Das Boot - Subway

[nelsonccc]

Hey all - I'm hitting Das Boot & the Subway on Saturday. I haven't pulled permits by standing in line in over 2 years. Any idea on how early I should plan on being in line? I need 5 permits. I was thinking 4:30-5:00 in the morning but I'm not sure it will be early enough, it look slike the window opens at 7:00 am. Any suggestions? Thanks.

[Iceaxe]

Dang.... that's a tough call. I assume you know that walk-in permits are issued the day BEFORE the trip. So you are planning on picking up a Subway permit on Friday morning for Saturday? If so.... I would say Friday at 6am has a good chance of succeeding. There are 20 walk-ins available and one group can't take more then 12 permits.

I'm guessing there will be ZERO Subway permits available on Saturday morning for Saturday.

[moabfool]

Hey all - I'm hitting Das Boot & the Subway on Saturday. I haven't pulled permits by standing in line in over 2 years. Any idea on how early I should plan on being in line? I need 5 permits. I was thinking 4:30-5:00 in the morning but I'm not sure it will be early enough, it look slike the window opens at 7:00 am. Any suggestions? Thanks.

It's a total crap shoot man. Being from Vegas you'll know about that though . I've shown up there at 6:00 and gotten exactly what I've wanted (Mystery, Subway) and then I've shown up at 5:00 and been beat out for everything I wanted by guys that got there at 1:00. It's a total gamble.

I don't know if you've heard about the new permit line rules. Don't have any "bedding material" with you (sleeping bag, blanket, sleeping pad) or they can, at their option, send you to the back of the line, fine you, or even arrest you. A pillow and a comfy camp chair are your best options. There was quite a discussion on the topic a few months ago.

http://uutah.com/forum/viewtopic.php...er=asc&start=0

Good luck. The weather should be fabulous.

[nelsonccc]

I'll be picking up the permits tomorrow morning, then were going dirt bike riding out at Coral Pink. I'm aware of the 'no camping rules' so i'm taking a camp chair and a good book. I'm going to shoot for 5:00 (which is really 4:00 my time). Hopefully I get them. I'll post pics when i return. Damn Permits.

[Biner]

good luck, you need to sign up for the online permit system it's called "Express Permits" and its the only way to fly

[Iceaxe]

If you are at the permit window the day before when it opens you will probably get your permit. At 5 it's nearly a slam dunk..... remember, this is pretty much the off season for tourists so you will probably not have to compete with the casual hiker.

And you don't have to be a member of Express to reserve a permit on-line. Express just lets you print the permit on-line the day before so you can skip picking it up at the backcountry desk.

Biggest problem with the on-line lottery is you have to enter 3 months in advance. I seldom make plans that far ahead.

Good luck.... and may the force be with you.

[Biner]

I don't know anything about a lottery, I can reserve a trip on-line a week, month, three days, etc. (depending on the number of spots open) in advance and pay for the permit the day before or the day of, print that bad boy and never stop at the visitor center. You will have to make a user name and password at the back-country desk and they set it up for you. My last rip to Englestead I made the res 10 days before the trip and printed the permit the day before. I don't know why more people aren't doing it this way. It really is a very efficient setup.

[Iceaxe]

Yeah.... I know.... confusing as hell....

Anyone can reserve a permit on-line. For that part there is no advantage to being an Express member. There is a big difference between a reservation and a permit.

For popular canyons like Subway and Mystery first chance at permits goes to anyone who entered the NPS lottery. Both Express and Non-Express can enter the lottery for high value permits. Any lottery permits not issued next are available to the general public on-line (Both Express and Non-Express). If the permits are still not claimed they then become available as walk-ins the day before the trip.

The value of being an Express member is that you can pay for and print your permit on-line the day before your trip. The downside to the Express is that you must register in person, which is hard for someone from New York.

[nelsonccc]

Follow up. I was in line Friday mornign at 5:30. There were already two parties ahead of me. One group was pulling 6 subway permits and had been in line since 3:30. They said that they has actually gotten there at 10:30 the night before but had been run off even though they didn't have anything but a chair. The second group was pulling 4 permits for Mystery. So I was able to pull my 4 permits for Das Boot. There was a group behind me that pulled four Das Boot permits as well. We caught them at the final rappel before Russell and they didn't believe we were going to jump it, that is until we jumped.

On our way through the Subway proper we saw maybe twenty people. One large group (8-10 people, all wearing cotton and soon to be freezing) we passed at the large boulder. The second group (5-8) people we caught at Keyhole falls. We passed another group of 4 below the dinosaur tracks with one meber of their party using an improvised crutch to hobble around. Apparantly he had slipped while hand lining at Keyhole and had fallen onto his knee.

We didn't see any rangers and finished Das Boot (Shane's entrance) & the Subway in about 9.5 hours. I'll post a TR w/ pics tomorrow.