We got up early again and decided to watch some news and found out that the Pope was gravely ill and likely to die soon. While neither of us is Catholic, it was rather depressing as he seemed to be a very good person.
We went down and had another excellent breakfast. There were a lot more people there that morning. After breakfast, we immediately got our packs ready to go and set out to accomplish the main trail we wanted to do: Angel's Landing. We knew it would be a hard trail, but we weren't quite ready for it in some ways. The first part of the trail is completely in the open, with almost no shade. Parts of it have up to a 40% incline. While I workout on a 25-30% incline, it was still difficult. But, I was able to handle that without falling over dead, and in fact I was able to handle it pretty well. AM didn't fare quite so well. She wouldn't tell me at the time, but apparently her knee and legs were still really sore from the day before. Also, she isn't used to doing steep inclines like that at anywhere near the speed I normally do them. We ended up stopping at every place there was some shade so she could rest, but I didn't mind as the shade was a comfortable temperature and we only stopped for a minute or so each time.
About half way up, the trail makes a sharp turn and starts to head into a part of the canyon. Because we were doing this in the morning, this section of the trail was completely shaded, which was nice. It was also very peaceful in this section. After going on that part of the trail, you come to another sharp turn where you start a series of very short, steep switchbacks. Very difficult assent, but worthwhile. Once you get to the top of the switchbacks, you are at a place called Scout's Landing. From here you can see a lot of the canyon, and she how far you've climbed. Very impressive. From this point, there is another half mile to get to Angel's Landing. After a short rest and having a quick snack, we started going out over the rocks.
This part is very harrowing, and if you are really afraid of heights, I would recommend against it. There are chains to grab onto, and at some points there is only 1 place you can safely put your feet. If you miss, it is a 1500 foot sheer drop to the canyon below. While it was a little nerve racking, it is doable. Once you get over this part, you come to another clearing. From here, you can see the rest of the trail. It is very steep, narrow, requiring chains the entire way, and there is 2 way traffic. After a couple of minutes of thinking about it, AM decided she just couldn't do it. I can't say that I blame her. I would have been very nervous doing it myself.
On the way back over the rocks, part of the chain section requires that you decent backwards so you can hold onto the chains while placing your feet. It took a while for AM to get the strength to do it, but she finally did. I was really proud of her at that point, because I knew she was absolutely terrified yet she did it anyway.
After we got down from the trail, we decided to go into town and have lunch. We ate at a Chinese place where the food was alright. After eating, we went across the street and had some huckleberry ice cream and got a little more fudge to take home. Note to anyone who really likes ice cream: you need to find Russell's Ice Cream and try it. Really good stuff. After this, we went back to the B&B for a quick nap. After a couple of hours of resting, we headed back out to the Py'rus trail so I could try to capture the sunset shot I missed the day before. Unfortunately, it was completely overcast so I wasn't able to get anything.
For dinner, we decided to try the Switchback. The food was pretty good, but the waiting had a really problem understanding what we said. He also wasn't really able to give us any information about the size of the portions. AM was getting a little pissed off, but in the end it was just humorous. For desert, we went back to Dolce Vita. I really like the atmosphere there, and highly recommend you check it out if you are ever in the area. They are only open in the evening (6pm - 11pm), but it is well worth it. After desert, we went back to our room at the B&B and packed up everything so we could check out the next morning.