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Thread: The Left Fork (Subway) Top Down 08/20

  1. #1

    The Left Fork (Subway) Top Down 08/20

    Thought I would give a quick report of our trip down the Subway on 08/20. This is the first time I had the opportunity to do this hike and I was very eager to see this marvelous canyon but a bit worried that the huge rain we had on Wednesday night (08/18) had left the canyon muddy and murky.

    We had permits for Orderville Canyon the day before but decided not to go due to the flash flood warning. Because of the warning, I had to wait until 8 hours after it expired to get my Subway permit. I now understand why so many people are critical of the permit system after standing in line over an hour. After our hike we decided to sit through the 15 minute video to get set up for the express permit system and will definitely take advantage of that next time.

    The route down to the subway was fairly easy to start and fairly well marked where needed with Cairns. The final down climb into Russell Gulch was a bit tricky carrying all my gear but not too difficult. We noticed immediately a lot of sand movement from the previous rain.

    My hiking partners were Tracy (DSTRBD) and my friends Paul, Susan and Terry. All of us are in our late 30's to early 50's and most of us were in good shape for the hike. Had we not had the earlier rain and done the Orderville hike (12 miles) the day before, we may not have had the energy to do this hike since it ended up being harder than expected. For out of towner's like us, it's difficult scheduling a day of easy hiking in between the longer hikes using the Zion Lottery system!

    As we progressed through Russell Gulch and into the left fork there was considerable water flow and as I had feared, very muddy. We got to the first obstacle and down climbed it using a hand line / chimneying down the right side of the bolder. To me, this was the hardest obstacle to face as it had an awkward angle and required a bit of contortion! We started to enter the narrower sections of the Left Fork and there were obvious signs that it had flashed on Wednesday night. A lot of pushed over grasses and small trees all along the bank.

    The swims had a lot of sand in the bottom and we could walk through all but one. The bowling ball chock stone was about 2-1/2 feet above the water which I understand is not the normal height. Still, this was a lot of fun and my friends who had never seen any info on the Subway were very amazed at the sights and what they were required to go through (yes, I warned them).

    When we reached the Narrows section, Tracy let out a gasp of astonishment and noted that the last swim right before the Subway was gone! Indeed it was full of sand and we walked across it in ankle deep water. It was very disappointing for me after seeing all of the pictures of pristine emerald pools of water and algae that a photographer does these hikes for. It was a muddy hike for most of the trip and the water didn't actually start to clear until well after the actual Subway section.

    Still, the rock formations were very impressive and I did what I could to salvage a good shot. The falls and water running through the slot in the rock looked great though, and I did manage to take some nice shots there. We learned that sliding down the waterfall that you see everyone do on Youtube may not be a great idea if you hit it wrong! My friend Paul had a bruised tail bone from hitting a very bumpy spot! I down climbed to set up my camera but missed the stupid human trick!

    We continued down the water course crossing the stream many times and I was amazed that there was still so much hiking left to do after the Subway section. My friend Terry was really having a hard time with all of the up and down over small and large rocks and crossing the stream so we stopped to get some food and electrolytes in her system. We started to run into the bottom up hikers about 45 minutes to an hour after the Subway, everyone asking "How much further?" When we got to the final climb out of the canyon we looked up and my first thought was "I could have sworn I read that it was only a 400 foot elevation gain. That looks like more than a thousand!" The Hike out in the hot sun is grueling! Make sure you have plenty of water. All of us in our group had agreed that the people doing the bottom up route had it harder and miss a lot of great sights.

    I'll try and post some pics as soon as I get them processed. Will definitely have to go back after the water washes some of that sand away. I need to find the best time of the day for photo's as the sun was a bit too harsh in mid afternoon. Overall it was a good trip but a bit disappointing for me. We did Mystery Canyon the following week and it ended up being the highlight of my trip.

    Hopefully Tracy will chime in with some additional comments.

    -------
    Jeff

    "Be who you are, say what you feel.
    Because those that mind don't matter and,
    those that matter don't mind"

    ~Dr. Suess~

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  3. #2
    My tip for all those exiting the Left fork is to go dunk themselves totally underwater before the climb out. By the time you get to the car you will be mostly dry if not completely dry. After runoff next spring hopefully the pools will be scoured out and form again. As for the slide, yah, I don't do it. Once was enough. Looks softer than it is.
    Life is Good

  4. #3
    Moderator jman's Avatar
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    Hehe......a lot of those youtube subway slide ones are mine.

    Come on now, the slide is fun!
    ●Canyoneering 'Canyon Conditions' @ www.candition.com
    ●Hiking Treks (my younger brother's website): hiking guides @ www.thetrekplanner.com
    "He who walks on the edge...will eventually fall."
    "There are two ways to die in the desert - dehydration and drowning." -overhearing a Park Ranger at Capitol Reef N.P.
    "...the first law of gear-dynamics: gear is like a gas - it will expand to fit the available space." -Wortman, Outside magazine.
    "SEND IT, BRO!!"

  5. #4
    Excellent, Jeff! I agree with so much of what you've written. It's a long trek out, and much as I enjoyed the Subway, it's a big investment of time and effort. Not sure how often I'll repeat the trip in future.

    Looking forward to your photos!

  6. #5
    Just a few photo's added, I have video on my phone but that may take a bit to get it down to size.
    -------
    Jeff

    "Be who you are, say what you feel.
    Because those that mind don't matter and,
    those that matter don't mind"

    ~Dr. Suess~

  7. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by p40whk View Post
    Just a few photo's added, I have video on my phone but that may take a bit to get it down to size.
    By the way, your ZionSubway picasa album might be set as "unlisted" or private. You'll have to edit it as public to show in the slideshow.

  8. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Sombeech View Post
    By the way, your ZionSubway picasa album might be set as "unlisted" or private. You'll have to edit it as public to show in the slideshow.
    Thanks, should be fixed now.
    -------
    Jeff

    "Be who you are, say what you feel.
    Because those that mind don't matter and,
    those that matter don't mind"

    ~Dr. Suess~

  9. #8
    Great photos! BTW, I went to your Picasa page, but can't find any RV-6 photos...

  10. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Cirrus2000 View Post
    Great photos! BTW, I went to your Picasa page, but can't find any RV-6 photos...
    Sold the RV6 afew years ago. Flying just got too expensive. maybe after I retire and if I have any $$ left by then I may build another.
    -------
    Jeff

    "Be who you are, say what you feel.
    Because those that mind don't matter and,
    those that matter don't mind"

    ~Dr. Suess~

  11. #10
    Content Provider Emeritus ratagonia's Avatar
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    What time were you at the end? Looks to me like better light than I have ever had.

    Tom

  12. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by p40whk View Post
    I'll try and post some pics as soon as I get them processed. Will definitely have to go back after the water washes some of that sand away.
    I bet it will be years before water washes that sand out of some of those spots. Even in the spring when its flowing like crazy there is still sand in those spots - about as much sand as I can see in your pictures, just with a few feet of water on top of it.
    -----
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    For a good time, check out my blog. or update the CanyonWiki

  13. #12
    Moderator jman's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ryebrye View Post
    I bet it will be years before water washes that sand out of some of those spots. Even in the spring when its flowing like crazy there is still sand in those spots - about as much sand as I can see in your pictures, just with a few feet of water on top of it.
    Yea...unfortunately. I remember back in 2003 when the pathway (after the rap) leading to the "subway shower" was up to your chest. Now, it's only ankle deep.
    ●Canyoneering 'Canyon Conditions' @ www.candition.com
    ●Hiking Treks (my younger brother's website): hiking guides @ www.thetrekplanner.com
    "He who walks on the edge...will eventually fall."
    "There are two ways to die in the desert - dehydration and drowning." -overhearing a Park Ranger at Capitol Reef N.P.
    "...the first law of gear-dynamics: gear is like a gas - it will expand to fit the available space." -Wortman, Outside magazine.
    "SEND IT, BRO!!"

  14. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by ratagonia View Post
    What time were you at the end? Looks to me like better light than I have ever had.

    Tom
    We had to take our time because one of our group wasn't in the best of shape and she was going pretty slow. It took us 9 hours total to to do the complete hike which we could have done a lot faster (you have to hike at the pace of your slowest hiker) and I think we got on the trail right around 7:30am. That should have put us in the Subway around 1:30-2:30pm but that's just a guess. The images are HDR images (a combination of 3 bracketed exposures) that have been tone mapped so the lighting is about as good as it gets for mid afternoon. I prefer the longer shadows and softer light you get closer to the evening or early morning.

    The pics I took above don't show most of the sand we had to walk across or the mud full pools, I was too disappointed to take any pictures of it. To me it's just the cycle of nature and you can't predict or plan for it. Will have to come back and try again.
    -------
    Jeff

    "Be who you are, say what you feel.
    Because those that mind don't matter and,
    those that matter don't mind"

    ~Dr. Suess~

  15. #14
    Great shots Jeff! I took some but all I ever have is My P&S camera with me so I only ever get "decent shots" I was truly amazed at what the flash had done to the canyon, It certainly will take some time to get it back to the way it was.
    I need a Canyoneering partner! I have a open schedule, all my own gear and am looking to go as much as possible..PM me!

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