•This was a really great hike and the first time in Zion for some of the crew. All of the people on the hike were cool and I think everyone had a great time. We left Flagstaff late Friday night around six. Because of the late departure from Flagstaff, we ate subway in Page instead of Kanab. We got in late and all of the campgrounds were full. We almost had to stay between two enormous motor homes but the campground would have cost $55. Luckily we knew about a free place fifteen minutes outside of town that was right on the river and have plenty of room for all of us. Early in the morning I went ahead of the group to get the permit. We didn't get the spots we wanted, but the ones we did get worked out for the better anyway. We got to camp right on the rim of the canyon. We were all ready for our weekend of sunny and 80° weather. It was looking good.
     After an hour long drive to the trailhead, it started to snow on us. Everyone got all their gear out and bundled up but was still rearin' to go. We got on the trail around 11 am. All day long we were racing the weather. Every time we stopped, the snow caught up and came down on us. I think we were right on the edge of the storm as it moved past us. After all of the crap I got about packing quadrant systems back at Subway, there sure seemed to be a lot of people asking questions about how to better fit their packs on the trail. As we hit the bottom of Potato Hollow, the clouds parted and the sun began to shine. There was great cut off stumps four feet across that we set up on to eat lunch. We had a relaxed lunch and as soon as we were finishing up, the snow began to fall. We moved down the trail through some really cool burnt forest from the fire in 1995. Just past our originally planned campsites we hit the first uphill of the trip. It was a ways up but everyone handled it great. Then we broke out onto the rim and the views blew our minds. The wind made it hard to handle standing for too long but we got our fill. As soon as the first campsite appeared everyone plopped down for a break. We ended up all going down to the second campsite to stay for the night. It turned out to be a pretty warm night for those of us in the tents.
     The next morning we all awoke to a clear sunny sky. It was really hot and beautiful on Sunday. The coolest stretch was to come. Sunday had some of the coolest slickrock and canyon descent. After the first mile from the campground we hit the west rim spring which sat right on the rim of thecanyon and the view way amazing. From here the trail was cut right out of the rock wall. After miles of cool trail we hit a split in the trail and decided to go up Angel's Landing. This goes up a narrow ridge for about a mile and gets ten feet wide in some spots. There are chains that run up the trail for you to hold on to. We all made the steep descent from the trail down to the canyon floor and hit the river. Nate, Ian and I took off for the two our shuttle while the group hung out and met us at the store just outside the park. We made it back to Flagstaff around midnight and the crew was sore as hell the next day. All in all a good trip.

-Brad