
Starting from the Wildcat Canyon Trailhead, heading along the West Rim Trail along the standard Subway approach.


Sign marking the Subway route.

Along slickrock down toward the Left Fork of North Creek.

Approaching the slickrock section that marks where we deviate from the standard Subway route.

Approaching the slickrock section. We headed left (southeast) here, just beneath the little pointy outcropping.

Looking back toward the Subway route from the slickrock above as we continuing on the Das Boot route.

Along the slickrock, heading generally east.

View back along the slickrock.

Another shot back, South Guardian Angel visible in the distance.

The Hourglass becomes visible, center. Left Fork also seen below, but the slope is too steep to climb down from here. We traversed north to locate a gully down.

Class 2/3 gully to get off the slickrock and down to the flatter ground below.

Navigating the somewhat brushy terrain to get to the head of Left Fork.

View back at the descent from the slickrock above, center of this photo.

Approaching Left Fork (Das Boot Canyon). We located a Class 2 slope to get into the head of the canyon.

The head of Left Fork of North Creek, the start of Upper Das Boot. We left our gear here before the narrows in order o first head up to The Hourglass.

We located this Class 2 animal/social trail on the south side of the Left Fork drainage.

The Hourglass became visible (top right). We headed to the slickrock on the left, crossed the drainage in the center, and then ascended the ridge on the right.

The Hourglass on the left, Greatheart Mesa seen right. We headed up the ridge to The Hourglass.

View back toward Left Fork as we head up the Class 2 on The Hourglass' north ridge.

Class 2 along the ridge.

View down some Class 2/3 to get up to a lump along the ridge. Avoidable on the east side via Class 2 slabs instead.

On top of the lump, view toward The Hourglass summit.

View back toward the lump after descending from it, now navigating some colorful slickrock.

Cool colorful pinnacles.

View back toward the colorful section. We came from the right (east) in this photo.

Past the colorful slickrock, the ridge crest got nutty-looking. We dropped to the right on this loose terrain and traversed for a bit.

A Class 4 move up a crack.

View down at the Class 4 move, which uses a nice big tree trunk.

Past the move, more traversing to the gully you can sort of see in the center. The cliffs were still too steep on the left to ascend just yet.

Within the gully, Class 2/3 on steep and loose terrain.

View back as we make our way up the gully.

The top of the gully gets particularly loose and steep.

Back on the ridge crest, we continued south to the summit.

It was a bit brushy for about a third of a mile.

Some Class 2 obstacles amongst the brush, but nothing too annoying overall.

View back as we near the summit of The Hourglass.

Summit block seen on the right, a Class 3+ move.

The Hourglass summit, view west toward Greatheart Mesa.

The Hourglass summit, view south toward Rabbit Ears, Church Mesa, etc.

The Hourglass summit, view into Phantom Valley.

We backtracked to the head of Das Boot Canyon and suited up, then started down.


Pretty narrows and some light obstacles initially.

Plenty of little potholes to climb in and out of, but I don't think any would become keepers.



A small section of open within Upper Das Boot Canyon before it closes up again.


Now we were in the depths of the canyon.

Swimmers galore.



A potential rappel, short enough to handline.

Small open section to warm up.

More gorgeous narrows.






After another short open section, the canyon narrowed yet again.

Log jam obstacles.


One of about 3 short rappels.

Another short rap.


Trying to avoid some of the swimmers. It was a bit cold out.

The last half mile or so opens up a little and introduces lots of colorful walls and cool textures.









A really gorgeous section toward the end of Upper Das Boot Canyon.




We neared the end of Upper Das Boot Canyon. A bit past here is where you can escape if necessary.

The start of the second portion of Das Boot Canyon. The escape option is behind me on the right (north). Also note that the following photos are from a different day when we did Das Boot Canyon a few years ago for the first time.

Lower Das Boot was straightforward fun - some obstacles, including climbing up and over some large timber bits, gorgeous narrows, full swimmers, and flowing water.




Swimming within Lower Das Boot Canyon.





Matt's backpack wouldn't drain, so he found an alternate way to remove water from his pack. A picture of his pose to achieve this was mandatory.


Mossy and green section, and displaying one of many small obstacles.

Narrow and dark section.






Das Boot opens up after more narrows than we expected. We were pleasantly surprised at how much fun and lengthy it was.

The only required rappel, which leads into the standard Subway route. The correct exit route is just on the right after this rappel. It follows the standard Subway approach route known as the "Russel Gulch Route".

Heading up the standard Subway route since we didn't have a permit to descend The Subway.

View down into Russel Gulch as we head up the standard Subway route back to the Wildcat Canyon Trailhead.
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