Hiking to The Subway

I have to admit that I was preparing myself to be disappointed by Zion.  Of course, it has so many beautiful and interesting spots, from mountain peaks to narrow, water-filled gorges, but it also has lots of crowds, a mandatory bus system, and the canyon itself faces in a direction that makes the lighting for photographs difficult for much of the year.  All that said, no Utah park loop would be complete without a visit to Zion, so I tried to go into my time there with an open mind.

Zion has a few hikes that are must-dos for any outdoor enthusiast:  Angel's Landing, the Narrows, and The Subway.  After having done Angel's Landing on my first day there, I had started to change my opinion of Zion and was pumped to see more of what the park had to offer.  Stopping by the Visitor Center, I was excited to learn that the following day had plenty of permits available for the "bottom-up" Subway hike.  I chose The Subway over the Narrows thinking that there would be fewer people on the hike, making photography easier.

Permit in hand, the next stop was to get some water gear since much of this hike is around and through a creek.  Zion Guru outfitted me with dry pants, neoprene socks, water shoes, and a dry bag for my camera gear.

On the advice of other photography websites, I arrived at the trailhead for the hike at sunrise.  This would help ensure both that I would get to photograph the waterfalls on the trail before the sun hit the canyon floor and that I would get to The Subway before other hikers with time to shoot some long exposures.

The first part of the hike included a steep descent down the side of a canyon to the creek below.  It wasn't nearly as bad as some had described, but it did kick my butt on the way out, tired from the 8 miles that I already had hiked.  The majority of the hike was on the side of and sometimes through the Left Fork North Creek.  At times, there were multiple trail options visible.  At other times, there wasn't a clear path discernible.  Although not totally necessary, I was glad to have the dry pants since they allowed me to plow right through the water whenever it seemed to be the path of least resistance. 

Several miles into the hike, the trail passes over several cascades of different sizes.  None is very tall, but a couple were wide ledges with a number of possible compositions.  Up to this point, I was pretty sure I was the first hiker on the trail, but stopping at one of the cascades for some shots, I was passed by two other hikers and two more were right behind me. 

Although I had seen so many photos of The Subway, reaching it and seeing it in person was nothing short of amazing and I felt like I had earned the view after the hike.  It turned out that the other hikers not only were friendly, but were interested in my photography and did their best not to get into my frame as they did their own exploring.  I stayed in the tunnel for about 45 minutes trying out as many compositions as I could before other hikers started showing up. 

Hiking back the way I came was tiring, but my excitement from all of the beautiful scenery (and the hot tub that would greet me back in Springdale) kept me going at a brisk pace. 

Yep, I was wrong - Zion was pretty great and I've become a fan.