Eric Holden
10-09-2012, 08:56 AM
First trip to Zion. Angle's Landing, Das Boot, and The Subway
My buddy Frank, and myself took a 7 hour drive from California out to Zion. My very first time here. We arrived about 10:30pm to find all campgrounds full. We spoke with a ranger who checked a couple things out and let us use the private "Law Enforcement Only" campsite for the night. Things were already off to a great start. I am used to sleeping in 1 or 2 man backpacking tents so when Frank suggested he bring the big boy out, I cheered gleefully.
Nothing like camping with a table between you to hold your board games, Scotch and Absinthe
59865
We got up in the morning and moved from the LE campsite to a normal one and then set out for a quick hike up Angel's Landing. Beautiful views, great hike. The exposure wasn't quite as bad as I was lead to believe, nothing like the cables route up Half-Dome.
59866
The next morning we set out nice and early to go try and tackle Das Boot with the Subway/Left Fork trail-head exit. We got to the Wildcat trail head about 7am and dropped off Frank and all of our gear. I drove back down to the Left Fork trail-head and got a ride with some locals driving out to a job site to clear some wood. Very friendly chaps! We hit the trail at about 8am, perfect weather
59867
Finding the split from the standard top-down route over to Das Boot
59874
A lot of route finding was needed, but thanks to Tom's pictures and terrain map we found the correct route down to the start of Das Boot.
59868
Bottom of the Rappel into Das Boot.
59869
Not a lot of pictures were taken from this point out. Lots of Video, but I am having issues editing it right now due to slow.................. computer. Here are a couple of snap shots while in Das Boot
View from the floor up. Absolutely Beautiful!:hail2thechief:
59870
Lots of swimming through cold :cold: water
59871
Up-climbing and Down-climbing over log jams. Some scary looking pot holes that either had to be stemmed over or "Tree" navigation.
59872
About half way through Das Boot, Frank picked up a friend. A very cold lizard that was stranded on a rock. Little dude was alive but would barley move. He hitched a ride on Frank till we got to a large opening with some sun.
59873
After a few hours we finally stemmed over the last pot hole just before the drop into the main Subway path. Lots of beautiful sites to be seen. Can't wait to make the video.
We came to the big boulder that you can down climb to the right of, but figured we have the gear, lets use it.
59875
We found the under cut arch and both swam under it. Refreshing.
59876
Brought along the DSLR with a ND filter and got to have some fun testing this out for the first time.
59880
More beautiful sites.
59877
Me
59878
The Waterfall room. A little eerie knowing what happened here a few weeks ago. All webbing was removed from the logs when we crossed.
59879
Frank in the Iconic picture.
59881
Actually slipped into one of the pools when we first came down here.
59882
Just Beautiful
59883
Finally, after spending about 1 hour taking pictures and just admiring the glory of what a combination of water, earth, and light can do, we set out.
The hike out..... wow..... I did not expect something so death march ish. Cross the river here, jump a log there, duck another log, get tripod stuck on a tree. Up until the point just past the cascades I was having a fun good ol' time, but a few hours later I had hit a wall. I went into one foot in front of the other mode, very untalkative. Frank noticed the change and offered to carry my heavier of the two packs but I declined and just continued to drudge forward.
Its a very strange thing that I occasionally get, a "Why am I here" feeling. Where I can't see a way out of this very uncomfortable place, heavy pack, up and down, left and right, with no end in sight. The sun was beginning to set and we still had a very minimal amount of light when we finally reached the sign with a big boot on it, indicating our start up the 400ft cliff face. I can begin to describe the amount of joy I had knowing the boulder slog was done with.
My spirits were rejuvenated as we began the hike up the side of the cliff. This was 10 times easier then hiking from the exit of the subway to the base of this cliff. We eventually had to put on headlamps and refilled our bladders with treated river water, very tasty! As we climbed up we could hear the sounds of bats over head, pinging us with their sonar, TOO COOL! Finally reaching the top we did the quick 1/2 return to the car. We arrived at the car about 8:45pm.
Drove to the Bit and Spur for dinner and a couple of cold beers. What an adventure! Unfortunately we did not get our permits for the next day, as we had planned to go down Pine Creek/Keyhole. Due to the exhaustion, and also the 7 hour drive back home, we skipped them and vowed to return another day.
A great first trip to Zion NP!
My buddy Frank, and myself took a 7 hour drive from California out to Zion. My very first time here. We arrived about 10:30pm to find all campgrounds full. We spoke with a ranger who checked a couple things out and let us use the private "Law Enforcement Only" campsite for the night. Things were already off to a great start. I am used to sleeping in 1 or 2 man backpacking tents so when Frank suggested he bring the big boy out, I cheered gleefully.
Nothing like camping with a table between you to hold your board games, Scotch and Absinthe
59865
We got up in the morning and moved from the LE campsite to a normal one and then set out for a quick hike up Angel's Landing. Beautiful views, great hike. The exposure wasn't quite as bad as I was lead to believe, nothing like the cables route up Half-Dome.
59866
The next morning we set out nice and early to go try and tackle Das Boot with the Subway/Left Fork trail-head exit. We got to the Wildcat trail head about 7am and dropped off Frank and all of our gear. I drove back down to the Left Fork trail-head and got a ride with some locals driving out to a job site to clear some wood. Very friendly chaps! We hit the trail at about 8am, perfect weather
59867
Finding the split from the standard top-down route over to Das Boot
59874
A lot of route finding was needed, but thanks to Tom's pictures and terrain map we found the correct route down to the start of Das Boot.
59868
Bottom of the Rappel into Das Boot.
59869
Not a lot of pictures were taken from this point out. Lots of Video, but I am having issues editing it right now due to slow.................. computer. Here are a couple of snap shots while in Das Boot
View from the floor up. Absolutely Beautiful!:hail2thechief:
59870
Lots of swimming through cold :cold: water
59871
Up-climbing and Down-climbing over log jams. Some scary looking pot holes that either had to be stemmed over or "Tree" navigation.
59872
About half way through Das Boot, Frank picked up a friend. A very cold lizard that was stranded on a rock. Little dude was alive but would barley move. He hitched a ride on Frank till we got to a large opening with some sun.
59873
After a few hours we finally stemmed over the last pot hole just before the drop into the main Subway path. Lots of beautiful sites to be seen. Can't wait to make the video.
We came to the big boulder that you can down climb to the right of, but figured we have the gear, lets use it.
59875
We found the under cut arch and both swam under it. Refreshing.
59876
Brought along the DSLR with a ND filter and got to have some fun testing this out for the first time.
59880
More beautiful sites.
59877
Me
59878
The Waterfall room. A little eerie knowing what happened here a few weeks ago. All webbing was removed from the logs when we crossed.
59879
Frank in the Iconic picture.
59881
Actually slipped into one of the pools when we first came down here.
59882
Just Beautiful
59883
Finally, after spending about 1 hour taking pictures and just admiring the glory of what a combination of water, earth, and light can do, we set out.
The hike out..... wow..... I did not expect something so death march ish. Cross the river here, jump a log there, duck another log, get tripod stuck on a tree. Up until the point just past the cascades I was having a fun good ol' time, but a few hours later I had hit a wall. I went into one foot in front of the other mode, very untalkative. Frank noticed the change and offered to carry my heavier of the two packs but I declined and just continued to drudge forward.
Its a very strange thing that I occasionally get, a "Why am I here" feeling. Where I can't see a way out of this very uncomfortable place, heavy pack, up and down, left and right, with no end in sight. The sun was beginning to set and we still had a very minimal amount of light when we finally reached the sign with a big boot on it, indicating our start up the 400ft cliff face. I can begin to describe the amount of joy I had knowing the boulder slog was done with.
My spirits were rejuvenated as we began the hike up the side of the cliff. This was 10 times easier then hiking from the exit of the subway to the base of this cliff. We eventually had to put on headlamps and refilled our bladders with treated river water, very tasty! As we climbed up we could hear the sounds of bats over head, pinging us with their sonar, TOO COOL! Finally reaching the top we did the quick 1/2 return to the car. We arrived at the car about 8:45pm.
Drove to the Bit and Spur for dinner and a couple of cold beers. What an adventure! Unfortunately we did not get our permits for the next day, as we had planned to go down Pine Creek/Keyhole. Due to the exhaustion, and also the 7 hour drive back home, we skipped them and vowed to return another day.
A great first trip to Zion NP!