Angels Landing is two hikes sharing a trailhead, and nearly every argument about whether it is worth it comes from people comparing different ones.
The first hike: the Grotto to Scout Lookout
2.25 miles, about 1,000 feet, no permit, no lottery, no fee.
Paved switchbacks through Refrigerator Canyon, then Walter’s Wiggles — 21 tight switchbacks stacked against the wall — and out onto the saddle at Scout Lookout. You get the canyon, the river a long way below, and the fin of Angels Landing standing in front of you.
If you read that Angels Landing needs a permit and crossed it off, this is the hike you crossed off, and it needs nothing.
The second hike: the chains
Half a mile along the fin. This is what the permit is for.
Chains bolted into sandstone, a path that narrows to a few feet, and drops on both sides. In high season you will wait, because much of it is one direction at a time.
People have died here. Not many against the numbers who go up, but enough that the decision deserves a clear head rather than momentum. Rangers check permits at the saddle, which is also the last comfortable place to change your mind.
What we would do
Take the first shuttle. Stop 6, the Grotto. By 10 a.m. in summer you are climbing in full sun behind a line of people.
Go in winter if you can. No shuttle means you drive to the trailhead, the canyon is close to empty, and the heat is gone. The trade is ice on the chains, which is a real reason to stop at Scout Lookout rather than a theoretical one. The December-to-February permit lottery opens on 1 October.
Decide at the saddle, not at home. Plenty of people who were certain they would do the chains look at them and do not. That is a good day out.
For the permit mechanics — two lotteries, the dates, the $6 plus $3 — see Angels Landing permits.