The Subway, May 15, 2008

The Subway, originally uploaded by BillyCrafton.

Today, we decided to do the trail to take us into the Subway, a combination Slot Canyon-River.

This was a tough hike of 4 miles to the subway as the Narrows were closed because of high water. The hike started with a 1/2 mile steep decent to the Virgin River.

I started the hike with a litre of water but it wasn't enough. The trail was a scramble over rocks and trees and over the trail when we saw it. At about half way into the hike, we came across some dinosaur tracks that were very cool! We also got eaten alive by flies!

A little after the tracks, Terry made a good move as he was about out of water and he turned around and returned to the car. We started the hike around 9am and 4 hours later we were still a ways from the Subway.

Ken was ahead of us and got to the Subway before rian and I. Brian hiked the entire way with his camera out. I took out my D300 and carried it for a while until I slipped while looking at a snake sunning on a rock. I put a small mark on the battery pack and decided it was tie to pack up the camera in my pack so I could have both hands free.

The boots and hiking stick from Zion Adventures came in very helpful as wading through the river was sometimes the easiest path.

Once I got to the Subway, I found Ken and sat down to eat a quick lunch of Tuna. Unfortunately, I misplaced the cap to my water and decided to finish it before spilling it. I also bummed a Pepsi off Brian and we all shot for a couple of hours before heading back.

The trip back was much quicker as we didn't take many stops for pictures. The worst part of the hike was the start and finish with the last .6 miles and 500 foot altitude change up a steep cliff. At this point, I was pretty wiped and took a quick snack of some oranges that Brian had. I was also regretting the fact that I hadn't purchased a carbon fibre tripod and that I had brought my heaviest pack because it had the best water protection. it combined for a 40-50 pounds I had to carry uphill. A lot of the climb was very steep and required both hands at certain points. A little over half way up the trail, Brian and Ken were a few switchbacks uphill and another couple had just past them when I heard a huge noise and a scream. A boulder the size of a vmw bug started tumbling down hill and started a rock slide. The couple were 1 min from the point of impact when they heard the rock slide start and ran back down the trail. I watched the rock bounce down the mountain, frequently several feet in the air. We were all freaked out and had to deal with getting over the area where the rock slide just occurred.

At this point, I was dehydrated and exhausted. I got over this area but was pretty wiped. Brian came down and made me give him my pack as the sun was setting and we didn't want to be on the trail that late. My pack was WAY too heavy. It was much easier to make it to the car where we found Terry waiting for us with Gatorade.

Two key things I learned : (1) Pack plenty of water or gatorade and (2) don't over pack gear.

Friday is a mellow day for me and Terry but Brian and Ken are doing Angel's Landing, a very strenuous and dangerous hike .