3/30/19 - The Subway And Cliff-jumping at Gunlock Falls!

I took a group of 5 (including myself) down the Subway on Saturday and had a great time! It took us 8 1/2 hours given the conditions.

The road to the Wildcat trailhead is mostly snow-free except for the last 100 yards or so. In fact, we drove my friends Tundra to the trailhead but we got stuck in the snow and had to park on the road. That snow was hard as a rock and the tires would just spin and spin. Another group showed up the same time we did (around 9am) and all of their cars got stuck too. They had a group of 10+ and were slow going.

I've always wanted do to the Subway in higher water conditions and it was great! I STRONGLY recommend wearing a drysuit as that water was just snow a few hours ago... literally, ice cold. But I would say as the days go by as the temps warm up down there, expect much more flow! Be prepared!

A Zion Law-enforcement officer on CanyonCollective (CPRNRES) said that the Subway is "blown out" right now. Well..it wasn't... The amount was probably about double to trip of what it is in summer.

All obstacles aren't a serious issue on that Saturday. We loaded for bear too. Brought tiblocs, handled-ascenders, potshots for a guided rap, a 2nd rope, 100ft of webbing, stove, extra food, etc.

Das Boot had a surprisingly low amount of flow. Everything was flowing and was a blast!

HOWEVER, in the upcoming weeks, all of that trapped snow will be running through this canyon, so consider this TR as old news as the flows will only increase as we progress into April!! Beware! And please please please, bring a drysuit for the Subway right now. You will thank me.

We had 3 GoPros amongst the 5 of us so I have a lot of footage to go through and plan to release a 20+ min video showcasing a lot of it. But here are some pictures just so something current is up here.

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Then on Sunday morning we headed to Gunlock to play in the waterfalls and cascades. Definitely bring a wetsuit. That water is still pretty cold!

Enjoy the video below:

http://youtu.be/SHgIfexVll4

ALWAYS check depth levels before jumping!

Nice report and cool pictures! I am going to zion next week, I have a permit for the subway, I've been checking the virgin river discharge and it still looks like it's pretty high and will remain high as the snow melts. Do you think the water levels will be too high to safely go through the subway next week? I'd rather not pack my wetsuit and all my gear and not be able to use it.

thanks buddy!

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Originally Posted by duder

Nice report and cool pictures! I am going to zion next week, I have a permit for the subway, I've been checking the virgin river discharge and it still looks like it's pretty high and will remain high as the snow melts. Do you think the water levels will be too high to safely go through the subway next week? I'd rather not pack my wetsuit and all my gear and not be able to use it.

thanks buddy!

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Well the subway and virgin river gauge are in two different places. So while the narrows closes above 150 CFS, it doesn’t directly correlate into the Subway. The narrows has a bigger drainage. The Subway has a big one but not nearly what the Narrows has. So it’s hard to compare the two in my opinion.

And are you going top-down or bottom-up? Going by yourself? Wetsuit wouldn’t be necessary for going up, but there are a bunch of pools you could stop and play in along the way.

But if you are doing top-down, I would strongly reconsider the wetsuit and rent a drysuit instead! Hypothermic cold. Even subway experts in wetsuits will be hating it currently. It wouldn’t be fun. The kind where you hand and feet throbs and becomes partially numb after being submerged for 5 seconds.

And the temperatures look a little warmer for your trip than when we did it (65 degrees), so you will have more flow compared to our trip!!

And if it looks too intimidating, most areas can be bypassed to the side so you miss the direct flow. Even at keyhole falls (where the arch is), you can put your arms through the hole and drop 2-3 feet into the sand and water and avoid the direct flow if you use that anchor on the right-side of the canyon.




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^^^I counted 124 people!! :eek2:

I think Disneyland is less crowded...

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Originally Posted by rockgremlin

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^^^I counted 124 people!! :eek2:

I think Disneyland is less crowded...

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There’s double that everywhere else not in the photos...

But Jeff and I were the only ones in the water though..... [emoji7]


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Thank you for the reply, I am planning on doing to top down solo. I will rent a dry suit from an outfitter in springdale, and speak to the outfitter and the local rangers about the conditions before I commit to it.

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Originally Posted by duder

Thank you for the reply, I am planning on doing to top down solo. I will rent a dry suit from an outfitter in springdale, and speak to the outfitter and the local rangers about the conditions before I commit to it.

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Thats a good idea...

As you are going solo that day, I would recommend starting early so if something were to happen, hopefully, there would be a group or two behind you. But of course, don’t count on that either. There are no guarantees in the wilderness.

And take a thermos of a warm liquid too. The lady in our group was grateful for that after some long swims.

If you remember, it would be great to see some of your pictures when you return just to compare water levels.


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by duder

Thank you for the reply, I am planning on doing to top down solo. I will rent a dry suit from an outfitter in springdale, and speak to the outfitter and the local rangers about the conditions before I commit to it.

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What day are you planning on doing it? I'll be down there Monday. As for beta from the Rangers, they have been a very unreliable source (as in way too conservative) of info, telling me conditions were wetter/colder/harder than they were, although considering you're going solo in possibly hard conditions, conservative is probably the way to go.

Awesome jman...4 wheel drive with the TRD package on that Tundra, eh? Well at least the tires got clean.

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Originally Posted by jman

http://youtu.be/SHgIfexVll4

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Hey @jman so I'm finally getting a chance to head down south with the family this week, I've been waiting to see this overflow for years, so I'll be going to get some shots.

Everybody says how crowded it is, but they are there the middle of the day. Do you think there will be photographers out and about at sunrise? I'll be getting up and heading over to Gunlock early Thursday morning, most of the crowds should be gone, hopefully I'm not disturbing other photogs by flying around though.

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Originally Posted by Sombeech

Hey @jman so I'm finally getting a chance to head down south with the family this week, I've been waiting to see this overflow for years, so I'll be going to get some shots.

Everybody says how crowded it is, but they are there the middle of the day. Do you think there will be photographers out and about at sunrise? I'll be getting up and heading over to Gunlock early Thursday morning, most of the crowds should be gone, hopefully I'm not disturbing other photogs by flying around though.

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At sunrise? Very little will be there. People want to play in the sun and so this is a afternoon spot.

And the noise from the waterfalls block out the drone. At least my did and I was within 10 feet and people didn’t even notice I was directly looking at them waiting for them to slip and fall...

Bring a wetsuit and play in the water if you got some extra time too. It was fun. And it won’t last forever.


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Originally Posted by rockgremlin

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^^^I counted 124 people!! :eek2:

I think Disneyland is less crowded...

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The crowds are still there. I was there this weekend, twice. Once at sunrise to get some shots, then went back at mid day and the same crowds were hoarding the place. I've got a ton of video to go through also.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/jB...=w1560-h878-no

I finished our multi-camera edit of our trip. It’s about 30mins long FYI.


https://youtu.be/l8se-KWfcZU
http://youtu.be/l8se-KWfcZU

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Looks like cliff jumping at Gunlock isn't such a great idea...

Crews search for man who jumped from waterfalls at Gunlock State Park

https://www.ksl.com/article/46564256...ock-state-park

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Originally Posted by Iceaxe

Looks like cliff jumping at Gunlock isn't such a great idea...

Crews search for man who jumped from waterfalls at Gunlock State Park

https://www.ksl.com/article/46564256...ock-state-park

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Looks like they recovered his body this morning. Some people just want to jump higher and higher. I'll bet you a hundred dollars he didn't check the depth when he jumped. Maybe others were doing it and just missed?

My jumping in the thread above was all tested for depth and it was never more than 20feet. This guy looks like he jumped from 60ft+ (I wonder what the physics say on how far you go down below the water from that high?)