I was barely on speaking terms with my knees when I left. Now I'm pretty sure they parted company with me somewhere up in Hidden Canyon. The rest of me is pretty messed up, too. According to my little nerd folder of information, I've walked something like 20km in the last 24 hours. The vast majority of it, today. I don't think I'll be able to move tomorrow. But that's OK. I'm not horse riding until Sunday. I think. I hope.

The day started out briskly enough. On the shuttle bus, and on the first few minutes of my first hike I was regretting my clothing choice. A singlet top, a long sleeve top, and a hoodie. And I was shivering. Twenty minutes later, I was glad I wasn't going to be lugging a ski jacket up Angel's Landing. When the trails here start to incline, they seriously incline.

I had to overcome three factors throughout the course of my day. Firstly, I'm not insanely fit. Secondly, the elevation here is an issue. The air is just that little bit thinner. Thirdly, I'm asthmatic. All of these three things together meant I was taking very regular breaks. Which meant I stopped and pointed the camera at something - anything - while I caught my breath.

Oh, and a fourth factor that needed overcoming - I'm afraid of heights. Giddyup.

Angel's Landing involves a hike firstly to a place called Scout's Lookout. Getting to Scout's takes a good couple of hours because there are what feels like several hundred switch-backs at what feels like 85 degree inclines. Once there, you no longer hike but you climb. From a purely physical perspective, the climbing is much easier. From a mental perspective, the climb is akin to contemplating suicide. See photos. There are also lots of chipmunks up there. Damned near impossible to photograph because they are constantly moving at mach five. Kept expecting to hear little bangs behind them as they broke the sound barrier or something. Also, Warner Bros deceived me. None of the chipmunks were polite or chivalrous. They were thugs. Very, very fast little thugs.

Sadly, I ended up not making it all the way up Angel's Landing. Had I been with someone I trusted who could coach me along, I probably could've - maybe? - done it. But on my own, I couldn't run the risk that I would have a freak-out and physically lock up on a path that is literally one person wide, and make myself everyone else's problem. Just couldn't do that. :-( So I went up the first "climby" part, complete with sheer drops and necessary chains, but didn't make the final push across the saddle and up.

Heading down takes about a third of the time going up takes. No breaks necessary!! Except for my poor knees. I eased up on them once or twice. On the way down, I passed a freak of nature woman who was actually JOGGING up the switch-backs. On behalf of every person slaving their guts out on the side of that rock, I contemplated pushing her off. In the end, I didn't. Couldn't catch her.

Quick lunch and then just three more hikes. I'm a real demon for punishment and with only one full day in Zion, I was determined to see quite a lot of it. I headed first for Weeping Rock, which is a very short track. Real pretty though. From there I cut up towards Hidden Canyon. Now if I thought Scout's Lookout had a lot of switchbacks, they were nothing on the ones going up to Hidden Canyon. Ye gods!! The big plus to having climbed Angel's Landing first (or trying to) was that the exposed edges of the Hidden Canyon trail were, by comparison, laughable. I traipsed up there slightly more mountain-goatish than before.

Once back from there, I caught the shuttle up to the Temple of Sinawava. Up here I saw deer, some very glossy ravens, and a huge, fat squirrel. Also some nice scenery, and a Darwin award candidate scaling a sheer cliff. On the shuttle bus out of the canyon, there were a lot more deer, seeing as it was getting close to dusk. Passed a very big buck with stunning antlers but alas bus was moving too fast for me to capture that.

I decided dinner last night was pretty ordinary so I went somewhere more upmarket tonight. Service was laid on thick and the food wasn't too bad either. Baked brie. That was new. And awesome. I do plan to return to the motel restaurant for breakfast tomorrow though. Gonna channel my inner bogan and dunk me some toast in the half and half. :-D Don't knock it til you've tried it.