arnellfam
10-08-2011, 10:48 AM
I took a group of 5, including me and my 11 year old son, down Subway last week. I had made the trip once before from the bottom-up in May 2011, but this was the first time top-down for any of us.
The weather was warm, the day was beautiful, the canyon was simply delightful and the water was very cold.
We had two vehicles for the necessary shuttle and hit the trail head around 8:15am. The 3 mile hike to the canyon was lovely. There were a couple of forks during the first mile you need to be aware of and a couple of spots at the start of the slick rock where the trail was not obvious Other than that, a well-worn trail and cairns made it pretty easy to follow. A couple of park rangers working on the trail checked our permit just before we descended into the canyon.
None of us had wetsuits which was o.k. (my son would disagree), but made certain areas less enjoyable as I was focusing on the cold rather than the beauty of the canyon. In the canyon itself (minus the exit) we only had sun during one section. Even just neoprene socks would have taken the edge off. We saw one adult female in a wet suit who was swearing up a storm because she was so cold. We encountered another group that included a non-wet-suited, overweight person that was really having trouble. The canyon was more technical than I expected (a friend told me "you just need 30 feet of webbing"), but the websites we checked out beforehand said to bring more gear, which we did, and were grateful for (e.g. http://www.zionnational-park.com/zion-national-park-subway.htm and http://canyoneeringusa.com/utah/zion/subway.php).
Swimming through the keyhole was a special treat though most folks we saw opted not to do so. I appreciated an earlier Bogley post making me aware of the new log jam in the bowling alley.
48710
At the trail head
48711
On the approach. Beautiful country.
48712
Delightful slick rock.
48713
Just before descending into the canyon.
48714
First obstacle. Zion SAR had to retrieve a hiker from this spot two days earlier because they jumped into this pool and broke something.
48715
Impressive log jams hint at the power of flood-level water flows.
48716
Yes, the water is as cold as they say it is.
48717
Good times.
48718
48720
Stunning water courses.
48719
Reaching the North Pole.
48721
48722
48723
48724
48725
48726
48727
The crack in the riverbed runs all the way up the canyon wall on both ends.
48728
48729
48730
48731
There were little toads all over the boulders taking on the various cremes, greens and rust color of the rocks they were sitting on.
48732
Dinosaur tracks
A wonderful trip down a stunning canyon!
The weather was warm, the day was beautiful, the canyon was simply delightful and the water was very cold.
We had two vehicles for the necessary shuttle and hit the trail head around 8:15am. The 3 mile hike to the canyon was lovely. There were a couple of forks during the first mile you need to be aware of and a couple of spots at the start of the slick rock where the trail was not obvious Other than that, a well-worn trail and cairns made it pretty easy to follow. A couple of park rangers working on the trail checked our permit just before we descended into the canyon.
None of us had wetsuits which was o.k. (my son would disagree), but made certain areas less enjoyable as I was focusing on the cold rather than the beauty of the canyon. In the canyon itself (minus the exit) we only had sun during one section. Even just neoprene socks would have taken the edge off. We saw one adult female in a wet suit who was swearing up a storm because she was so cold. We encountered another group that included a non-wet-suited, overweight person that was really having trouble. The canyon was more technical than I expected (a friend told me "you just need 30 feet of webbing"), but the websites we checked out beforehand said to bring more gear, which we did, and were grateful for (e.g. http://www.zionnational-park.com/zion-national-park-subway.htm and http://canyoneeringusa.com/utah/zion/subway.php).
Swimming through the keyhole was a special treat though most folks we saw opted not to do so. I appreciated an earlier Bogley post making me aware of the new log jam in the bowling alley.
48710
At the trail head
48711
On the approach. Beautiful country.
48712
Delightful slick rock.
48713
Just before descending into the canyon.
48714
First obstacle. Zion SAR had to retrieve a hiker from this spot two days earlier because they jumped into this pool and broke something.
48715
Impressive log jams hint at the power of flood-level water flows.
48716
Yes, the water is as cold as they say it is.
48717
Good times.
48718
48720
Stunning water courses.
48719
Reaching the North Pole.
48721
48722
48723
48724
48725
48726
48727
The crack in the riverbed runs all the way up the canyon wall on both ends.
48728
48729
48730
48731
There were little toads all over the boulders taking on the various cremes, greens and rust color of the rocks they were sitting on.
48732
Dinosaur tracks
A wonderful trip down a stunning canyon!