I’ve seen some photos from last weekend that showed near peak colors in the Subway - they are probably past peak in the higher country, but I would still expect good color in the lower elevations.

Have fun!

Ron

I think it took us about 2 hours each way, but we pushed hard. There isn’t much of a trail, so you will lose some time route finding. It was slow going for only 4.5 miles. I finally pulled out my GPS because I couldn’t believe we weren’t there already given how hard we are going, but we hadn’t - it is just a long hike.

Once you enter the Subway, you can’t go very far unless someone is there climbing down from above and offers their ropes - I hear that happens. You basically enter and wrap around a bend to your left and then run into a steep rock wall, I bet it is only a 100 yards or so. I am standing about as far as you can go when I captured the above photo, and the light you see is coming in the entrance.

Be careful carrying your camera around, the floor is really slick.

You are going to have fun, it is an amazing place!

Awesome photo!

Thank you very much for your nice write-up of the Subway! I’m doing it in a few days, and have been reading everything about the hike. I will be doing the “bottom up” portion of it like yourself.

Do you remember about how long it took you to actually hike to the entrance to the Subway? Once inside, how much further did you go before you had to turn back?

Any tips are greatly appreciated!

Best,

-Frank

Must have been a really fun time though. Thanks for the photo info, it seems pretty straightforward. Congratulations on a successful trip and on a wonderful shot!

Take care Ron,
Kristy

This was taken this past October 31st. It seemed like a pretty good time of year. It was a little chilly in the morning, I think I wore pants with zipper legs. I know I was down to shorts for the hike out. The water didn’t seem too cold, and you are not in it very long.

Nothing special otherwise. This was shot at ISO 200, f/22 and 30 seconds. Needless to say you will need a tripod.

Hope that helps,

Ron

What a FANTASTIC photo! The Subway is one of my must-do-places to photograph! I’m wondering if you might reveal to us any extra photo tips on how to take this shot (the exif data, any special filters used, anything you might have done differently, etc.)? What month was your visit and do you remember the water temp? I would love to plan a trip for this year and I would be most grateful for any advice!

Thanks so much,
Kristy

I think you would love this place! We have been here two weeks, and now my list of places to see here is longer then when I got here!

I believe in the middle of summer you need to hit the Subway a little before or after mid-day to avoid getting direct sunlight into the canyon.

This was a little before mid-day (11:00), and I think that is a great time for this time of year because the sun is hitting the far walls of the canyon outside the Subway. This provides that nice warm glow of reflected light into the canyon. It is so dark in there, all you want is some reflected light at the entrance, direct light it too bright.

Ron

Now I’m getting the real story!

We are doing the Narrows today - I’m really looking forward to it.

Ron

Gary C. ate too many nachos the night before we were going to hike to the Subway last year. So we didn’t make the hike.

Looking forward to your Narrows & Watchman photos.

Michael

Next time rent the dry pants - they are way more comfortable then the wetsuit. Now you have something to look forward to!

Ron

Janine

Thanks Richard, that light was reflecting in really nice.

You don’t need any fancy equipment - you can rent the shoes from Zion Adventures, and really you could even wear just running shoes, they are going to get wet and may be slick, but they would get you there. Those pools are really deep, probably over my head, but you can get in there without having water any more then ankle deep - I didn’t do anything special with my camera, I just put it in a small pack. It is just a long walk!

Ron