Grand Canyon Journal - Friday September 9 2005 - Day 7 - High Drama Atop Deer Creek Falls

River overed: Mile 136 to Mile 152. Camped at Ledges

This morning we took a very short boat ride across the river to the Deer Creek Falls. Most of us took the relatively easy trail to the slot canyon at the top of the falls. It was quite beautiful (and I’m pretty sure you can hike down from the rim – something to look into). Rob had mentioned the possibility of climbing down into the slot to explore a little but it didn’t seem like the weather was going to cooperate. A flash flood in this canyon would almost certainly mean death.

Deer Creek Narrows	Deer Creek Patio
Deer Creek Patio	Deer Creek Patio

After a while we got a break in the weather and Rob decided the slot canyon exploration was a ‘go’. I followed him over to the tie in point to see how he was going to do it. The rope wasn’t completely necessary because the route could easily be climbed, but it was there as an extra thing to hold on to and a safety precaution. Rob gave a brief orientation on how to get down and how to (and how not to) use the rope. Even though I was excited to get down there I decided to let someone else give it a shot first so people wouldn’t get annoyed at me always being in front. Big Mistake!

The clod that went first did exactly what Rob said not to do and ended up peeling off the rock, saved only by the rope that he had wrapped around his wrist before grabbing on. Lucky for him there was a big ledge right were he swung to and he was able to stand on it while we figured out what to do. Rob had climbed down into the slot, so he climbed up and started the rescue effort by tieing a series of loops in the rope that could be used has hand or foot holds. That didn’t work very well, so Rob grabbed onto the rope and swung over to the ledge. He tied a rope around the clod in a makeshift harness fashion and then climbed up to help belay from above.

After all the drama Rob decided (understandably) ditch the slot canyon idea and we headed back to the boat. To say I’m pissed and disappointed would be the understatement of the trip. Dropping down into this beautiful canyon would have been awesome. Maybe I’ll have to hike down someday and do it. Rob gave me the go-ahead to make my way back to the boat without waiting for the rest of the group. I think he could see that I was frustrated and the trail was really well defined. I literally ran down the trail and hopped in the river before the rest of the group made it down a half hour later. No more Mr. Nice. I’m staying in front for the Havasu hike.

A brief note about last night: In the evening it looked like it may rain so we set up our tent as a backup plan. The original clouds cleared up, but it eventually rained at 4:30AM. I was well prepared though. All my bags were closed up and all I needed to do was get dressed, toss my pillow into my sleeping bag carry it over to the tent. The rain didn’t last very long though and I probably should have stayed outside. I never ended up getting back to sleep so I just got up early.

During lunch we could see that it was raining pretty well up on Powell Plateau and the wind in the canyon picked up dramatically. Gusts of wind were blowing sand everywhere and it was quite annoying.

We motored on for the rest of the afternoon, hoping to score one of the coveted camp sites (hopefully the Ledges site) upriver from Havasu Creek. Rob has done a great job throughout the trip of keeping track of the other trips on the river and guess where they’d be camping, but the big unknown was any trips that were ahead of us that we had not yet seen. We passed a private trip at Matkatimba Canyon, so that was good news (one less group to take Ledges). More good luck was on our side as we rounded the last corner before ledges and could see that it was vacant. Score!

Ledges Campground	Ledges Campground

So here we are at the most choice setup camp for Havasu when the wind really picks up. It was blowing tents around like crazy and it didn’t seem to want to let up. Super annoying, but at least there’s not as much sand at this site to stir up. Instead of writing in my journal I decided to help out with dinner preparations. It was nice to help out because it just doesn’t feel right to let the crew do everything by themselves. Almost everyone on the trip has tried to help out when they could. I chopped and shredded tomatoes and cheese for tonight’s dinner as well tomorrow’s lunch (we’re brown baggin’ it).

I actually did some cooking

After everyone put together their lunches, Rob gave a briefing on tomorrow’s hike. I’m pumped, it sounds amazing. The only problem is that we can’t go if the weather looks bad due to flash flooding. I’ve got my fingers crossed for clear skies. Just as Rob was finishing his briefing a huge gust of wind came along and blew over the table containing our ready to eat dinner food. What a drag. We salvaged plenty to eat, but it was a little gritty. I guess it wouldn’t be camping without dirt in the food.

Time for bed now so we can get an early start at Havasu. I really hope the weather cooperates.

Grand Canyon Journal - Thursday September 8 2005 - Day 6

River covered: Mile 132 to Mile 136. Camped across from Deer Creek
Today we did a grand total of 4 river miles: 2 in the morning and 2 in the later afternoon after a long hike.

Our hike today took us up Tapeats Creek and then onto Thunder River Falls. We made a few crossing of the clear blue Tapeats Creek, which felt great on such a hot day. There were a lot of huge cottonwood trees along Tapeats that thrive on its constant water flow. Another thriving plant was the prickly pear cactus. There were a ton of them, and they were huge. I couldn’t believe how enormous these thing were. The base of them looked like tree trunks. They were also producing a great amount of fruit. FYI, the fruit of a prickly pear is officially called a tuna.

Tapeats Creek	Prickly Pear (and their tuna)

Once we left Tapeats and started following Thunder River the trail went up rather steeply through a lot of switchbacks. I could see the final waterfall in the distance and I didn’t think we’d ever make it up that high. Eventually we made it to the beautiful waterfall shooting out of the rock.

Thunder River Falls	Thunder River Falls

One of the best parts about this hike was that my dad decided to go the whole way. He wasn’t sure if he could make it, but he at least wanted to make it partway. When Rob took a poll at the junction with Thunder River to see who was continuing, dad said he wanted to give it a try. Not only did he make it to the end, but he led the group up the last mile of the steep terrain and reached the waterfall first. I’m proud of him for deciding to give it a shot, and I’m even more happy that he made it. Out of 14 people on the trip only 5 made it.

Dad and I at Thunder River Falls

After the hike we motored for 2 miles and set up camp right across from Deer Creek Falls. From my campsite I have an awesome view of the huge falls. We’re doing a hike tomorrow over there but I haven’t decided if I’ll do it. I might like some down time, but I’ll have to hear about the hike some more before I make a decision.

The great view from my campsite

Grand Canyon Journal - Wednesday September 7 2005 - Day 5

River covered: Mile 96 to Mile 132. Camped at Stone Creek

Dinner last night was NY strip steak, mashed potatoes, salad and a hot cookie for dessert. Afterwards, Rob gave us a rundown on the big upcoming Crystal Rapids. It used to be a barely mentionable rapid, but in the 60’s there was a localized rainstorm that caused a debris flow to come down from a side canyon. That debris, and some later flooding years later turned Crystal into a 7-10 category rapid.

Later last night Rob talked to us about the silence in the Canyon (“us” meaning the people that were quiet enough to listen). Our campsite last night was underneath a flight corridor called Dragon Alley. It’s situated between two no-fly zones, and consequently gets a lot of traffic. The flights have a curfew at 6PM and it was quite damatic how much more quiet and peaceful it was. Rob encouraged us to write letters to the superintendent of the Canyon if we thought the helicopter sounds were annoying. I’ll have to get the mailing address because I think I’d like to write.

I didn’t sleep well last night; I’m not sure why. I tossed and turned a lot and kept sliding off my sleeping pad. This morning I repacked my bags, putting the least likely to be used items on the bottom. I have several things that they told us to bring, but I don’t actually need: warm hat and gloves, fleece, base layer… I wish they would have put things on the list like camp chair, more alcohol…

Today was a fairly long and hot day. We stopped late morning at Shinumo Creek to hike up to a waterfall. It was a short hike (~10 minutes) and I get the impression that this is what some people the hiking would be like on a “hiker’s special” trip. About an hour after that we stopped for a quick lunch before hiking up to Elves Chasm. This is another one of the places that I remember from my previous trip, but it seemed so much better this time.

Shinumo Creek Falls

After a short rock-hop up a stream we came upon the waterfall at the chasm. It plunges 10-15 feet off a rock ledge into an impossibly deep pool. (I don’t know how deep because I never actually got to the bottom.) What made this trip better was that I climbed to ledge at the midway point of the falls and jumped into the pool. I climbed up a second time onto a ledge further out and had my dad take a picture as I lept. What fun!

Me jumping off the falls at Elves Chasm

The rest of the day was a scorcher. We just kept cruising along, making miles (so they say). We did spot quite a number of big horn sheep though. Normally I’m not a fan, but the second group was the largest Rob had seen in the Canyon.

Once we got to camp there was the usual rush of people getting off the boat to find “the perfect campsite”. I’ve decided not to participate in the annoying rush any more, so just picked a nice spot after everyone else had staked their claim. Then I got some soap and shampoo and took a nice bath. I must be getting used to the cold water because I can actually stay in the water for a while without feeling like I’m getting hypothermia.

Now, while everyone is fumbling around at their campsites, I’m sitting at a beautiful waterfall about 10 minutes from away. I have the whole place to myself and I couldn’t be more pleased. My notebook is getting a little damp from the spray, but I really don’t care. I think I’ll sit here for a while and enjoy the peacefulness.

Stone Creek Falls

Grand Canyon Journal - Tuesday September 6th 2005 - Day 4

River covered: Mile 74 to Mile 96. Camped at Shist

The hike this morning was great. We got up while it was still dark and tossed sandwiches and granola bars in our packs before heading out. I had my bag all packed before I went to be so I wouldn’t have to fumble with it in the dark. Rob lead the way, but it was hard to stay on the trail in such low light. Once we got atop the first ridge the trail got more well defined and the light got better. Within 15 minutes we had made some good ground, but some people were struggling with the pace. I actually I thought we were going a little slow. It wasn’t a particularly cool morning, but it was so nice to be hiking before the heat of the day. In addition, we had some decent cloud cover the whole time so it never got unbearably hot. The trail continued up and up, sometimes on a sloping trail, sometimes over big boulders with large step-ups. It probably took us about 2 hours to get to the top of Tabernacle, and the view was spectacular. We took a little time to sit atop the rock, eat breakfast, and admire the view before heading back to camp.




We had a lot of good rapids today. With the water being so low, there were some extra hazards (in the form of exposed boulders). In Hance Rapids we hit a couple rocks and briefly got stuck on one. In the afternoon we took a quick side hike up Cold Creek. Rob made a pretty amazing parking job to make the hike possible: We floated down the river backwards for a little bit, maneuvering like a trout facing upstream before he hit the motor at just the right time and squeezed the raft right in the mouth of the creek. The payoff at the end of the hike was a cool waterfall often dubbed the “horizontal waterfall”. It’s called that because there is on fall of water coming down over the top and another that shoots in from the side in a horizontal fashion.


After our hike we hit a couple big rapids before finding a camp. The water through the rapids was coooold, and those of us in the front of the boat were glad to see dry ground. A few of us hung out on the boat to drink some beer and chat, and while I was off enjoying myself, a couple ravens came through camp to look for human treasures. When I walked up to my site I saw a couple of them picking through some of my stuff. They were actually pulling things out of my toiletries bag, and in the end made off with my soap.

Sleepy Time

From a couple minutes ago:

Copper 4-pass

I can get Copper 4-passes for $60 but I only want to go to Copper 1 or 2 times.  Does anyone want to split 4 passes with Christine and I?  Each pass can only be used once a day (you couldn't split a pass with 4 other people and all go on the same day, for example).  $15/day at Copper is 20%-30% of the cost at the ticket window (depending on what time of the season you go), so it's a sweet deal.

People with the Gold Pass need not apply.  :P

Grand Canyon Journal - Monday September 5th 2005 - Day 3

River covered: Mile 43 - 74. Camped at Rattlesnake

This morning was a little dew-ey, which meant that the stuff I had hanging to dry from yesterday’s rain was still damp. No biggie, just a little annoying.

I love the glass smooth portions of the river. In the Canyon, the river kind of follows the pattern of pool, rapid, pool, rapid, etc… Some pools are slower than others, and we went through several today. It’s so neat to look out across the water and see the beautiful canyon and its perfect mirror reflection below.

We stopped later morning at Nankoweap Canyon. There’s a big delta at the river where Little Nankoweap and Nankoweap Canyon flow into the main canyon. A loooong time ago (1000-2000 years ago) the Anasazi would farm this delta with corn, beans, and squash and they would store their planting seeds high above the river in granaries molded into the cliffs to keep rodents and moisture out in the off season. We hiked to the granaries and got to see them up close and personal. There were also 2 caves to the left of the granaries that I scurried over to solo. I didn’t want to get too close because I wasn’t sure if it was a no-no, but I got close enough to one to see the mud-mortared wall and I snapped a couple pictures.

Nankoweap Granaries	View from hike

A short ways down the river we came to the mouth of the Little Colorado River. Typically the Little Colorado runs an awesome shade of blue caused by the mineral travertine that comes out of the rocks. If it has been raining heavily in the area, it will turn a muddy brown color and it means the rest of the Colorado River will be muddy. We weren’t sure which version of the Little Colorado we’d get due to the recent rains, and we were happy to see it was blue when we pulled up. The main river is still a little brown, but Rob thinks it will clear up in a day or two.

The Little Colorado is also significantly warmer than the Colorado, so it was fun to play in. We strapped our life jackets around our waist (legs through the arm holes) like a big diaper and floated down the rapids. It was a blast. Even Rob took a trip down, and he was grinning ear to ear when he was done. It’s awesome to see the crew having fun too, instead of just working. (I think Rob was happy too because he scored some butter and other staples from another AZRa boat. Apparently our trip had forgotten to pack them.)

From there we really motored down the river to a campsite called Rattlesnake. Along the way Rob revealed his plan for our next hike (which he referred to as a preposterous proposition). He pointed to a peak called Tabernacle which is 2000+ feet above the river. To do this hike, 7 of us are getting up at 5AM so we can beat the heat. The view ought to be spectacular.

Tabernacle (the single peak on the right)

As I look around camp, I see most everyone is choosing to sleep in tents instead of under the stars. I wish they knew what they were missing. I think I shall try to talk some people out of their tents tonight.

My backpack is packed for tomorrow morning, ravioli dinner is just about ready, and I’m going to do some stretching before I eat.