Zion's West Rim Trail

Hurrah Copper, and I'm back in Zion National Park, and today we're going to go up the West Rim Trail. I'm David Attenborough, and today we're studying the wildlife of the National Parks. This is the American tourist, they're known to travel in packs. Also, the road deer, which is outnumbered in the National Parks by about 20 to 1 by the American tourist. And this is my little pocket dragon, whom I call Puffy. We'll start off heading toward Angel's Landing. People die here, as you can see. 2.5 miles to Angel's Landing, probably about 2 miles to the base of it. It's already windy down here, so it could be very windy up there. This is why millions of people come here from around the world. Big scenery. Amazingly tall cliffs surround you in this region. I was not expecting a paved trail. Really? You call that a trail? I call that a sidewalk. Bonk. This is a trail made for Mrs. Doubtfire. Oh yes dear, this is just the sort of trail for me. I can walk up here in awkward shoes. Not far into it, and we're gaining a little bit of elevation here. So up in there is where the trail goes. I don't know if you can see those people up in there. Let's have a closer look. Those little dots in there, in the rock, those are people. That should give you a sense of the enormity of the cliffs. If that doesn't, maybe this will. Not far off the trail is this little fern grotto with what they call a weeping wall due to the water trickling down the side. Up the little switchbacks now. This is the little area I showed you down below when I said the little dots were people. So I'm here now. And this is the view from that area. The trail is leveled off and we're getting into some shady cool greenery here. Out of the leveled part and back uphill. This may be the most untrail-like trail I've ever been on. Not only is it paved, there's even decorative rocks in the walls. Here's your local trail masters right here. So here's the first view right here from the top. It's a long way down from up here. Okay, I get it. Angel's Landing Trail is closed. So we'll continue on the West Rim Trail. Chipmunks living life on the edge. Got ground squirrels up here too. Some more wildlife at the top. The ground squirrel says this is a good place to chill with a nice view. Lots of cliff swallows flying around up here. Not what you would expect to find on a trail. I wasn't expecting toilets up here either. I think that's the top of Angel's Landing right there. So we'll head to the West Rim Spring, which is three miles roughly from the base of Angel's Landing. Heading on up the West Rim Trail. Leaving the base of Angel's Landing behind. Look, the pavement stopped. Oops, spoke too soon. But the crowds have begun to diminish. Gaining more altitude. Coming into a different set of views here. This to the right of the trail. And this is to the left of the trail as we're heading uphill. Because of this pavement, I feel like I'm just walking alongside a street in San Francisco. But with really good scenery. A nice little burst of color alongside the trail. Late spring in the desert. A little more color for your eyes. Everywhere you look around here, cliffs and eroded sandstone. Interesting etchings and striations in the rock walls here. Starting to get pretty warm. Early June is when it really starts to heat up down here around Zion. So it feels good to have a bit of shade. For just a minute. More pretty bursts of color alongside the trail. Looks like a flicker. Interesting looking circular rock form there. That's a massive wall. Right up in there with those water streaks. The trail's taken us now through some stands of lupine flowers. Going through a nice shaded area is a welcome relief from the heat. That little bubbly bit of white. That looks like we've got a spittlebug making his home there. The trail keeps on climbing. Some more little flowers alongside the trail. Gaining some big elevation. I bet the view from the top is going to be killer. A rock in the middle of the trail looks like a good place to have a seat. Oh, it's a warm one today. Oh yeah. Dripping with sweat. And I'm tired and I'm hungry. Because I've been doing so much hiking in the past couple days and I'm already dehydrated and I didn't bring any water with me. You know, I go for a couple of miles thinking, you know, I'm just going to go that and do that. But of course I always do double or triple that. Because that's kind of how I am. And now we're back onto some switchbacks. Going up the side of the wall. I don't know if there was a natural ledge here and they just made the trail on it. Or if they kind of carved this out. Just don't get too close to the edge because it's a long way down. Finally found a place in Zion where the crowds aren't. Every step keeps taking us a little higher. I'm looking back down the trail behind us. I was told that not far past the dead tree, there's supposed to be a spring. Here's the spring. It's mainly just like a little seep from out of the earth. Definitely have gained some elevation. There's ferns and aspen trees up here. Now let's have a look at the view. There's a nice panoramic view for you right there. We're up pretty high I would say. Two, huh? What's that about? Where does that go? I was curious to see what this two is and what it is is a campsite. I hope you enjoyed hiking up the West Rim Trail to the West Rim Spring with me. Whenever I get new subscribers it keeps encouraging me to come out to places like this and making videos for you guys. So click that subscribe and hit that notification bell so you can be informed every time I upload a new video. Until next time, this is a rock hopper. I'll see ya! you