My wife and I are doing the Subway (technical route) next weekend and I need to know what shoes are appropriate- are light hiking boots sufficient? I've seen the 5.10 canyon shoes online and I'm real tempted, new gear being a serious weakness. But- I've waited too long. Are light mesh hikers good enough? Thanks for any advice!

Get neoprene socks. Light mesh hikers or water shoes with good grippy soles will do. You can rent beat-up 5.10s and socks at ZAC (Zion Adventure Company) in Springdale if you need to.

There is a place in St George where one can buy canyoneering shoes, but the name escapes me now.

You'll have a light wet suit possibly, que no?

MoapaPk wrote:Get neoprene socks. Light mesh hikers or water shoes with good grippy soles will do. You can rent beat-up 5.10s and socks at ZAC (Zion Adventure Company) in Springdale if you need to.

There is a place in St George where one can buy canyoneering shoes, but the name escapes me now.

You'll have a light wet suit possibly, que no?

Thanks for the tip on the neoprene socks- that hadn't even crossed my mind. I think we'll just wear our light hikers this time, but I have a feeling this canyoneering thing's gonna stick and I'll be buying the specialized shoes eventually.

Wet suit... one more thing to consider. We're going with a friend of a friend who's experienced, so we're kind of trusting advice to trickle down. If no wet suit is available, what do you suggest?

Thanks again!

For "light" canyoneering in the warmer months:

A 3 mm vest and 2.5 mm shorts, neoprene socks, and a drysack in your pack with a warm fleece.

In colder times, you can put this stuff over your other gear. Farmer Johns are popular in Zion, with a pair of shorts over to keep down abrasion. Really cold times: dry suits.

Clothes vary hugely with a person's comfort level!
http://hwstock.org/sub/

They say that 5.10 canyon shoes are the best for this purpose. There are a couple of shops in Zion that rent all needed equipment including those shoes. We were there last thanksgiving and easily rented shoes and dry pants.

Back to ZAC:
http://www.zionadventures.com/zion-equi ... ntals.html

Look for "Narrows Footwear" on the left bar.

Are you "doing" a once-through, from top to bottom? Note you will have a bit of a walk back to your car, unless you arrange a shuttle.

We did the once through from top to bottom Saturday and had a wonderful time. Note to self: when MoapaPk suggests wetsuits, buy the freaking wetsuit! That water was cold! As for footwear, I wore Keen sandals with fleece-lined neoprene socks through the water parts of the hike and this system worked great.

Very glad you had a good time. Tanya and cp0915 are great local resources on Zion.

You survived without the suit, so now you have a better idea what you might want, and can peruse the web at your leisure for deals. The wetsuit gear that people wear for canyoneering tends to be looser than the stuff people wear for diving.

In the link above, in the same photo where you see a woman wearing a 7mm full suit, you can also see a woman in a bikini. Boy it varies a lot.

For footwear in canyoneering type adventures, I like to take Salomon Techamphibians and a pair of Chacos. Especially when doing multiday trips. The Techamphibians dry really quickly and have excellent tread for slickrock and rocky wading. That being said, if you are one of those people who are prone to rolling ankles and stuff the 5-10's might be better. I figure they are overkill though unless you are hiking through the river the entire time like in the Narrows. Anything where you are hiking through open desert I prefer the Salomons or the Chacos.