The Subway is a popular slot canyon in Zion because of its unique water-carved rock features and the moderate technical skill required to descend the canyon. A few short 10 to 30 foot rappels requires a 60 foot rope, a harness and an ATC. Many of the rappels can be downclimbed. The park limits the number of visitors per day by lottery. Due to the high number of applicants, I did not apply for the lottery. But on a whim, I checked the calendar one day for October 1, and there was an open permit, so I snagged it. Regardless, a large number of permits seem to be given out, and it's a good summer canyon due to the many opportunities to go for a swim.
We started the hike slightly ahead of a group of 12 people who kept screaming at each other at the top of their lungs. The noise continued for at least 90 minutes, unfortunately - even as we kept a brisk pace. This is why it's better to do canyons that require advanced technical skill - so you are not surrounded by idiots. Later on, when the group caught up to us, the (supposedly adult) group leader encouraged two teenagers to jump 20 feet into a 3 foot pool of water. One of them jumped, and remarkably did not get hurt.
The unusual rock formations during the hike to the Subway
We hiked for a couple of hours before it was time to put on a wetsuit. A steep but short descent down a gully ends at a pool of water where the swims begin. We encountered a short rappel, but then there are only two more, and the last 30' rap is at the end.
Various sights while passing through the canyon:
Mandatory swim
Slot swim video
Fun to push the water over the edge of the pool while wading through it
As a cold-natured person, the wetsuit was well worth bringing along!
Rappel down a waterfall
Walking through a slot
More slot action (and not the Vegas kind)
Fun rappel into a clear pool
Unusual and amazing rock formations.
At the end of the swimming sections we began the quarter mile long section that was tube-shaped, hence the name "The Subway". It's pretty easy to get through, technically speaking. Nice corridor with some tank-shaped pools of clear water. We ran into the park ranger here who checked our permits.
First portion of the Subway section
The famous "North Pole" log
This is looking down at the last rappel into the tanks. The pools were about 3' deep.
Final section of the Subway. Beautiful!
Exit from the Subway
At this point once we exited the Subway, it was safe to take off my wetsuit, put on dry clothes, and continue a two hour technical hike down a creek. It is fairly slow going as you must continually navigate through boulders and cross the running stream several times. A sign pointed us in the direction of the parking area, then we climbed 400' of elevation up a steep gully. The entire trip from start to finish took about 8 hours. Distance - probably 8 miles.
I was excited to win a permit in the lottery for Mystery Canyon in Zion National Park. According to Tom's Utah Canyon Guide, it is a popular favorite, but limited to a few permits per day. If you do this trip entirely on foot, you start at the Weeping Rock Trail, hike to the top, then East Mesa trail, descend the canyon, and drop into The Narrows and end at the Temple of Sinawava.
We started a little late due to the hour drive from Hurricane plus the half hour shuttle ride. We began hiking Weeping Rock at 8:45 am. The trail immediately starts uphill and climbs over 2000 feet in elevation in a couple of miles. We carried packs full of canyoneering gear, including two ropes, a wet suit, backcountry survival gear, food, water, cameras, harnesses, ATCs and other rappelling gear. After 3 miles or so, we arrived at Observation Point, which is the best scenic overlook in Zion NP. It provides a panoramic view of the canyon and is significantly higher than Angel's Landing which it overlooks.
The view from Observation Point
The view of Angel's Landing
After a 45 minute diversion, we hiked down the East Rim trail until we found the trailhead for the Death Gully to Mystery Canyon. We could see the canyon we would be descending from this overlook:
We slowly stepped down an exposed gully, holding onto trees and rocks as we descended. The descent took a long time- over an hour.
Careful descent of the Death Gully
I was very glad to get to the bottom. We started a few short (less than 20' rappels):
Next we approached Mystery Mountain, which has a beautiful pattern of ridges on what appears to be a giant mountain-sized boulder.
We continued trekking through the wash down large boulders and through deep pits of dry sand, with a few short rappels. We got stuck at one rappel which offered bolts that could only be accessed by traversing a deep slot requiring skillful stemming. Jason decided to free climb up the wall above (probably a 5.6 climb) instead and hang the rope from a tree above to use as an anchor. I tied into the rope with a figure 8 and swung the traverse, then he belayed me down another 20 feet before rappelling himself down. This delayed us a bit.
Stemming through narrow slots
Some photos while working through the dry rappels:
Slightly exposed anchors at left on a 30-40 foot rappel. Daisy chain is good for security while setting up rope in ATC.
Looking downwards off a rappel
Looking back into a narrow slot
Later we found some scenic rappels into a few slots and slowed down by taking photos of ourselves descending. We assumed we were almost done (mistakenly so) and did not push the pace.
A typical short rappel
The ranger had informed us there was a long swim and I kept wondering where this swim was going to appear. And finally the swim did appear. It was a large seasonal lake with dead logs and bark strewn across the top. Due to recent rains from the fallout of Hurricane Odile, more water than usual had been passing through the canyons. The lake was large, and reminded me of the movie "Neverending Story" where Atreyu had to slog across a muddy bog and ended up in deep muddy water. I zipped up my wetsuit and we put air in the dry bags to aid flotation. And then we slogged through the water as it became deeper, until I could not touch the bottom.
The canyon water temp is around 55 degrees - cold enough to raise your breathing rate. I used various floating logs for rest breaks.
Finally I swam to the end of the water, exiting like a jubilant swamp creature, and climbed up a steep rocky slope to a field of bright white sandstone boulders radiating the sun's heat. This is where I took my wetsuit off (not a good decision, I found out later on). I thought we were done with swimming.
Climbing to the top of the hill after the seasonal lake- I loved the white Navajo sandstone wall that appeared.
Welcomed sunshine after the lake swim
We continued down canyon to a 50' rappel and then found a short 20' rappel that ended in a pool of water. How deep? Couldn't tell. Looked too deep to touch. I decided not to put on the wet wetsuit again. We were running out of time as it was after 6 pm and it would take 15 minutes to shimmy back into it. I bargained and bargained - surely there is a way around it? Can I use the rope and walk across the side? No, too steep. Can I drop underneath the rocks and pull the rope from behind while standing above the water? Nope. As the last person down, I swam across the pool holding the rope and pulling it off the anchors as I got to the other side. My clothes were no longer dry - so it was important for us to keep moving and stay warm - the rest of the canyon was not going to offer any sunlight.
We continued down canyon to the second to last rappel, a 110' and the first one we did on a single rope.
Looking towards the 2nd to last rappel
At this point I was sure we were going to miss the last shuttle bus back at 7:30 pm to the Zion Visitor Center. It was getting dark at 6:45 pm with sunset at 7:15 pm. With an exposed anchor requiring a daisy chain to attach to the bolts to set up the ATC, I was worried I could not keep enough friction with the ATC. And I was shivering from being wet and cold. But the rap went well and my ATC and the wet, sandy rope held plenty of friction on the way down to another deep pool at the bottom where Jason pulled the rope laterally to help me avoid another swim. We had a little difficulty pulling the rope at this one, but he gave it a few very hard tugs and it finally fell down.
Fortunately it was a short trek to the final rappel at Mystery Falls into Zion Narrows. The 120' rappel follows the waterfall to the bottom, which meant we were to get a soaking on the way down.
When I looked over the edge, the usually crowded Narrows was completely deserted. Which means we were going to be walking back in the dark, another 7 to 8 miles if we could not hitch a ride somewhere on the park road.
The last rap went smoothly (literally - the canyon wall was slimy, and my feet kept slipping off).
Once we were at the bottom, we rejoiced that we would not be spending the night stuck in the canyon. We had finished the last obstacle, and the only thing between us and the car was a lot of walking on foot.
Zion Narrows at Mystery Falls, eerily empty at dusk
A different party (on a different day) rapping Mystery Falls
Mystery Falls the following day
As it was getting dark in the Narrows, we quickly packed up the ropes and gear, and I put on a base layer over a wet sports bra and then my dry fleece pullover and hat. As we started walking briskly, I began to warm up, except for my feet in wet shoes. Once we got to the park road, there was no sign of human activity and the sky was completely dark. I turned on my headlamp. We started walking down the park road. I was still cold, so I started running a military style slow trot. I had been wearing the pack for over 12 hours, and my back was hurting, and the bouncing motion resulted in less back pain than walking.
After a mile or so, I saw a cat like creature in a tree with eyes staring back at me. I stomped and made noise and it continued to stare at me. Nothing I did would make the creature move, so I finally decided to continue jogging on. Probably a raccoon? Later I saw several pairs of eyes - those were a herd of deer. The eyes creeped me out. I wouldn't have seen them if it weren't for my headlamp.
I turned off my headlamp, and looked upward. The half-moon bathed the canyon walls with light, and the sky was speckled with thousands of stars. I stopped running. I stopped walking. I stood there with my face pointed up to the sky and took in the most breathtaking and unanticipated sight of the entire trip.
After 3 miles or so we ended up at a shuttle stop (The Grotto) where other stranded tourists were waiting. One of them had called the park ranger. The ranger took a stranded climber back to get their truck and we caught a ride with the driver back to the visitors center. At that point it was 9:30 pm and we found an Asian restaurant still open in Springdale (Thai Sapa) where I had an amazing chicken panang. I was ravenous!
Total time on foot: 12 hours, total distance 13-14 miles.
I have discovered that I greatly enjoy meticulous planning of adventure style vacations. I do not want to hire a guide; I want the DIY variety with an intimate set of person(s). I love doing the research, reading other trip reports, combing through photos, buying the gear, and dreaming of the day - until the day finally comes. But many times the most memorable qualities of a day show up as an unplanned bonus. For Mystery Canyon, we weren't expecting to experience our virgin drop into the Narrows all to ourselves; we weren't expecting to walk out in the middle of the deserted park road on a brightly moonlit and starry night, after 12 hours of carrying our packs on foot. I found an extra burst of energy from the primal instinct to survive. It is that kind of digging deep that brings you to a state of mind that you don't experience often. I loved this epic adventure. I'll never forget it!
My gear:
Waterproof wrist watch. Don't depend on electronics for time keeping. Even if they do work - you waste time by digging them out of a dry bag.
Marmot Drakon 35 pack - Comfortable climbing pack with duffel-style middle zipper and top lid zipper. Can attach rope to exterior.
Sealline Baja dry bags - thick walled and sturdy
Salewa Wildfire approach shoes - they have no leather, so they're good for getting wet. Soles were sticky and held traction. I was able to run in them like trail running shoes. IMO a good alternative to 5.10 Canyoneers which looked bulky and not multi-purpose.
Deep See 3 mm full wetsuit
Black Diamond ATC XP - not the lightest ATC on the market but I prefer not to skimp on friction.
Metolius Ultimate Daisy Chain - my life depends on this piece of equipment, over and over again.
Petzl Tikka head lamp - becomes very important if you finish after sunset.
Screwgate Caribiner - Sand mucks everything up, but washing out the biner cleared out the sand from the screwgate.
Synthetic clothing that dries quickly.
Camelbak bladder, because it wastes time to stop and drink from bottles.
Climbing helmet - I did have to dodge a few falling rocks and was glad to have the head protection (and GoPro mount)
Nitrile dipped work gloves - found at any hardware store. They add friction when stemming walls and rappelling
Sawyer Mini water filter, Adventure Medical Kits Doug Ritter Pocket Survival Pack, emergency mylar blanket - I did not have to use these, but they would have been life savers.
