The Subway via Das Boot 9 Sept 2009

trailhead

I had been looking forward to exploring The Subway for quite some time. Nick, a friend of mine had mentioned that he was planning on doing a trip in September so I thought I better clear my schedule! We decided to try the Das Boot route of the Subway, which adds about 1.5 miles (and 2 hours) to the hike and drops you into the slot canyon about .75 miles before the normal entry point. The Das Boot section is also a bit more technical in places and the water is much more frigid due to the narrow canyons where light rarely, if ever, penetrates to the floor. (An additional permit is required in addition to the Subway permit, for Das Boot)

We met at the Lin’s in Hurricane and carpooled in 3 cars to our first destination – the Left Fork Trailhead. To get there, head to the town of Virgin on SR-9 and go north on Kolob Terrace Road toward the Kolob Reservoir. After about 9 miles, there will be a sign indicating the Left Fork Trailhead off to the right. We left 2 cars here and all piled into the 3rd, heading further up the road about another 7 miles to the Wild Cat Canyon Trailhead. Again, another sign marks the turnoff to the right.

We arrived at the trail head a little before 8:00 and hit the trail at 8:05. There were 9 of us that started out the hike. The original plan was for the 3 more novice hikers to go the regular Subway route and the other 6 hikers to go the Das Boot route. We would then meet up at the normal Subway entrance as is required by Zion National Park (no splitting up when a permit has been issued).

entry into Das Boot You start by following the Wildcat Canyon trail for about 1 mile. The trail starts off in a high-desert setting but quickly becomes more and more dotted with pine trees. After 1 mile, you’ll encounter the Northgate Peaks Trail junction. Turn right onto the Northgate peaks junction and follow it for about 200 yards until you see a sign indicating the “Left fork of North Creek” and the “Subway”.

Shortly after this turnoff, the trail leads you to slickrock. Up to this point the trail is very well defined. Once on the slickrock, I expected to see cairns marking the route, but there was only 1 that I saw the whole first section. But we managed to spot the trail off in the distance though, as the slickrock gave way to a forested area again.

After about .5 of a mile, we left the trail off to the left to cross over Russell Gulch before it became more difficult. We actually crossed right before it became a canyon. After crossing we looked back and noticed a more defined trail that we had somehow missed. Once on the east side of Russell Gulch, begin climbing up the slickrock to the main ledge. Once on the ledge continue about another .5 miles. At this point, you can begin to see the canyon that makes up the Subway.

Once there is a substantial ridge to your right, descend toward the canyon and route find your way into Das Boot. There are very few entry points. The one we used was a small drainage which required a bit of down climbing to get into and then a little bit of down climbing to get from it to Das Boot.

Shortly after our entry, the canyon walls narrowed as if to welcome us to our challenge. We started through the beautiful canyon along the dry river bed, coming to a few small obstacles every now and then. After a short time, we encountered our first technical section - a dry waterfall which had about a 12 foot drop. Apparently, a log used to make this obstacle a mere catwalk, but the log had been broken so the only way down was a drop. We got out the daisy chains and one by one lowered ourselves down – some more gracefully than others. Looking back on it, we could have all hung on the log and then dropped a short distance to the bottom, as Jason did, who unclipped the daisy chains and came down on his own. But we’ll chalk that up to it being the first obstacle of the day.

Shortly after our first technical section came the water. For the most part, we were only in up to our knees and occasionally our waist. Nick had mentioned that the water is normally much higher than it was. We did have one short swim of about 15 feet which kept me chilled for the next few hours.

The final obstacle we came to was about a 25 foot drop into a shallow pool (maybe 6 feet). After trying to figure out an easy way down, the group decided to get out the ropes and harnesses to repel down. I continued to look for a good down climb and found one off to the right. The dicey part was getting off of the main ledge to one about 5 feet below it which was only about 2 feet wide. I decided to go over the edge on my stomach which meant I couldn’t tell when/if my feet were about to hit the ledge – a scary feeling. Once onto the ledge it was a pretty easy down climb, albeit on very narrow ledges. The others in the group still elected to repel down after seeing that I had made it to the bottom.

This brought us to the entry point of the Subway. We arrived at about 11:15 and expected to see the other 3 members of our group waiting for us. But they weren’t there as we had expected and, after waiting for about 20 minutes, Nick decided to go up the trail a bit to look for them. He discovered that two of the others had turned back because of some steepness which was taking a toll on one of their knees.

We resumed our hike at about 12:00 and were now on our way to the subway. Not too long after we had started back up we came to another swimming hole. This swim was a little longer – maybe 25 feet. The water was much warmer in the standard subway route than it was in the Das Boot section, but still left me scurrying to find sunlight penetrating the canyon walls to warm my self up.

Just before entering the actual “subway” and about 1.5 miles from the Russell Gulch/North Fork Junction, we encountered Keyhole Falls. Many people down climbed this obstacle without much trouble. I was still shivering from my previous swims and down climbing would have meant that I would have to wade through chest deep water once again so I decided to repel (hand over hand) past the wading part and stay dry.

Once past Keyhole falls, the amazing beauty of the subway begins. Corridors are filled with pools of water of all kinds of interesting shapes – one even resembling a heart. Despite the many people that were there, I was still left feeling that I was discovering something incredible on my own.

Just out of the subway are the red ledges, a very beautiful series of small waterfalls over slickrock. Walking out of the subway and towards the red ledges gives the feeling of walking off the end of the earth, as the water flows over the edge, but what is over the edge can’t be seen.

We carefully made our way down the red ledges (very slippery) making sure to keep our weight slightly forward so as not to have the misfortune of ending up on our backsides.

About 1.5 miles out of the subway, there are some very distinct dinosaur tracks on large blocks of light grey mudstone located about 15 feet to the right of the river. They are hard to miss unless you are hiking with your head down trying to keep your footing in the water.

By this time the canyon walls have opened up. About 1 mile from the dinosaur tracks is the exit back to “Left Fork Trailhead” as marked on the signs. The ascent north is difficult, especially after the long hike negotiating obstacles and slickrock. Fortunately it is only about .1 of a mile and covers 400 vertical feet.

Once to the top, it is another .5 mile stroll to the parking lot. There are a few little trails that break off. For the most part, if you just stay on the main trail, which is to the left, you’ll make it back.

We made it back to the parking lot at 4:45 – an 8 hour 40 minute adventure. We hiked at a very slow pace, took tons of pictures and had many rest stops so the actual time for most people would probably be about 1 hour less than that.

MORE PICS:

Angels Landing at Sunset

I had originally planned to hike Angels Landing after work and be on the top at 8:00 to view the sunset. I ended up getting a late start and was worried that I would quickly run out of daylight -and miss the sunset.
I entered the park at 7:00, parked at canyon junction, and reached the Grotto area at about 7:15. So, having not gone on a hike in . . . well, quite a while, anyway, I knew I was going to be hard pressed to make it by dark, let alone by 8:00.

I started up the trail head at 7:16, taking in the beauty while walking at a considerable pace. I wondered what the few people heading down were thinking about me as I passed them on the way up as the sun was quickly going down. I finally made it to Scout Lookout at 7:45 - covering 2 miles of pretty extreme up hill in 30 minutes.

The climbing section, covering the final .5 miles of the hike, was a grueling experience. My legs were tired from the Walter's Wiggles portion I flew up. But at last I made it to the top at 8:03 - 47 minutes to the top, but still 3 minutes late!

As I was on top, I took a picture of what was left of the sunset. There was also a lot of cloud cover, which lessened the sunset's effect. The time on top was spent remembering a previous hike to Angels Landing and feeling certain connections. . .I waited for a few minutes, then decided I better head back down before it got too dark.

The climbing portion on the way down was difficult in the twilight. And once in Refrigerator Canyon, it became extremely hard to see the trail and especially any bumps there might be. Fortunately, I brought my fanny pack which has a flashlight in it.

I made it back down to the tram stop at 8:49, just 1 hour and 33 minutes from when I started.

Angels Landing will forever hold a special place in my heart.

Kanarra Creek 3 Aug 2009

After trying to get a permit for the Subway in Zion National Park to no avail, some friends and I decided to try another slot canyon, just north of Kolob Canyons. Besides the Narrows, this would be my first attempt at canyoneering, albeit a tame one. Bruce Summerhayes, Nick McKinlay and I met at the gas station by exit 16 in Hurricane at 9:00. We quickly hopped in Nick’s truck and were on our way. We took exit 41 and headed north toward Kanarraville for a couple of miles. One in the small town we found 100 North, took a right, and followed the road for a short distance until in turned to dirt. We saw a gate with a sign indicating that parking for the hike was back in town. There was an obvious parking area just off to the left before reaching the gate so we pulled in there and were on our way at about 10:00.
The trail starts by passing through the gate and hiking towards the water tanks. Once past the tanks the trail descends into Kanarra Creek Canyon. Soon the creek is visible to the right and the trail enters the creek after about .5 of a mile.
For most of the hike, there are short trails to avert the water if you so desire. Because the water was usually only a few inches deep, it wasn’t too much harder to just stay in the creek. Soon after we entered the creek and the cliffs started closing in, my GPS unit lost reception.
The water was cold and my feet soon began to ache and became numb shortly thereafter. As we entered the "narrows" the high water marks were visible in places and it was a reminder to us that this was not the place to be in a flood. We also noticed one of the old ladders (used for assistance in climbing the two waterfalls) that had apparently been washed down stream during a flood.
We came to the first of two obstacles – about a 10 foot waterfall. At the time we hiked it, there was a makeshift ladder with wooden rungs nailed into it with a short section of metal also for two footholds. There was also a rope hanging off to the right for balance, I guess. All in all, a pretty easy obstacle to get up, assuming that you are placing your feet in the center of the wooden rungs and not on the edges where they would twist a little.
Once up, the canyon walls are still just feet apart. About half way in between the first and second waterfalls, there is a little pool with a natural water slide going down into it. Bruce decided he would slide down on our way back.
We continued on and came to the second waterfall. This one was a little more challenging to get up. The water from the waterfall was poring down on the ladder portion, which was only about 4 feet high. The pool of water by the bottom of the ladder was also one of the deeper pools we encountered. The ropes attached to the right side of the wall came in handy here. Once to the top of the ladder, I grabbed the rope and hand over hand climbed as I carefully placed my feet on wet rock where the water from the water fall was coming down. It was a short hand over hand but with the slippery rock, made it a bit more challenging.
After the second waterfall, there is a short section of narrows and then the canyon starts to open up a bit with much more vegetation than had been present earlier. We hiked for about another 1-2 miles up stream and finally decided to stop, eat our snacks, and turn around and head back.
Retracing our steps was easy and quick. Our feet had also warmed up by this point. But the exciting part on the way back was watching Bruce go down the "water slide." The pool at the bottom was only about 5 feet deep, and Bruce swears he saw icebergs floating in it. At least I was cold watching him!
We made it back to the truck about 1:00 after hiking for about 3 hours. I would guess that we hiked about 5 miles round trip, though my GPS unit showed about 2.8. It was out of reception range for a majority of the hike. Kanarra Creek was a very beautiful hike, similar to the Narrows in Zion National Park, but with much tighter sections of narrows and with a couple of waterfalls that needed negotiating making it a little more interesting.

Signal Peak, elev 10,365' July 2009

The first real hike of the year! Since we’ve moved to Southern Utah, I have only been on a handful of hikes – a day hike in the Grand Canyon and Angels Landing at the end of last year, and Mollies Nipple 3 times this year (a short hike with only about 1200 feet elevation gain). So needless to say, I was in poor hiking shape, but overly anxious to get out there.
I tried to find my topo software to download to my GPS but it has been misplaced in the 2 moves we’ve had in the last year. So I was going blind into a mountain range I had never set foot it – a great situation for someone who gets lost in a bathroom. . . I did have a hard copy of a map of the Pine Mountain Wilderness, so I did have something to refer to.
I got on the road at about 8:00 and took I15 north to exit 23 in Leeds. Then you head west on Silver Reef Road for about 8.6 miles until you reach the Oak Grove Camp Ground. While on the unpaved Silver Reef Road, you’ll encounter a fork in the road after about 3 miles. The left fork heads to St. George so stay right! Once to the camp ground there is a small parking area off to the right side of the road after passing a couple of camp grounds.
The Trail Head is well marked and is even visible from the road. I parked, used the rest room and headed up the trail at about 8:55. The sign indicates that it is 3 miles to the summit trail.
After ½ a mile, a sign marks the Pine Valley Wilderness. The first 3 miles to the summit trail are at a fairly steep grade and I was a little concerned when I started feeling it in my legs much sooner than normal. At about 9800 feet I reached the top of the ridge I had been looking at in agony for the past couple of miles, only to see the trail descend the other side – a frustrating thing for me, to lose elevation I had just gained.
I should mention that the trail for the first 3 miles was well defined and easy to follow, but after dropping over the ridge at 9800 feet, it became a little harder to follow in places. There were a few sporadic cairns to help but I did have to use some route finding to get back to the trail.
At about 9600 feet I saw a sign that was facing the other way. As I walked around to see what was on it, it pointed to Further Water off to my left and Whipple Camp Ground, I think, to the right. I knew I needed to go to Further Water, so I made a left.
I soon made my way to Deer Flat, 2 pretty meadows surrounded by pines in all directions. Once out of the meadow, the trail began climbing again at a gentle pace. After about another mile I came to Further Water. I had to cross a small stream, running from the spring at Further Water. This was an even bigger meadow that Deer Flat and very pretty too with a small stream running down the left side of the trail for a while.
Once through Further Water, the trail climbs rather steeply for a little bit. After a few hundred yards, a series of cairns are staggered along the fairly well defined trail. Near the cairns, there is a small wash. This is a good spot to leave the trail at about 9950 feet and begin bushwhacking off t the left to the summit.
Unfortunately, I didn’t realize this at the time and hiked for about another mile to the base of Burger Peak. I knew I was in the wrong place because there was a cliff band off to my left which I could easily find on the map. So I turned around and went back to the base of Signal Peak and started the bushwhack.
It was a fairly tame bushwhack with not many obstacles in the way other than the occasional fallen tree or patch of vegetation. I reached the summit at about 1:00. I first came to a large cairn which I assumed was the summit, but after exploring a little, I found a slightly higher location and two registers contained in glass jars covered with tin cans.
I signed the register, took some pictures and headed back down. I had already eaten my snack on the way up (further indicating to me how out of shape I was since normally I eat on the summit if at all). The summit was slightly disappointing because all the pine trees obscured most of the views.
On the way down, I startled a deer who, in return, did the same to me. The final 3 miles were brutal and I thought they would never end! Ascending them was much easier for me then descending them. I reached my Pathfinder at about 2:50, out of water and ready to soak in a warm bath!
The total hike took me about 6hrs and 4mins, was 10.7 miles and had an elevation gain of 4718 feet. The mileage and time are a little skewed because of my little excursion out of the way.

Kings Peak, elev 13,528' July 2008

My preparations for Kings peak started weeks before actually leaving for the Hike. I wanted to make sure I knew where I was going and that I had the proper gear once I got there. Shelby had a great time helping me get ready!
I originally planned to go with two other co-workers, but they both backed out so I was left on my own, which had it’s advantages and disadvantages. The advantages being that I would be able to go at my own pace and on my own schedule, but the disadvantages being obviously if something went wrong, I was on my own for 3 days. Also, my imagination always likes to play tricks on me when I’m on my own in Bear and Mountain lion country.
There are two main ways to get to the Henry’s Fork Campground, where I decided to start my hike. The way I went in took me through the town of Lonetree, Wyoming and the way I took home was a different way through the town of Robertson. In the future, I will take the Robertson route both ways as the road is much better maintained than the Lonetree route road is.
The forecast called for thunderstorms Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, the three days I had set aside for my adventure. So I was sure I was going to get wet, I just hope it wasn’t going to be a "shocking" experience as well. If I could avoid the lightning, I knew I’d be ok.
I arrived at the trail head parking lot at 4:10pm on Monday after leaving work in Lehi, Utah at about 1:10pm. After getting my gear ready and using the restroom there, I got started on the trail at about 4:30pm. My plan was to hike into Dollar Lake which I read was about 7 miles in.
The first five or so miles of the hike follows the Henry Fork River on its west side through many lush pine trees. After about 2 miles I saw the sign for Alligator Lake and the trail which breaks off to the right. After about 5 miles I came to the sign for Elkhorn Crossing, the lone crossing of the Henry’s Fork River. The sign indicates that you have 2 options: you can follow the trail left and use the foot bridge, or you can continue straight and ford the river.
I decided to use the foot bridge to cross since my shoulders were already feeling the effects of my 38 pound bag. Soon after crossing the river, I was able to see the mountains at the head of the Henry’s Fork basin as the pine forest gave way to huge meadows. Not long after that I had my first view of Kings Peak. The trail still followed the river, this time on its east side for about another mile. At one point the trail became a muddy mess from the many streams draining the snow melt off and I had to hike through some thick brush to avoid getting my feet soaked and muddy.
After about 7 miles I came to a sign describing the rules about camping around Dollar lake, similar to the one I had seen previously for Alligator Lake. But this time there was no trail leading up to the lake. So I kept hiking for another half a mile until it became apparent to me that I had already passed the Lake. At about 7:40pm I found a good clump of trees that had been used previously as a camp site on the right (west) side of the trail that I thought I would use.
It felt good to finally get that heavy pack off my shoulders! After setting up camp I looked around and saw many rivers and meadows below to the west. I took a quick stroll up the small incline to the east of my camp site to look for a lake (maybe even Dollar Lake) to filter some water. I came to a small lake which looked like a perfect water supply for me. As I came to the lake I noticed a Doe and two fawn just on the other side. I snapped a couple of pictures and then filtered some water.
Once back at camp I sprayed my self with some bug spray to keep all the mosquitoes off of me and ate a beef ravioli MRE. By this time it was after 8:00 and the sun was going down. I decided to look around a bit and re-read what was in store for me the next day.
I had decided to get up at first light so I could get an early start and beat the possible thunderstorms the next day. Plus, I never seem to sleep too well on a camping trip so I didn’t think it would be a problem. What I didn’t anticipate was that the full moon was so bright, that I woke up at one point just after 11:00pm and thought it was time to get up until I looked at my watch. The wind blew all night and it sprinkled a little, but not enough for the ground to show signs of it when I got out of the tent the next morning.
At 6:01 I woke up, ate the remnants of my MRE the previous night (some apple sauce and crackers) and got on my way about 6:30. I read a couple of other trip reports about a short cut from Gunsight Pass to Anderson Pass which alleviates all of the elevation loss that the main trail looses going into Painter Basin. But I decided against it since the trip reports cautioned that although it saves about 2 miles and elevation loss, the trail isn’t marked as well and it is a bit more dangerous.
Getting ahead of my self a little to settle which route is more advantageous, while on the summit I talked to a hiker who I saw start hiking right behind me with his brother. They decided to take the "short cut" (which explained to me why I didn’t see them anymore when I would look back after Gunsight Pass). I arrived to the summit about 5 minutes before the first brother, Oren, and passed the other brother who was still ascending on my way down. So I recommend the standard route, which looses about 500 feet of elevation and is about 2 miles longer, because it is easier and takes the same amount of time.
Anyway, back to the report, the trail is easy to follow to Gunsight Pass. Once to the base of the pass, the trail turns right and switches back up to the pass. It took a long switch back at first – so long, I wondered if maybe what I had assumed to be Gunsight Pass, wasn’t really the pass. Once near the top of the pass, I noticed a less defined trail that went straight up the drainage from the top of Gunsight Pass that didn’t look too difficult and would save a lot of time. I thought I would try to take it on the way down.
Once over the pass, there are three trails to choose from. The faint trail to the right is the "short cut," and the two more defined ones in the middle and to the left meet up about 60 yards down from the pass (one is a switch back and the other is more of a straight down hill trail). This is where frustration set in as I lost about 500 feet of the elevation that I had just gained. But Painter Basin is very beautiful with many little lakes that dot the vividly green meadows. At one point the trail split again, with the left fork heading further into Painter Basin while the right fork headed more around the mountain, which is where I knew I needed to go to get to Kings Peak.
Once around the unnamed peak, I started ascending a steep hill side. At this point I left the main trail because a big pocket of snow was in the way of where the trail went. But after hiking steeply up the hill, I easily found where the trail picked up again and followed it in a westerly direction toward Anderson Pass. At this time I passed 3 other hikers that must have gotten a really early start. They had also gotten off track in one of the snow banks so I helped them find the trail again and went on my way.
Once to Anderson Pass, I looked left toward Kings Peak and noticed that it was engulfed in dark clouds. It was a bit discouraging to see, but I hadn’t heard thunder yet, and it was only about 9:15 in the morning so I decided to keep going. From Anderson pass, if you just turn left (south-southeast) the remaining route is fairly obvious despite there not being a trail for most the rest of the way. It is just a matter of boulder hopping. I should have stashed my trekking poles at Anderson pass to free up my hands for climbing, but I was afraid they might not be there when I returned.
The frustrating feature of the final ridge ascent to Kings Peak is the number of false summits I came to. There were two or three false summits that would get my hopes up only to dash them once I saw a taller summit a few hundred yards away. On one of the false summits, I finally stashed my trekking poles which made the going a lot faster and easier. Fortunately, the dark clouds had lifted off of the summit, though many clouds were forming all around.
Just before the last false summit, I passed a family of 3 who apparently had been the first to summit that morning. They told me that I was almost there but that the summit I saw right in front of me was another false summit, but that the true summit was just behind it.
Finally at 10:05, I made it to the summit, the top of Utah! I had it to my self for about 5 minutes before Oren, the first brother who took the "short cut," made it to the top. He was from Florida but had already hiked all the Colorado "14ers" (14000 foot peaks in Colorado). I had him take some pictures of me and we talked for a little bit before I headed back down at 10:30.
I offered encouragement to a few hikers who were making their way up to the summit as I headed down. Again the worst part was losing elevation – getting down to 11,400 feet, knowing that I would have to get back to Gunsight Pass at 11,800 feet. As I got closer to Gunsight Pass, I noticed a number of animals just at the head of Painter Basin. As I got closer, I could tell they were sheep – I had read that they were allowed to graze freely in the basin. There were tons of them!
As I got to the top of Gunsight Pass, I remembered the less defined trail that went straight down the drainage, avoiding the long switchbacks I had used to ascend the Pass. I took the more direct route down. It was very tame compared to many of the steep hikes I’ve been on in the Wasatch range and I would definitely recommend it and take in both up and down in the future.
Once I was safely down the pass, I heard a loud crack of thunder from behind me – sort of near Kings Peak. I worried a bit for the many hikers I had passed on my way down as they were ascending the peak. I was still deciding if I wanted to spend another night in the Uinta’a or if I wanted to head back. The thunder and lightning got louder and louder and I could see now the storm clouds forming to the west.
I determined that if I stayed, I was going to get soaked, so I would try to pack up camp fast and make my way for the car. I arrived back in camp at about 1:15, started an MRE, quickly filtered some more water, and sprayed myself with some much needed insect repellent. I ate a really good beef patty, drank some water with drink mix and then started heading over to my tent to start taking it down.
I no sooner had the first pole out of the tent than the first rain drops started pelting me in the head. I hurried even faster to take it down before it got too wet. I put my sleeping bag in a water tight bag and strapped it, my tent, and mattress to my back pack and put it on. I actually draped my sweatshirt over my shoulders to cushion some of the weight from my pack, and it really helped.
As I left my camp sight at 2:13pm, the rain really started coming down and the lightning and thunder were still doing their thing over to the west. The rain probably added a few pounds to my pack, but I was determined to make it home that night.
The trip back seemed to take forever. I was beat! All the reports I read before I left said to make it a 3 to 4 day trip and I was beginning to see why. But the constant sound of extremely close thunder kept me at a good pace. I finally made it back to the car at 4:50 and started on the long trip back home. I even took a stranded hiker to Evanston so he could hitch hike back to his car on the Mirror Lake Highway.
I arrived back home at 8:02pm, just in time to see Shelby and tell her all about my trip before she went to bed.
Looking back on my trip a week after I completed it, I would love to spend a few days out there exploring and hiking Gilbert and South King’s Peaks – among the other 13,000ers. It was a rushed but relaxing trip. In total, my GPS registered 27.9 miles, but it was off (low batteries) for about 20 minutes so in reality it was probably about 28.5 miles round trip and my actual hiking time was 12 hours and 16 minutes. I averaged 2.3 miles per hour (rest stops included).