The Subway

After getting a taste of canyoneering from our trips to Elephant Butte and Little Wild Horse, it was time for something a bit more technical and committing. Brian's friend suggested The Subway in Zion National Park, which is a long and very wet canyoneering trip, but a classic in terms of its unique features and beautiful scenery.

It is quite a technical trip and would require us to rent dry suits because there are several mandatory swims. To be honest, I didn't really have a clue what I was getting into and was slightly nervous, but I was with more than capable people that I trust, who happen to know what they're doing.

We got up before sunrise, ate a quick breakfast, got our things together, and headed to Springdale to get outfitted for our adventure. We rented our dry suits from Zion Adventure Company and drove out to the trailhead.

Our approach started with a hike for a couple of miles through a lovely forested area and over a large section of slickrock before we reached our first rappel to drop us down into Russell Gulch. From there, we continued to trek for a ways until we hit a rappel into our first swim. The rope lowered us right into a big pool where we then had to swim to the shore before hiking again.

The approach continued until we finally took one more long rappel off an overhang into a big amphitheater that marked the start of The Subway. From there, we were in the bottom of a wide, lush canyon.

We followed along the path of flowing water, watching the changes in rock patterns and vegetation, and trying to grasp the volume of water that must flow through to carve away at the immense amount of rock.

Occasionally, the canyon would get very narrow with neat pockets, small waterfalls, and drops down which we had to rappel.

The journey varied from walking on sand or carved rock to wading or swimming through pools and channels with incredibly clear water.

Eventually, the canyon widened, and we were no longer in the main stretch of The Subway, but our exit was still a good distance ahead of us with a decent amount of rock scrambling and stream crossings.

We underestimated the amount of time it would take us to get back, so we missed the return time for our dry suit rentals and ended up hiking the rest of our exit in the dark with our headlamps.

I felt a little apprehensive when I first realized how late it was getting while we were making our way back, but I ended up feeling very grateful for our slight miscalculation. Not only was I glad that we didn't rush through one of the most amazing natural features I've had the opportunity to explore, but we were also able to witness a magnificent sunset within the high-rising red walls surrounding us. 

Plus, since we would have to pay for an extra day on our rentals anyway, we now had an excuse to check out another canyon the next day. After the day's experience, I was more than ready to see what else might be in store with another canyoneering adventure.