 The Subway Hike in Zion NPYours truly won permits to the famous Subway hike in Zion National Park!!! One day in May, I just happened to be on recreation.gov and casually looking at what permits were available. I saw that the subway was up for grabs so I put in 3 different dates in July for my husband and I. I honestly did not think we would get them, but sure enough a couple weeks later I got the email confirming we were accepted! I did a double take and was like omg it’s happening! We booked our trip and started to do our research plus talk to friends who had done it too. We made a gear list and made sure to have everything in order for this hike. This hike is just over 10 miles (sorry AllTrails you were way off!) out and back and over 2,700 ft of elevation gain. I would rate it hard and I’ll explain why… First, you start your hike on a pretty smooth trail and then boom big vertical drop down to the water, and I’m not joking, it’s a steep trail and guess what you’ll have to climb this back out so just remember that! Once you get down near the stream, the fun part begins! Up, down, and around the boulders. This trail is all over the place so you need good navigation skills and or a downloaded map because it can get tricky in spots. Best advice is to stay close to the stream the whole way up. This trail was a full body workout, but I will say the views were amazing! The canyon views, wildflowers, wildlife, dinosaur tracks (yes you heard me right!), the flowing stream, endless waterfalls and pools and of course the main event! With only .3 miles left to the subway, we switched into our neoprene socks and got out our hiking poles for stability. We hit the deeper water section and you just can’t avoid it. Embrace the wet shoes and feet! We walked up to the subway and it’s just a magical site. Cool teal pools with walls engulfing you. We even came up to some really cool birds wading in the water. It took us 3 hours to get there and we started early to try and avoid as much heat as we could since we did this in the summer. We hung out near the subway for a bit and then headed back through the obstacle course! Again, that descent in the beginning was a tough climb out so just be prepared and take your time. It ended up taking us just over 6 hours to finish and boy what a wild ride it was. We would absolutely do this one again since it was so fun and different from a lot of the hikes we do. I hope you can snag a permit for this hike because it is so worth it when visiting Zion NP. XOXO Kimmy Recommended: Bring at least 3 L water (You can not filter your water there since it has a bad algae in it), snacks, hiking poles, and neoprene socks (Here's the ones we bought off of Amazon: https://amzn.to/46Ha2zc . Of course look at your 10 essentials list for hiking anytime you go out.
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July 2025 Recap!Man, summer is really flying by this year. I think this has been one of my busiest summers yet. I am happy to say it has all been fabulous and adventure-full, but I know our season is about to change soon. This past month we had something going on every weekend plus lots of day hiking trips during the week. We of course had the holiday which Nick and I spent paddling and fishing at Causey Reservoir, we went backpacking in the Uintas, we celebrated our 1 year anniversary, and we took a trip down to Zion National Park since I won permits to hike "The Subway". I ended up completing 15 hikes, 3 paddling and fishing excursions, and 1 backpacking weekend. (I feel a little tired haha!) Yet, for summer I feel like we try to cram in so many activities before it starts to get cold. Not that there isn't plenty to do in the colder months but again just different activities. Oh and I almost forgot! I am happy to say that I am now leading women's hikes in the Salt Lake City area. I am officially a Hikerbabes ambassador and I have led 2 hikes so far. I am so happy to be leading again since I use to coach and lead fitness classes back in Texas. I enjoy helping others and since I already have such a passion for hiking this seemed to be an easy fit for me to do. Combing my love for fitness and nature all in one place. If you're a lady in the Salt Lake City area and want more information of the hikes that we put on, please reach out to me! August is now approaching, and Nick and I have an even bigger adventure I can't wait to tell you about. This trip has been on my bucket list for years! We are beyond thrilled and looking forward to sharing our story with you so stay tuned. Happy last months of summer y'all! xoxo Kimmy Review: The Dwellings Near Zion National ParkOur fabulous Airbnb at The Dwellings in La Verkin, Utah was the perfect place to stay at near Zion National Park for the weekend. The Dwellings has some of the cutest tiny homes Nick and I have ever stayed in! They are located on the cliff side right next to River Rock Roasters, Confluence park, and only 30 minutes from the entrance of Zion National Park. We stayed from Friday-Monday and had the best time at this Airbnb. It offers fabulous accommodations in the home that includes a kitchen, living room, king size bed, floor to ceiling windows that lead out to a deck with patio furniture and a grill, plus a large bathroom and walk in shower. It was everything we needed and more. It also has an onsite pool and across the street is the brand new Zion Canyon Hot Springs! They gave us 10 percent off to enjoy there, how sweet! The sunset views every night were breathtaking and we were so glad we got to enjoy it out on the deck with our pups! Yes, some of their units are pet friendly which is a huge win for us when traveling. The unit we were in was perfect for 2 guests but they had some other tiny homes that were a bit larger that I would assume would accommodate more guests. So if you’re looking for a top notch, reasonable, dreamy stay near Zion national park, you have to choose The Dwellings! Have fun and enjoy! Xoxo Kimmy *This is not a paid promotion, just sharing our love for this fabulous place and they deserve it* Backpacking to Island Lake in the UintasNick and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary by going backpacking in the Uintas to Island Lake! This was my second backpacking adventure and we decided to do just one night. We wanted to go more days but unfortunately our dog sitter was only available for one night so we made the best of it! We arrived at crystal lake trailhead around noon, and it was a bit cloudy but not bad until about 5 minutes in it started to pour on us…we stopped and looked at each other like is this how it’s gonna go the whole time?! We powered on knowing that pop up storms happen a lot here. The rain eventually stopped and we could relax a bit. We did this trail not too long ago so we knew what to expect. It’s a relatively easy trail even with the 35 lbs. on our back. We passed multiple lakes, beautiful wildflowers, wildlife, and thick forest vegetation before reaching island lake and once we got there, we searched for a campsite to set up at. What we didn’t realize is that 30 other people had the same idea as us so the lake was a bit crowded but I will say the site we found felt nice and cozy. If we had come any later it really would've been a struggle to find a spot. We set up our site and then started a fire. It was pretty chilly since storms had been coming through on and off. After, we chilled out a bit we decided to do some fishing. We fished for about 1.5 hours and had zero luck! We noticed everyone else fishing had the same outcome too. A couple weeks ago, Nick caught a cutthroat trout but this time around we noticed a lot less activity in the water. Almost like these fish knew something was coming… Around 7 pm we ate dinner and then just enjoyed our fire. Around 8 pm, the sky started turning really dark and then the thunder came. For a while we sat there just watching the storm roll in, thinking oh this just may miss us, but nope right at 8:30 pm the rain started coming down and the lightning and thunder really picked up. We dashed into our tent and laid there for 2 hours while the storm did its thing! Once the storm died down, the cold air came rushing in, and not going to lie it was a rough night of sleep between the storm and cold weather. Luckily, we both packed some warm clothes to throw on but my face was chilly the whole night. The next day, we got up and looked at all the damage. Our site was a mud pit and we had to clean a lot of our stuff off in the lake. We only stayed for a couple hours before packing up and heading back to our truck. We definitely wanted to stay longer but even the next day it started to drizzle so we decided to get going. On the way back, we hiked past duck and weir lake. It added a couple of miles, but it was worth to see. Those would have been another nice option to camp at too. We made it back safely and were happy to see our truck! What a wild night! Xoxo Kimmy *Check out my gear list for our backpacking adventures here: Backpacking Essentials June 2025 Recap!Summer is here, and I am all about it! June was such a fun month and of course all the adventures with my spouse, friends, and pups! This past month I completed 18 hikes throughout Utah, 1 camping weekend to Bear Lake State Park with our RV, went stand up paddle boarding at multiple lakes and reservoirs, and even went fishing! When it came to the trails, I even knocked out some new ones in our area that I’ve had on my bucket list to complete. A lot of them have been to alpine lakes which has been my goal this summer and even some peaks too. Overall, it was a great month and I have much more planned for July! More fishing, more stand up paddle boarding, 1 backpacking weekend, we got permits for the Subway at the end of the month in Zion national park, and Nick and I get to celebrate our 1 year anniversary! July is going to be fabulous and I’m stoked! I also wanted to mentioned that I just became a Hikerbabes ambassador which means I will now be leading women in the Salt Lake City area on hikes and different outdoor adventures! My first hike is July 10th and I am hoping to be leading hikes at least 1x a week or more! I am thrilled and honored to be able to do this. It has been on my heart to lead again and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. If you're in the SLC area and want to know when I am leading hikes, please reach out to me! So, who else is pumped to keep the good summer vibes goin?! Cheers! xoxo Kimmy Bear Lake State Park Review!Bear lake state park review! Our 3rd RV trip of the year so far and we’ve got more on the horizon! I feel like bear lake is just one of those staple places that everyone has to visit at least a couple times if you live in Utah or Idaho and let’s face it, it is really freakin' cool! I like to say it’s the Caribbean of the West! The water is crystal clear! You feel like you’re at the ocean side with how blue/teal the water is and guess what, it was actually warm too! Everyone had put in our heads that it would be frigid and you’ll probably just put your feet in and that’s it. Well guess what?! This lake was the warmest lake we had been in compared to all the other lakes/reservoirs in UT. You heard me right! Yes don’t be afraid of what people are telling you, it’s lovely! Especially if you go on a warm day; the water will feel so refreshing. We ended up staying at bear lake state park at the big creek campgrounds which is on the southern tip of the lake. It has full RV hookups, grilling area, fire pit, picnic bench, and lots of shade! It was really great! We loved that we could be on the beach in 10 seconds from our site and really the beach area was not crowded since we were only with the campers at this end. We paddle boarded and fished everyday and let me tell you what a treat it was to be able to see all the fish while you’re doing this. Unfortunately, we had zero luck with the fishing but I’m convinced these fish out here are smart and won’t fall for our tactics. They were huge so you know they’ve been here for a while. We saw so many different kinds but they were also very skittish so our bate didn’t work on them so well. We had a couple nibbles but that was it, till next time fish. Lastly, we did a hike in Logan canyon one day since that is the closest area to get a good hike in since there isn't much by the lake. We ended up doing Horse Lake via Sink Hollow Trail near Beaver Mountain Resort. It was only 30 minutes from our camp site and the trail was stunning! Really any of the hikes in Logan canyon are going to be worth it, so if you need something else to do near the lake add a hike on one of the days to mix it up a bit! Thus, Bear lake state park was a blast to stay at. I would recommend making reservations early since it does fill up fast for the summer time. I believe I booked 4 months in advance to make sure we got a spot. Camping and RVing is no joke around here so you have to be on top of your game to get good spots. (Yes I set reminders in my calendar on when camp sites open up haha!) So if you're in Utah or Idaho and need a fabulous beach get away, make this stop a priority! xoxo Kimmy Bonus: They did have a marina that you could rent jet skis or boats from. There was also another part of the state park near garden city where you could actually launch your boat. May 2025 Recap!Wow what a month! Spring is here which means getting outdoors more often is a must! This past month was filled with way more hiking and camping adventures! I completed 21 hikes with either my friends, husband, pups or just solo. My friend Olivia from college visited us for a weekend, and Nick and I took our RV out to East Canyon State Park for Memorial Day weekend. It was a jam packed month, but I wouldn’t want it any other way! We even started to get our stand up paddle boards out since the weather has been so lovely! I’m excited to do more paddling excursions this summer. The wildflowers are really popping out right now so a lot of the trails I did this month incorporated them. They are so beautiful and they don't last long with the heat coming so you have to see them now. I also saw some waterfalls, lots of wildlife (even got spooked by a moose one day), and sunrise and sunset skies. I hiked a couple of new peaks too! It has been quite the adventure this month and I have way more planned for the rest of the year. So I want to hear from you, what summer activities are you looking forward to?! Let me know in the comments below! I've got some peaks, alpine lakes, and paddling excursions on my list of summer to dos! Xoxo Kimmy East Canyon State Park Review!Our Memorial Day weekend trip to East Canyon State Park was fantastic! Nick and I got our RV last summer so it’s been our mission to explore new places with it during the warmer months. I realized last year that camping spots fill up super quick so I made a note in my calendar on when I could reserve certain places and jumped on it as soon as I could this year. (Most places start booking 4 months in advance!) East Canyon State Park was on the top of my list! I didn’t know much about it but just looking at reviews, google images, going on the state park website, oh and it’s only 50 min from our house; I was truly intrigued! And let me tell you, it blew out our expectations! This state park is tucked away in a little area in Morgan, UT. You drive through some narrow back roads, passing beautiful country sides, tons of farms and ranches, and then boom you go around a corner and the mountains and reservoir pops out! The reservoir was super blue contrasting against the green mountainside and you find yourself in the most pristine state park. We pulled in, got to our RV spot, set up, and just admired our views! We had a standard partial hookup spot-water and electricity only but there was a dump station on site and honestly there weren’t many sites (33 I believe) so it didn’t feel crowded or noisy at all. We could just hear the sheep's and lambs on the mountain side! Oh yes they have a wildlife management area so the animals are protected thus you feel like you’re in the rolling hills of Ireland all over again. We were also lucky enough to see prairie dogs, a badger, and an osprey while we were there! The park has a great beach area, rental company for water crafts, a boat launch, yurts/tiny homes/wagons to rent if you don’t have an RV or want to tent camp, bathroom facilities, and hiking trails. We noticed that there were other areas to camp on that looked more primitive at the south end of the reservoir that you could reserve and lots of areas along the reservoir you could park at for the day and pay a small fee. The park is pet friendly which is a huge plus for us and our pups had the best time! We also checked out emigration canyon which was only 25 minutes from the park for more hiking adventures. We did big mountain and bald mountain trails in emigration canyon which I would highly recommend hiking! (Some of the best views I've seen out here in Utah) On one of the days we also took our paddle boards out to enjoy on the reservoir. The water was so clear and actually not too cold. The air temps were warm so the crisp water felt great after some paddling. We stayed along the shore line and paddled around making stops along the way to rest and take in the views. Such a great paddle day to start the season! So if you’re looking for a truly unique Utah State Park with all the great amenities and outdoor attractions check out East Canyon State Park in Morgan, UT ! Xoxo Kimmy April 2025 Recap!April had a lot of highs and some lows. The month was filled with adventure, crazy weather changes, and unfortunately a cold in between. My body was really pushed this month and I definitely paid for it too. Sometimes, when you mentally don’t want to slow down, your body tells you too which is hard for me. (I’m sure others can relate) This past month, I hiked 10x, backpacked 1 weekend, visited the Grand Tetons and Reflection Canyon, hosted my parents for a week, went to the Red Butte Garden and saw the cherry blossoms at the Utah Capitol Building, and was sick for 1 week. It was a lot but a ton of memories were made at the same time too. I’m ready for more consistent warm weather and to start taking my board out to the lake and reservoirs soon. I definitely miss stand up paddle boarding. I have some goals going into the summer and hoping to do more peaks in Salt Lake City, hike to some cool alpine lakes, and of course do some camping and backpacking trips. I’m ready for a summer filled with new adventures! Let me know what your plans are for the summer months coming up! Xoxo Kimmy My 1st Backpacking Adventure: Reflection CanyonI am going to break this adventure up into 4 parts! The drive, trail conditions, our destination, and then the final stretch! So let's dive into it! Part 1: The Drive So let’s start with the drive to the trailhead. You’re probably wondering why would I talk about the drive to the trailhead? Well let me explain something, this isn’t an easy drive so I just want to inform you before you go so you’re prepared and ready. When you split off of route 12 and turn onto hole in the rock road it is a long drive on a dirt road that is not so bad in the beginning but as you progress the road continues to get more bumpy, more rocky, and more twisty and steep. It takes around 55 miles to get to this trail head from Escalante and the dirt road portion is like 50 miles of it! (No joke) As you can see there are some beautiful views along the way, thank goodness, because it helps distract you from all the bumpy terrain you have to drive through. The first half of the drive was not too bad but once we got past hurricane wash trailhead the road turned into a straight on off road, slow crawling drive. There were much more steeper roads and way more rocks to get through. Unfortunately, we got a flat tire on the way there with only 7 miles left to get to the trailhead! Our friends were ahead of us and so I had to flag down this nice group of people to let them tell our friends we had gotten a flat and would be a minute to meet up with them. 45 minutes later and we were back on the road and we slowly crawled our way to the trailhead. With a sense of relief we collected ourselves for the journey and got our selves and our packs ready for the hike. So some takeaways…make sure you have a spare tire or two for this road! Download your maps ahead of time because there is no service out there and honestly we were happy we went with people in case we did get a second flat. This dirt road drive took us 3 hours because of the flat coming in but also on the way out we babied our spare tire like no other since we knew we had to get home on Sunday too. Thank goodness we didn’t get a flat coming out and we made it all the way back home safely. Part 2: The Trail Conditions Well we got through the drive and now we’re on the trail! (Btw make sure to pick up a permit at the hurricane wash trailhead and keep it on you throughout the journey if someone asks for it) I’m gonna talk about the first part of the trail in this post and then the final destination and camp set up on the next. We got our 35-40 lbs. backpacking packs on for this 8 mile one way journey through the desert landscape. The trail is up and down the whole way and moderately challenging just based on the distance and the amount we were carrying. Some people will do this trail in one day (16 miles) but we decided to backpack it and split it up into two so we could enjoy the canyon longer. You’re probably wondering…um Kimmy why are your packs so heavy for just an overnight?! Oh well let me tell you, there is no water source to get to on this trail so we had to pack 8 L each! A Liter is 2.2 lbs. so if you do the math half our pack was just water weight! And yes you want that much because it gets hot out there and there’s like no shade. For the beginning of April it was already hitting the upper 80s so we were sweating a lot more plus we needed water for our meals. Moving along, the trail is very easy to follow up to mile 6 then after that you are traversing and following rock cairns through a wild boulder landscape. Again, it was helpful to have our AllTrails map downloaded before hand just to make sure we were on track since there’s no service out there. I will say the last two miles did feel a bit more difficult because it is much more up and down and navigating through the boulders and we were already tired by then so take your time, stop when you find shade and continue when you’re ready. Part 3: Our Destination-Reflection Canyon THE final destination! Reflection canyon is beyond breathtaking and really these photos just don’t do justice. It really is one of those places you need to see in person to fully experience it. You can see the boulder terrain we had to cover in some of the photos and then boom before you know it you come up to the canyon. But before me made it, we decided to set up camp first. We scouted around for a while since we needed to find a place that had some shelter from the wind. I had heard the winds were gnarly there but I didn’t realize how strong they really could be. I would say we would get up to 30 mph wind gusts or more at times. We found a spot that we thought was enclosed enough so we started to put our tent up and bam! Before you know it, our tent poles snapped from one big gust of wind. Nick and I looked at each other and if the flat tire wasn’t enough, the tent was now the cherry on top! We scrambled to take it down and find a new spot that had more protection. We went a little further out and finally found a spot of trees that were giving us much better protection from the wind and we set up camp there. I would say it was about .3 miles away from the canyon overlook. Luckily I had some medical tape in our first aid kit so we used that to fix our tent poles and I am happy to say the tent held up throughout the night! (We also found some big rocks around to help keep our tents secure too, so use what you can in the environment you’re in) After we set up, we decided to head over to the main event and take lots of photos and video plus we had our dinner on the cliff edge and watched the sunset! It was probably the best dinner view I’ve ever had. We really lucked out because the sky turned orange, pink, and purple. Plus the swirly clouds made it even more magical. It really made you forget about all the challenges you faced today go away! (Aweee) After the sun set, we packed up and headed back to camp for the night. We slept pretty good considering the conditions and wind still buzzing around us. Part 4: The Final Stretch Back Home We got up around 6 am, quickly got ready and made our way back to the canyon overlook for sunrise. Again the beautiful clouds were there and the colors were just so magical. We soaked in the sunrise for a good hour before heading back to camp to pack up and head out. We were all feeling a bit sore and tired but we made the trek back successfully! It felt a bit easier with less lbs. to carry back but the heat was definitely harsher coming back. We had no blockage from the sun whereas Saturday we had some cloud coverage come and go to help. (On the trek back I ran into a snake too which freaked me out but luckily it wasn’t a rattle snake! Phew!) We finally got back to the parking lot and made the drive back, like I said before we were nervous with our spare tire on the truck but we took our time even more on the way back and successfully made it home in one piece. For my first backpacking trip, I gotta say this definitely was a big one to tackle. As we were driving back my husband said, “I see a trend in you this year with putting us through the challenges” and all I could say back was “whelp we moved here to challenge ourselves and experience new things, so here's to getting stronger!” Would you add this trip to your backpacking bucket list?! Let me know! Xoxo Kimmy |
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