One of the things I was most looking forward to on this Southwest Roadtrip was hiking The Subway in Zion. I’d seen so many stunning images from people who have been there and wanted a chance to photograph it myself. So we got a backcountry permit and started our hike around 11:30am. We rented some awesome canyoning shoes from Zion Adventure Company, which are perfect for hiking through water because they drain it out pretty fast, plus they have great grip on wet rocks. My worst nightmare would be slipping on wet rocks and damaging my photo gear, so this was an absolute must for me. And GOOD CALL – much of the hike was spent crossing the stream back and forth, sometimes up to our knees. The shoes made it so much fun! I felt almost invincible wearing them, as if they would ensure my (and my camera gear’s) safety for the day.

The hike itself was LONG, but it was a really nice day thankfully. It was so much hiking over rocks, rather than a forged path, so my feet were destroyed at the end of it – I’m talking blisters, swollen toes, the works! By far the worst part was hiking back out of the canyon. It was very steep and very tiring. I consider myself to be very fit and active in my daily life, but this was no walk in the park.

I have mixed feelings about this hike now that it’s said and done. It feels good to have completed it, but I wish we had seen more of Zion itself during our time there. We would have, had we not been sick the next morning – I think if we had, I’d feel ok about spending a full day doing this canyon hike. But when we finally reached the so-called subway, I couldn’t help but feel underwhelmed. I KNOW it’s an amazing place, but I don’t know, maybe I’m jaded after seeing so many other jaw-droppingly stunning places in the world. (If that’s the case, then that really sucks). The main thing is that I don’t think we went far enough in the hike. I think we stopped near the subway entrance, but didn’t actually go into it. I didn’t know you could! I didn’t have my detailed directions/notes with me because I lost all my printouts in transit somewhere between Newark and Las Vegas, otherwise I would have known to keep going. So when we got to our hotel that night and I checked the trail notes and those photos I’d been inspired by beforehand, I realized that all of those emerald pools and waterfalls were probably just around the corner from where we stopped. I was really upset when I found out, but uh… about a half hour later I got hit with some random stomach bug so I didn’t have much time to dwell on it. *sigh*