Hiking the Subway

One of the last weekends in May, Mark and I took a long awaited trip, without the kids, to Zion National Park in order to hike the Subway canyon.  Mark usually gets down to Zion for a canyoneering trip at least once a year, but because of the kids I haven't been able to go with him.  It worked out this year that the boys are old enough to leave with someone else, and Mark's canyoneering neighbor friend got a permit for the Subway and invited us along!  Mark's parents were so nice to watch Brian and Timmy for two nights and a day.  I am grateful to them for making it possible for me to go.

We got to invite some people to go with us, making it a fun Subway hiking party.  Mark's little brother Luke and his fiance Sunny came, as well as our good friends Kevin and Kimbra.  Wade, the friend who got the permit, had some of his family and friends come as well, so overall we had a group of 12 hikers, which is the maximum number of people for our permit.  We took our van down with Luke, Sunny, Kimbra and Kevin.  We had so much fun even though it was a quick trip!  We left Friday night, stayed in a cheap motel that night and drove home Saturday night after the hike.

On Saturday morning after meeting the other group members and shuttling cars, we were finally ready to begin!

On the hike in to the canyon, Mark pointed out that some of the pine trees smell like strawberries.  We all had to smell for ourselves and we concluded that they do smell a bit fruity.

It looks like we are kissing the trees.

One thing I loved about this hike is the diversity of scenery.  There was everything from trees and grand beautiful views to tiny dark slot canyon views.

The descent down into the canyon was incredibly steep and very cool.

We did a quick walk down a huge rock with the help of a rope. . .

 . . .and then came the first swim.  That's our pack horse, Luke, making the swim.  He carried all our extra heavy gear and food!

There is a hole in the sandstone that is under water that Mark decided to swim through.  Here is a picture where he is under water going through the hole.

This is him coming up.

The canyon gets narrow and deep with some tricky obstacles and and long cold swims!

There goes Kimbra through one of the longer deeper swims!

It was so fun and exciting to make our way through the slots.  However, the weather was a little chilly for swimming in that cold water.  We got cold, so cold I couldn't stop shaking.  As a reminder to myself, next time I will be taking a windbreaker jacket in my pack to put on after the swims.  Kimbra and I were so cold we couldn't even stand up straight here.

At first glance this looks like just a picture of the canyon.  Look closely to find Mark ready to jump for a second time off the cliff into the canyon pool below.  We all concluded that he's nuts to brave that water a second time for fun!

Here are Mark and Wade, our fearless leaders.  They have a great system for getting a whole group of newbies through a canyon like this.  They have done these canyons together many times and they work so well together.  It is almost like they read each others thoughts.  Mark usually stays at the top of the rappel to help everyone get started and Wade usually goes to the bottom to help them all get down.  I wish I had a better picture of Wade.  No one would believe that he is in his 60s.  He can out hike and out climb anyone, but he's so patient and makes sure everyone is safe and happy.

I love that Mark's just sitting in the middle of the river in this picture.

I love this picture of Luke and Sunny.  I'm so happy to have Sunny join the Hsiao family!  She is such a fun and adventurous friend (soon to be sister)!  I can't wait for their wedding in a few weeks!

There is no argument that this canyon is one of the most spectacular places I have been.  It was a great experience and would not have happened without this incredible guy! I'm so grateful for Mark and the work he does and the expertise that he has, which make it possible to do things like this.

I'm also grateful to have these wonderful friends in our lives!  Kimbra and Kevin make life so fun and I'm so glad they came with us!


Mark and Kevin crack me up.  Just look at them - best friends forever.

And I had to get a picture of Mark's signature move.  We've got one on the Great Wall, why not in the Subway?

Before we started the trip we all chuckled a little at Mark when he told us his favorite thing to bring to eat is salami, gourmet cheese and baguette slices.  Boy did he prove us to be the ones to be laughed at with our measly granola bars and trail mix.  His food really was the best thing to have on a long hike like that.  He was so nice to share his delicious salami, cheese and bread with everyone.  We ate it all up so fast!  Here he is handing out the smorgasbord.

The hike out was about as steep and longer than the hike into the canyon, but the great thing about it was that it warmed us right up!  That was a welcome change to the uncontrollable shivers I had earlier.

Adventures in Southern Utah are always fun, but this one was truly epic.  Thank you Mark for one of the most enjoyable and memorable experiences of my life!

To top off a great adventure, we arrived at Mark's parent's house to find the boys sound asleep.  Apparently they were good boys and had a blast sleeping over at Nai Nai and Ye Ye's house without mom and dad.  They didn't miss us one bit.