It looks absolutely amazing! And it is even more stunning in real life. So we won the lottery and got the permit to go this incredible hike in Zion National Park. There are two ways to get to the subway, the top-down and the bottom-up. The top-down route is strenuous 9.5-mile hike that requires rappelling skills, 60 feet of rope and extensive route finding experience, as well as swimming through several deep pools of very cold debris-filled water. The bottom-up route is also a strenuous hike, but non-technical. It is a 9-mile round-trip hike that requires route finding, creek crossing and scrambling over boulders.
We chose the bottom-up route because we do not have a lot of canyoneering experience. The hike begins at the left fork trailhead. We picked up the permit and got to the trailhead at around 9am. We packed a lot of water, energy bars, some fruits, and READY TO ROLL!!!! Guess what? We got lost! HAHAHAHA! Wasted more than an hour to find the right way!!! For those who might get lost like us, here's how to get there!!!! You follow the trail for about 10 minutes, and then you will see a split, one road keeps going forward, the other makes like a sharp U-turn. FOLLOW THE U-TURN! Then, keep walking for about 10 minutes, you should see a road with some stairs on your right, FOLLOW THE STAIRS! Keep walking, and you will eventually see a sign "entering zion wilderness". Then, you will be sort of on a cliff looking over the creek, follow the trails down the cliff (it is pretty steep) until you reach the very bottom. Once you hit the bottom, you will see another sign "left fork trailhead ->", that's the sign to help you recognize the turn when you come back. Turn left and follow the creek to the end and you will see the infamous SUBWAY!
On our drive to the zion last night, we saw a lot of lightning and we were very worried that the weather is not going to be good today. There are warnings of possible flashfloods from the thunderstorm, but the weather is nice. It is slightly overcast, but it is a nice hiking weather. On the way to the subway, you will have to get your feet wet sooner or later. There are high grounds that you can walk besides the creek, but at some point, you will have to walk across the creek or follow the creek for a while. We saw a lot of dragonflies, tadpoles, etc. Closer and closer to the subway, you will start to see little cascade falls, and it was beautiful. Right before the entrance of the subway, you will see the largest cascade falls, and you will have to walk up the steps to the entrance. It was SOOOOOOOOOOOO BEAUTIFUL. At last, you will see the subway!!!! And if you keep going a little further, which requires going into some deep pools of water, there is a small little waterfall at the end. We were taking our time when we were heading there, and when we finally arrived, the thunderstorm arrived too. It started raining! And you can hear the thunder. We were worried about flashfloods, so we decided to hurry back! We made it back in 3 hours, and we were SOAKED (Thank God I brought my dry bag for the camera). When we arrived at the parking lot, our car is the only car left. We were exhausted, but the scenery is spectacular and it was FUN!
Picture below is the subway, and just want to show you how magnificent it is when there's a person in the picture!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We didn't want to leave right away the next day. So, we did another trail, the angels landing! This is the second time I do this hike, but the first time, we didn't go all the way to the end because we had crappy shoes, and they were way too slippery for cliffs. I was very excited that we finally made it to the top this time! This trail is only 2.5 mile one way, and the first 2 miles are paved, but very uphill! The last 0.5 mile did not feel like 0.5 mile AT ALL, and it is on a narrow sandstone ridge the whole time, with anchored support chains attached along most of the sections. Total elevation gain is almost 1500 feet. When you get to the top, it's all worth it. The 360 view of the canyons <3 Love it. There are still more trails in the zion that we haven't gone, and we will definitely come back for them!
