The Subway Hike in Zion National Park

For my first blog, I thought I would share my experience of one of the most amazing hikes I have ever been on, The Subway at Zion National Park.

Finding Out About Going

I remember the day that my uncle called me and told me that he had purchased a permit to take my family on a hike in Zion that would take mostly all day. I was a pretty nervous at first because I had never heard of a hike in Zion that took that long and also because my uncle is known for "living life on the edge." He told me that it was a 9.5 mile hike that required swimming through deep pools of freezing water in slot canyons, rappelling from distances up to 30 feet, and hiking up and down steep canyons. Of course this sounded like a lot but I was all in because I love the outdoors. 

Beginning the Hike

There were two ways to start this hike, going from top to bottom or starting from the bottom and working your way to the top. Our permit was for the top to the bottom. We started around 6 am so we could beat the Southern Utah heat on a hot summer day. Once starting the hike, our first checkpoint was half of a mile away on a trail called Northgate Peaks Trail, which would then drop us down into The Subway. As we hiked down the trail waiting to descend into the slot canyons, we would check for stacked rocks called cairns. People would use cairns as a landmark system to make sure people stay on track and don't end up in the middle of no where. 

Mid Hike

This is where the fun started to happen. After following the cairns, we finally found our path that led us to the descend into The Subway. We approached our first rappel sight which was a 15 foot rappel down a slippery waterfall into a slot canyon full of ice cold water. Once we dropped down in, we had to swim through the ice water for about 30 feet until we hit land again. That was a crazy experience

because you couldn't feel or see the bottom because of how deep it was so we just had to keep going. 

After hiking a couple miles further past the first rappel sight, we came to another drop off that we had to make it down. This time it was double the size. I had never rappelled before and I have no skills of it either so I knew it was going to be a difficult task  because it was a 30 foot drop. My uncle tied a rope around my waist and said to me "alright, just lean backwards and walk your way down." It sounds a lot easier than you'd think. Trying to trust not only myself but my uncle because he was holding the other end of the rope as I made my way down a 30 foot cliff wasn't easy but once I got through the drop, it was completely worth it. 

At the bottom was what we were waiting for the whole time. It was a hollowed out slot canyon that had natural pools running through the bottom that almost looked like hot tubs and there were natural water slides everywhere.

The Hike Out 

After having fun sliding down all of the slides and hanging out in what looked like natural hot tubs, it was time to hike our way out of the canyon. This was one of the most difficult parts of the whole hike because it was already like 6 miles into the hike and our bodies were starting to get tired but we still needed to climb up a steep mountain where our other car was waiting for us. We took our time working back and forth up the switch backs and finally after what seemed about 5 hours later, we reached our vehicle. It was such a great feeling knowing that I completed a difficult hike with my family and I definitely recommend trying it out for yourself.