Peaks Climbed: Angels Landing / Horse Pasture Plateau / "Never Done Mountain"

Peak Heights: 5,790' / 7,375' / 7,370'

Route: West Rim Trail

Difficulty: Class 3

Location: Zion National Park, Utah

Trailhead: Grotto

Mileage & Gain: 19 mi & 5,500 ft RT

Date Climbed: November 19, 2018

The impetus behind this combination of peaks was twofold. Kevin really wanted to climb Angels Landing on this trip, and two of my few remaining climbable peaks in Zion were situated along the West Rim Trail above.

We caught the first bus from the Visitor Center and were among the first to start up the trail. A cold wind blew up high, but we found a sunny shadow near the summit for a nice little break.

The haul up the West Rim Trail was more tiring than I'd expected and I struggled to keep up with trailrunner Kevin. I'd never been this far along the trail and was pleasantly surprised at how cool it was. However, once you finally get onto the rim the scenery is mostly boring and brushy.

The trail runs directly over the summit of Horse Pasture, which is quite nice. I'm sure millions have summited this one without even realizing it. Sounds exciting, eh? Never Done requires a few minutes of off trail hiking. They are both gentle, brushy, rather insignificant appearing peaks.

We opted for the Telephone Canyon Trail variation on the descent, which worked out well and ended up being a less scenic but more direct line back to the edge of the rim.