We left Thursday morning and drove to Cedar City, Utah where we met good friends and dined with them. At one time, they lived in Orange County and we became friends through church. They moved back to Cedar to a couple years ago, but come to visit regularly to visit friends, keep work contacts and to stock up on all things Trader Joe's.
We drove up USR 14, along windy road that travels to the tops the Navajo Sandstone strata. Quaking aspen, lodge pole pine and grassy meadows line the road. When the cliffs open up, the views are of Escalante and Bryce and the surrounding grandeur which is Southern Utah.
After Duck Creek, we turned onto a dirt road, that wrapped around a semi-developed forest. Cabins of varying price points could be seen through the trees, some sweet, little houses, others massive log cabins. Some friends of ours own a beautiful cabin in the trees. They were kind to let us come stay a couple nights with them. We arrived fairly late, much later than we had anticipated. We stayed up briefly to pack our things to be ready for the next morning. When I finally crawled into bed, my hip was killing and played sentinel against any invading sleep. After 2 hours, I woke and could not get back to sleep, which made for a long night.
Finally, we got up to travel into Laverkin to meet the rest of our group at the local market. There was the Shaft family, mom-Christine and dad-Mark and two of their kids-Rebecca and Andrew. The two kids brought friends from college with them Tyler and Marshall. There were a couple of people from church-Debbie and Riley, here and one woman-Kelly, who is the daughter of a family from our church, but lives in Utah and is the hiking instructor at a weight-loss camp.
We drove up the hill to the trail head, a place where several years ago, JE and I had been dropped off to complete the Wildcat Canyon trail into Zion. The trail started out over the wide, flat land on the top of the butte, and soon splintered into many crevasses and canyon. Part of the trail ran over a huge sandstone bowl, with only cairns to mark the way. There was a bit of up and down hiking, and eventually, we ended up on a very rugged "trail" down the side of a canyon wall. There was a lot of loose debris and stones to send flying, so the descent was very cautious. When the rock became to steep to walk down, we harnessed up and repelled by rope to the canyon floor.
Once on the floor, the only way to go was even further down. Our path was a slit in the stone, into a pool below. When my turn came, my shoes slipped, as I was standing on the edge, ready to back into the hole. It scared me half to death, but I was roped in. I recovered quickly and finished my descent into the dark, cold water below.
When I first set my goal of hiking the Subway, I was only familiar with Zion's Narrows, a sweet little 16 mile hike that runs a length of the Virgin River. The three times I have hiked this trail, the river has been in constant motion. The Virgin River is a sweet, clear, flowing thing with deep pockets of cool, green water. The Subway trail, it the left fork of North Creek, which does not flow constantly and has huge, cold pools of debris filled water. Not complaining--I was there, doing something I have been wanting to do for years! But lowering down into water that seemed murky and questionable, was unnerving. Falling into it was perhaps a relief: my adrenalin protected me from feeling the worst of the cold. There was a long, bottomless swim after the descent. It was exhilarating. We laughed at each others discomfort.
There were several repels and a lot of water hiking. At one spot, we had to repel down about 12 feet into a pool of water in a tiny slot canyon, then swim through the canyon and under a log which diagonally blocked the way. It was such a fun challenge.
When the river started to flow in earnest, we came to some amazingly beautiful places. The sweet spot the the Subway, is a 3/4 mile stretch that has a sharp channel through the middle of it where the river flows: it looks much like a train platform. The rock takes on weird and beautiful form.
There was a place with a waterfall room, which required a swim to get to. JE had dropped his camera in the dip, and was off drying it out. On my own, I swam to the falls and into the room. It was shaped like an urn, with a crack running up the back. Water spilled from that crack and through the top. The sound was bright with volume: so loud! I stood there for a while, playing in the falls and glorying in being alive. Eventually, I swam back to the rest of the group, who had just decided to go see the waterfall room. I'm so glad I had that tiny bit of time there to explore it on my own!
There were times on the hike, that our lips were blue with cold and our teeth chattered. Sometimes the wind blew cold, and sometimes we could find tiny sections of warm air and/or sun. Just past the waterfall room, the canyon walls opened up and the shade was mostly lost. The remainder of the hike was in and around the river. It was the most difficult part of the journey.
To get out of the canyon, and back to the cars, we climbed back up the canyon wall. It was an actual trail, but not by much. As we climbed, and the air got thinner, I relied on my training: my rhythm, my pace, my cadence, my new found ability to just keep going even when I do not think I can. When the trail began to level a little, I slowed my pace to give myself a break so that I would be ready for the next ascent. I had heard the way out was really really difficult, and I was bracing for it. But after a short while, the trail continued to level and I realized the worst was over. Such a good feeling.
All in all, the hike was only 9.5 miles and took about 10 hours. But that 9.5 miles was filled with obstacles and intense beauty. So worthwhile!
That night, I barely made it through dinner. When I got back to the cabin, I showered and started by blog about the hike. I got 2 paragraphs and couldn't keep my eyes open. I crashed.
Apparently, the sump pump had stopped working and to get it going again, JE had to bang on the pipes with a hammer. The pipes were on the same wall that my bed rested against. I have no recollection of any of the goings on after I took off my glasses-including the hammering of pipes. Mine was the sleep of the dead.
We drove home this arvo. Our bodies are stiff with the exertion of yesterday's hike. What a brilliant way to spend a weekend!
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