Kudos to my wife's grandfather, who purchased several acres just outside of Zion's National Park about 50 years ago. Simply called The Ranch, it is a wonderful place to get together with family, enjoy a rustic cabin, and use as a base camp for some adventures in Zions.
My brother-in-law, Mark (who also did a portion of the Naomi Wilderness hike with me) and I did a quick (2 hours and 20 minutes) jaunt up and down Angel's Landing on the Saturday before Memorial Day. Because of the time of year (Memorial Day weekend), we were up in the 4s and driving to Zion's by 5AM so we could catch the mandatory shuttle ride to the trailhead. We were early enough that parking on the side of the road was easy. We watched the sun come up for a bit, ditched our jackets in the car, and then caught the shuttle at 6:08AM. It was packed - standing room only - and most people got off at the trailhead for Angel's Landing. Placement in the bus put us behind them on the trail so we opted to jog for the first little bit until we were able to get out in front. This made for a more peaceful trip and saved a little congestion on the chain section.
Looking down at some of the switch backs
This is a really popular hike, so the trail is well-maintained and in excellent condition. We made pretty good time up the switchbacks and were excited to see the chain section (posts and chains put in place to help you not fall - several people have lost their lives on this hike).
The trail gets as narrow as 28 inches in one place and has a drop-off over 800 feet on one-side and pushing 1200 feet on the other.
The chain section can be a little tricky when the path is busy as you negotiate around other hikers going the opposite direction from you. So, we only spent about 10 or 15 minutes on top before starting back down.
Looking back at the patch we came up
We probably passed 150 people on the way down (one was even on oxygen - good for him for still getting out on an adventure!). Obviously, a little more busy than I prefer, but it is easy to see why this is such an appealing hike.
