Angels Landing in November: What Permit Day Was Really Like

We drew a permit for Angels Landing in November, for a Tuesday morning in the middle of the month. The team finally got around to writing it up two weeks later. This is a plain account of how the day went, where the ice caught us out, and what we would change. If you hold a late-season permit of your own, it should help you decide how much margin to build in.

The plan for Angels Landing in November

The plan was simple: first shuttle from the visitor center, on the trail by 7:15. Mia and Owen drove down from Salt Lake the night before. Rae and Jake came up from Vegas. Our permit was for the 7am window.

That plan looks tidy on paper, and it is the one most people make. An early window feels like the smart choice because it beats the crowds and gives you the whole day. In November, though, the early slot has a catch. The canyon walls hold the cold, and the shaded parts of the route can stay frozen well after the valley floor has started to warm.

The Angels Landing trail page covers the route itself. The practical point for a permit holder is that your slot is fixed, while the conditions are not. Arriving early at the shuttle gets you to the trailhead on time. It does nothing for what the rock and hardware feel like once you get there. Read the forecast, and think about how cold the previous night was, before you decide how tightly to stick to the schedule.

Getting up to Scout Lookout

The first 2.5 miles up to Scout Lookout went fast. The switchbacks are exposed, but the gradient is mild. We got there in 65 minutes.

That stretch is easy to underrate. It is a well-built path with steady climbing, and it lets you settle into a rhythm and warm up. Scout Lookout is the natural pause point, and it is where the day changes character. Below it you are hiking. Beyond it you are scrambling along a narrow ridge with steep drops on both sides.

Use the stop for more than a snack. Check how your group is moving, how your hands feel, and what the sun is doing to the route ahead. Cold fingers are a bigger problem on a chain section than they are on a trail, because the chains ask you to hold on. If anyone is already struggling to stay warm at the lookout, that is a useful piece of information while turning back is still easy.

Pacing matters as well. Going fast on the approach is fine, but arriving at the ridge sweaty and then standing still in the shade is a quick way to get chilled. Layer up at the lookout rather than pushing on in whatever you wore for the climb. A trekking pole can help on the approach, and our piece on whether one trekking pole or two is better explains the trade-offs. On the chains section you will want both hands free, so it is worth deciding at the lookout where poles go.

The chains section and the ice glaze

The chains section was the surprise. In November the bolts had a thin ice glaze on them in the shaded sections. Three groups in front of us turned around.

We did not. Jake had hand-warmer packs in the gloves, and we waited 20 minutes for the sun to clear the wall. After that the metal and the footing were far more manageable.

A thin glaze is easy to dismiss from a distance. It does not look dramatic, and it will not stop you from gripping a chain. What it does is take away the small margin of friction that you depend on. Boots slide a little where they would normally bite, and a hand on a cold, slick link has less to hold than it seems. Because the exposure here is serious, a slip that would be a nuisance on flat ground becomes a real problem.

The decision to wait deserves a defence. Turning around was a perfectly sound choice for those three groups, and I would not criticise anyone for making it. Waiting was our call, and it worked because the sun was going to reach the wall in a reasonable time. That is the key judgement. If the delay is short and the sun is coming, waiting costs you little. If the section is going to stay in shade for hours, you are only getting colder, and turning back is the better choice.

It also helps to talk it through as a group before you reach the chains, rather than deciding on the spot. Agree in advance what would make you turn around, and who gets to call it. A decision made at the foot of a cold chain with other hikers queuing behind you tends to get rushed.

Gear for cold, icy chains

Hand warmers were the small item that kept our plan alive. Warm hands are a safety factor on this route, not just a comfort. Gloves that are thin enough to feel the chain but warm enough to keep your fingers working are the goal, and our guide to the best gloves for winter camping goes through the options. Thick insulated mitts are great for standing around but clumsy for gripping links, so many people carry a thinner pair for the chain section.

Footwear matters even more. Smooth soles on cold rock and gravel are a poor combination, and ice makes it worse. Traction devices that stretch over the boot give you grip on a thin glaze that would otherwise be slick. Our Kahtoola Microspikes review covers how that style of traction works and when it earns its place in the pack. Remember that the metal teeth are for ice and packed snow. They are not designed for long stretches of bare rock, so you will probably take them on and off as conditions change.

Keep a few more points in mind:

• Pack the traction where you can reach it without unloading everything.
• Test the fit over your boots at home, not at the base of the chains.
• Carry spare warmers, since a single pair can run out before the sun arrives.

The descent is the harder direction

The descent took as long as the climb. Down-climbing the chains is the dicier direction.

That is true on any day, and ice only sharpens it. Going up, you can see where your hands and feet are going, and gravity helps push you into the rock. Going down, you often have to feel for footholds you cannot see well, with your weight pulling away from the wall. The pace slows, and people bunch up where the route is narrow.

Two hikers in Hokas slipped on the gravel above the chains. One of them had Croc-style shoes, and we do not know what to say about that. Loose gravel on hard rock acts a bit like ball bearings, and soft or smooth-soled footwear has little to grab it with. Running-style shoes can be fine on many trails, as our piece on hiking in running shoes explains, but the margin shrinks quickly where the consequences of a slide are high. In my view, anything without a properly gripping sole is a poor choice for this route, whatever the weather.

Budget real time for the way down. Many parties plan the climb carefully and then treat the return as a formality. It is the part where tired legs, queues and loose surfaces all show up together, so keep your energy and attention in reserve for it.

What we would do differently

• Wait until 9am for the permit window. The chain section is usable in shade but moves much faster after the sun hits.
• Crampon-spike traction over the boots if there is any chance of ice. Microspikes weigh nothing.
• Skip the post-hike Subway in Springdale. Try Cafe Soleil instead.

The first point is the one that changes the day most. A later window lets the sun reach the shaded sections before you do, which reduces both the ice and the waiting. It also means you spend less time standing in the cold on a narrow ridge with other groups.

The second point is about asymmetry. Traction is light, and it costs almost nothing to carry. Leaving it behind and finding ice costs you either the summit or your safety margin. When the downside is that lopsided, packing it is an easy decision.

The third is the lightest, and I stand by it. A good meal after a long, cold day on the rock is part of the trip, so it is worth deciding where you will eat before you are starving.

Reading conditions before permit day

Most of what went well or badly came down to conditions we could have read in advance. A few habits are worth building before any late-season permit day.

Start with the forecast, and look at the overnight low as well as the daytime high. A mild afternoon says little about whether the shade was frozen at dawn. The National Weather Service publishes point forecasts you can check for the area, and checking again the evening before and the morning of is sensible. Official park information on closures and conditions is on the Zion National Park pages of the National Park Service, and the Angels Landing Wikipedia article gives general background on the route.

Then think about sun and shade. A route that runs along a wall can be icy in one section and bone dry in the next. That is why we ended up waiting, and it is why a later start tends to work better than an early one in cold months.

Finally, set your turnaround rules before you leave the car. Decide who has the authority to call it off, what conditions trigger that, and how long you are willing to wait. Following Leave No Trace guidance, which you can read at the Leave No Trace site, also means staying on the route and carrying out what you carry in, including spent hand-warmer packs.

Permits are hard to come by, and that creates pressure to go regardless of conditions. It is worth resisting. A permit that goes unused still beats a bad decision on a chain.

Observation Point as a Plan B

The chain section in November with ice was harder than the same chains in May. If you draw a permit in winter and the forecast is below freezing the night before, take the seasonal flag seriously and consider Observation Point as a Plan B. It offers the same big views with none of the exposure.

It helps to hold that alternative in mind from the start. Hikers who treat the permit as an all-or-nothing prize tend to push on when they should not. Hikers who have a fallback already chosen can turn around without feeling that the day was wasted.

The same thinking applies to the whole trip. If you are weighing how much to ask of a short winter day, our guide on how long a camping trip should be is a useful companion. If you are curious about how we approach permits in general, there is also our write-up on drawing a Wonderland Trail permit.

For Angels Landing in November, my advice is to treat the chains as the whole question. Get the timing right, carry the traction, keep your hands warm, and be ready to take the easier view if the ice says so.