Desert Southwest - The Checklist Edition - The Subway - Zion National Park - September 2014

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Russell Gulch empties into the Left Fork of North Creek, and we were now not that far away from that junction. The way became less open-slickrock and more brush-and-trees as we approached. Off to our right, the now-deep bottom of Russell Gulch was not visible, but we could see the terrain start to slope down towards it. We stayed on this - the left-hand (eastern side) shoulder above the Gulch, mostly on the level, even perhaps gaining altitude a bit. The path through the vegetation and trees became more distinct and obvious as we went: good - this meant we were nearing the "gully descent".

Left Fork of North Creek

Then, as we crested a small rise, we caught our first glimpse of the Left Fork: a tall cleft between cliffs of reddish sandstone. Its depths looked dark and inviting.

Top of Steep Gully

I remembered from fifteen years earlier that the first scrambling portion of The Subway Route was about to start. From our vantage point, we were a good hundred feet higher than the bottom of both the Left Fork, and of Russell Gulch, which intersected the Left Fork just a short way ahead. Hidden away until you are right on top of it is a steep gully that allows passage through what would otherwise be rappel-only cliffs.

courtesy RHanel

Down into Gully

We stopped for a brief break before beginning the descent (to which the informal footpath directly leads you, and which is also marked by a small NPS arrow indicator on a flat metal stake). We turned a corner above another, better view of the shady depths of the Left Fork, then began a sudden descent down a blocky, rooty gully. The gully was quite enclosed, and didn't impart any real sense of exposure. At most it was class-3 scrambling, all the way down to the bottom.

Steep Gully Scramble

Left Fork

The scramble down the gully brought us to the floor of Russell Gulch (not the Left Fork), just below a twenty-foot high dryfall in the Gulch. On this particular day, a large pool stretched from wall-to-wall. Our first encounter with water had arrived.

courtesy RHanel

Lower Russell Gulch

Russell Gulch Pond

First Water Obstacle

A quick examination revealed that, while the center of the pool was dark and of unknown depth, a section off to the side was only a few feet deep. We switched into our water shoes, hiked up our hiking pants, and waded across. The temperature was not as cold as I had feared it might be.

Floor of Russell Gulch

Down here in the bottom of Russell Gulch, the canyoneering portion of our day had now begun. From here, we would remain in the bottom of a sometimes watery canyon for the next several hours. We were anxious to start the journey, to see what might await us.

Mouth of Russell Gulch

Now deep in the shade again (and it looked like we would be in the shade for quite a long time), we began our journey downstream. Within a minute, we arrived at the mouth of Russell Gulch, where it joined the Left Fork of North Creek.

We turned right and headed downstream The bottom of Left Fork would be our home almost until the very end of our day, when we would then hike out to its rim and the Left Fork trailhead parking lot shortly thereafter.

Left Fork

The first few minutes of walking down the floor of the Left Fork was uneventful. The canyon was about thirty to forty feet wide, with walls a hundred or so feet high. It was fairly leafy in here: bushes and trees often lined the sides of the watercourse. Ten minutes' worth of walking down a relatively flat stretch brought us to the start of a huge canyon-wide jam of boulders. Huge 10-to-20 foot chunks of rock were arranged helter-skelter at the bottom of the canyon, requiring us to scramble up, down, over and around them. The final chunk in the boulder jam was particularly huge, and when we got to its crest, we observed a wall-to-wall pool on the flat floor of the canyon beyond.

courtesy RHanel

Boulder Field

Negotiating Boulder Field

Setting up for first rappel

We had three choices to get us down this huge boulder and into the pool below (which did not look more than knee deep): we could rappel, we could shimmy down an awkward chimney on the right-hand side of the boulder (between the boulder and the canyon wall), or, we could opt for a hidden tunnel compbined with a deeper wade somewhere off to our left (we had just seen another two canyoneers do this).

The chimney downscramble looked doable, but the water at the base of the chimney was of unknown depth (back 15 years ago, there had been no pool below, and we had scrambled down this cleft). No one was ready for deep immersion yet, so we chose the first option: a rappel.

A couple of bolts were sunk into the rock at the top of the boulder, making the rappel set up easy. After all of us had donned our climbing gear, we went down, one by one.

Boulder Rappel

The rappel off the sloped back of the boulder was mostly straightforward and easy. The only part that was tricky was the final five feet, where the boulder abruptly ended, creating an overhang above the pool. It was tricky to negotiate this low overhang without either plopping a butt into the water or banging your knees into the rock. Nevertheless, we all managed it - some more gracefully than others.

Slightly awkward rap

Below the big boulder field, the floor of Left Fork became an easy walk once again. There were occasional shallow pools, but nothing more than ankle deep. During dry times, this bit is completely dry.

courtesy RHanel

Continuing Down Left Fork

Hints of the Subway

A Deeper Stretch

Five to ten minutes further downcanyon brought us to a pool located directly between a constriction in the walls. It looked like it might be possible to scramble up and around this pool on the left, but we decided to try out the pool anyway.

It was too deep to determine depth visually, so a bit of careful wading revealed that along the sides of the pool, the depth was just about thigh-deep. No swimming yet. The temperature of the water was - as before - cool but not cold. Any colder than this, though, probably would warrant a wet suit.

courtesy RHanel

A Deeper Stretch

Watery Slot

Literally less than a minute beyond this pool, was another stretch of narrows - this time, a bit of true slot - perhaps only a metre wide. It was filled with water to an unknown depth. However, a very obvious and slightly raised ledge of sandstone on the right offered a walkway-like bypass around this, which we took. Soon the slot widened out into an area of rounded slickrock. The water continued through here, but several ribs of sandstone - some slightly submerged, some above water, allowed us to cross back and forth as necessary to avoid the deepest spots and continue on.

courtesy RHanel

Slickrock Pools

A Narrow Joint

With the watery slot and slickrock pools behind us, we continued on. We immediately came to a straight, blocky section of canyon. It appeared as if the Left Fork was eroding along a section of pre-existing jointing in the bedrock here (not unlike what one might see in Buckskin Gulch). A few minor wet spots and shallow ankle-deep water offered no resistance to passage.

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