.5 miles – Moderate Difficulty
“One day you'll look back on your life and split it into its ‘before Panorama’ and ‘after Panorama’ periods.”
There may not be a more scenic hike in the world than this one in Yosemite NP. The trail provides spectacular panoramic views (hence the name) of several of Yosemite’s most iconic sites including Half Dome, Liberty Cap, and Nevada, Vernal, and Illilouette Falls.
The hike begins high above the Yosemite Valley at Glacier Point and gradually descends to a bridge crossing Illilouette Creek. It’s tempting to wade in the creek or the Merced River above Nevada Falls, but resist the temptation as a misstep can lead to disastrous and deadly consequences. As a Park Service warning sign says at the top of Nevada Falls: “If you go over the fall, you will die.” Half a mile from the bridge a short, unmarked trail takes you to Panorama Point. Don’t miss this view but be careful here as well as there are no guardrails. After about 5 miles you reach the top of Nevada Falls one of the great viewpoints in all of Yosemite.
The final part of the hike is a rather steep descent back into the Yosemite Valley at Happy Isles. There are two ways down, the John Muir Trail and the Mist Trail. The Mist Trail is the more scenic of the two as it takes you alongside both Nevada and Vernal Falls. If you do this hike in the spring or early summer be forewarned that the term “mist” grossly understates the experience and you might very well be in for a soaking from the spray of the waterfalls. At the least be prepared to get pretty wet. The John Muir Trail descends more gradually and intersects with the Mist Trail just below Vernal Falls.
Aside from the spectacular scenery, another great thing about this hike is that while Yosemite can be legendarily crowded, you’ll leave most of the crowds behind a mile or so after you leave Glacier Point until you reach Nevada Falls. This is also a great social hike as the generally descending nature of the hike allows you to converse with companions and ooh and aah over the sites without getting out of breath from the steep climbs common to many Yosemite hikes. I had the privilege of sharing this hike with Joel Anderson and his three sons which made the hike all the more special. I look forward to doing it again soon with family and friends. To be sure, you’ll be reminiscing about the experience, and making “before Panorama” folks jealous, in your “after Panorama” period for years to come.
Logistics Tips: Given the crowds in Yosemite and the challenges in finding parking at peak periods, it’s best to take the shuttle bus from Yosemite Valley to Glacier Point. If you park in the Curry Village area the conclusion of this hike will put you near your car.
The road to Glacier Point does not open until May, sometimes late in the month due to snow and generally closes in late October or early November so plan accordingly.
Dining Tip: National parks are not generally known for great food and most of the food you’ll find in Yosemite is pretty generic. However, a trip to the dining room at the Ahwahnee Hotel is more than worth doing. The Ahwahnee is an iconic national park lodge and the dining room is worth a visit. I’d recommend doing the breakfast buffet before heading to Glacier Point. It’s expensive for a breakfast but the total experience is worth a splurge and the extensive selections should prepare you well for the hike ahead.
Albright Grove via Maddron Bald Trail (Great Smoky Mountains National Park)
6.7 miles – Moderate Difficulty
I have a fascination and deep love for old growth forests. There is a spiritual quality of such places that just resonates with my soul. And there is something special about the quiet that often enshrouds these sites and the feeling of being in the midst of living beings hundreds of years old. I also love the biodiversity that old growth forests often harbor.
I’m fortunate to live in an area with some of the few sizable stands of old growth in the eastern U.S. I love these ancient stands of oaks, maples, tulip trees, hemlocks (although they have been devastated by insect infestation in recent years), basswoods, birches, beeches, and silverbells. There’s nothing quite like wandering through a forest of giant trees.
My favorite old-growth hike is the hike to Albright Grove in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Although the Grove has lost a number of its largest trees—particularly many of its hemlocks—it is the most diverse old-growth forest I’ve ever seen and one of the largest stands of old growth in the eastern U.S.
The first 2.3 miles of the trail climbs an old gravel road. Along the way you pass the old Baxter cabin built from a single chestnut tree in 1889. At 2.3 miles, the trail becomes a dirt path and begins to rise toward Maddron Bald. In half a mile, after a beautiful stream crossing over Indian Camp Creek, the Maddron Bald Trail intersects the Albright Grove Loop Trail. One of my favorite trees—a huge, gnarly, hollow maple tree—is located not far up the Loop and signals your entrance into a different world.
The Albright Grove Trail makes a .65 mile semi-loop back to the Maddron Bald Trail. The largest trees on the trail are near the end, giant tulip trees—folks generally refer to them as poplars or tulip polars, but they are actually in the magnolia family and not poplars—line this part of the trail but look for Fraser magnolias , buckeyes, and the largest silverbells I’ve ever seen. As nature writer Sue Cag observed of her hike into Albright Grove: “I was surrounded by ancient trees and I was in paradise.” https://www.ilovetrees.net/albright-grove/
I particularly love hiking this trail in the spring when the tiny white blooms of silverbells cover the trail. You’ll also see wildflower displays of trilliums, showy orchis, and other spring wildflowers this time of year. As an added benefit, you’ll probably hike this trail in solitude, especially if you come on a weekday.
Logistics tip: Locating the trailhead for this hike can be challenging even though it is just off U.S. Hwy. 321. The trailhead is on Baxter Rd. which is located near the Roamstead Campground. There is currently no sign for Baxter Rd.--and it almost looks like a driveway and not a road--but it’s the first road on the east side of the campground. The road passes through a residential area but look for the trailhead sign about .4 mile in.
Dining tip: I always like a good, hearty breakfast before a long hike and nearby Gatlinburg—only 15 miles away—offers a number of great options. I recommend Crockett’s Breakfast Camp, Pancake Pantry, or the Log Cabin Pancake House. All three can form long lines at prime times so get there early.
Angels Landing (Zion National Park)
5 miles – Strenuous and narrow, scary trail
I was hesitant to include this hike on my list because it is so dadgum popular and overcrowded. But, my brother Jon—who I first hiked with to Angels Landing—threatened me with bodily harm if I did not put it on this list of my favorites. And I do love Angels Landing, have hiked to it three times, and have discovered ways to avoid most of the crowds.
Angels Landing is one of those ultra-popular hikes where you’re probably going to have to deal with a crowd no matter when you do it, but it’s well worth the hassle. The hike begins at the Grotto shuttle stop in Zion Canyon. Angels Landing looms in the foreground as you start to climb the canyon up a series of long switchbacks leading to Refrigerator Canyon. At about 1.5 miles you hit Walters Wiggles, twenty-one tight switchbacks named for an early park superintendent who was instrumental in creating access to this iconic site. At the top of the Wiggles you top out at Scout Lookout, the launching point to Angels Landing proper.
The final half-mile climbs the spine of Angels Landing and features several hairy treks with 1500 foot drops on either side to the canyon floor. There are chains bolted to the rock to help you through these sections. This is not a hike for those with pretty much any level of acrophobia. This section often has human traffic jams during peak periods as it is a one-way trail and you have to wait for openings or for kind folks to yield. It can be a long half mile. When you top out you see what all the hubbub is about as the summit features a spectacular view of Zion Canyon and the surrounding canyon walls. If you happen to get there at one of the rare times when few people are there, it’s a great place just to sit and meditate on the wonders of creation.
I’ll never forget my first hike to Angels Landing with my brothers David and Jon. The three of us all felt a sense of accomplishment as three 60-somethings met the challenge and made it to the top! That sense of notable accomplishment quickly vanished as we met an eighty-year-old woman enjoying the view. Ah well, it is still one of the more memorable hikes for all three of us. I’ve enjoyed this hike three times, but the reaction of my wife Lydia and brother-in-law Linc Taylor is probably a common one: “I’m so glad I did this hike, but I’ll never do it again.” But you should do it once if you are at all capable.
After you come back down to Scout Lookout I highly recommend heading up the West Ridge Trail for as long as you like as it offers great views of upper Zion Canyon.
Logistics tips: Getting access to Angels Landing has changed a good bit in recent years due to the crowding and the human traffic jams that often formed on the narrow trail up Angels Landing proper. Currently, the Park Service requires a permit to go to the summit. You do not need a permit to hike to Scout Lookout where the steep, narrow, and downright scary last one-half mile stage of the hike begins.
Make sure and plan well ahead of time and apply for a permit as soon as you can. There is a day-before lottery but odds of getting a permit are lower than if you apply well ahead of time in the on-line lottery. Odds are best at getting a permit if you go in January, February, May, August, late October, or November. Odds also improve if you apply for midweek days. Permits apply to up to six individuals. If you’re bold you can ask folks at Scout Lookout if they have an unused space on their permit and hike up with that group. You can find information on entering the permit lottery at: https://www.nps.gov/zion/planyourvisit/angels-landing-up hiking-permits.htm.ties
Dining tip: Stop off on your way back on the shuttle at Zion Lodge for an ice cream or a beer, enjoy the view from the canyon floor, reflect on this unforgettable hike, and practice your story for your friends about conquering this treacherous, harrowing, yet thrilling hike.
Peekaboo and Spooky Gulch Slot Canyons (Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument)
6 miles – Strenuous with some challenging climbs and tight squeezes
Although they are a study in extreme contrasts—bare rock vs. lush greenery--, I love slot canyons as much as I love old-growth forests. There’s no better place in the world to find slots than in southern Utah which has the largest concentration of such canyons in the world. My favorites are Peekaboo and Spooky Gulch near Escalante, Utah.
Getting to these iconic slots requires a little effort starting with the 24.5 mile bone-jarring drive down the dirt Hole-in -the-Rock Road to the Upper Dry Fork Trailhead. The hike starts with a short walk across open desert and then a gradual descent into Dry Fork, a notable slot canyon in its own right. It’s about a 1.5 mile hike through Dry Fork and as you walk the walls of the canyon start at a few feet until they tower above you by the end.
Not far past the end of Dry Fork , the entrance to Peekaboo is on the left. Here’s where the real fun begins because you are confronted with a 12-foot climb up a sheer rock face to get into the canyon. The lower part of the rock has footholds that help you up but the upper part of the climb presents more of a challenge. The trick in getting up this rock face is to put your back against the left side and shimmy up pushing your feet against the right side. It’s actually not as impressive a feat as the picture makes it look, but your friends don’t need to know that. A group of us sixty-plus folks made it in including one with a knee replacement. Getting in is the hardest part of Peekaboo and you soon see how this slot got its name as you crawl through several holes in the rock which just beg you to turn and say “peekaboo” to those following you. As you emerge from Peekaboo look for rock cairns that lead you to a trail that takes you across a mesa to the top of Spooky Gulch.
Like Peekaboo, Spooky starts off with a bang as you have to negotiate about an eight-foot blind drop. After the drop, you quickly realize how Spooky got its name as the slot gets narrower and narrower and allows little light into the canyon. This is not a place for the claustrophobic as the walls narrow down to a width of two feet or less. Adults will need to remove backpacks and I’ve had to crawl through some sections. In addition there are abrasive bumps on the walls (someone called them “rock acne”) that scrape as you pass. It’s one of those experiences where you sometimes ask yourself, “am I really enjoying this?” But you’ll be proud you persevered. And anyway, once you’re in Spooky ain’t no way you’re turning back.
The hike back out Dry Fork is much more relaxing and hopefully you have an ice-cold drink awaiting you in your car.
Logistics tip – Hole-in-the-Rock Road intersects Hwy 12 about two miles east of Escalante, Utah. Look up the amazing history of this road where Mormon pioneers took on one of the craziest/most ambitious road building projects imaginable. At 24.5 miles down Hole-in-the-Rock you reach the Upper Dry Fork Trailhead. This is a relatively new trailhead which actually takes you through the Dry Fork slot canyon to Peekaboo and Spooky making this a three-slot canyon trip.
You can also access Peekaboo and Spooky from the Lower Dry Fork Trailhead. To get there go 1.5 miles past Upper Dry Fork Trailhead and turn left onto a marked, sandy road for about another mile. Hiking from Lower Dry Fork involves a climb in, and then out, of Dry Fork Canyon.
Dining tip – Escalante is a small town but we really enjoyed lunching at Escalante Outfitters. They have great pizza and a variety of sandwiches and salads. And you can shop for outdoor gear and clothing while you wait for your food.
For a memorable fine dining experience—although dress is very casual—try the Hell’s Backbone Grill , 27 miles away from Escalante in Boulder, Utah. The drive along Highway 12 through the Grand Staircase Escalante is one of the most spectacular in the U.S. Hell’s Backbone regularly appears on lists of the top restaurants in Utah. It’s a splurge but a proper reward after a day scrambling and squeezing in Peekaboo and Spooky.
I’ll wrap up my series with four more of My Favorite Hikes in RWD #3. One of those involves an account of how I almost killed Joel and Patty Anderson. It’s a great lesson in what not to do on a hike. Till then, Happy Hiking and stay safe out there.