Paul flew in from Houston Wednesday night, May 11. After introducing our dogs to Paul, we had some dinner at Royal India. Then Kelly and I started packing while Paul hit the sack. As usual before a trip, Kelly and I were up late making sure all the proper items were packed.
Thursday morning we left Draper about 9:00 am for our drive to Jacob Lake, AZ via Bryce Canyon. Kelly and I made yet another attempt to eat at the Cowboy Cafe in Panguitch, but once again we were thwarted by business hours. So the cafe across the street served as our lunch spot. The weirdest looking tartar sauce I'd ever seen made me wish I'd skipped the fish and chips and went for the burgers that Paul and Kelly wisely chose.
Our stop at Bryce Canyon turned into an abbreviated one. We walked along the rim adjacent to Bryce Canyon Lodge and I took a few pictures - But Kelly had some work that needed to be emailed back to her office in Salt Lake, so we roared out on Highway 12 hoping to find an internet cafe in Kanab. Good news, there is an internet cafe in Kanab. Bad news, it closes at 2:30 pm. No problem, Kelly had called ahead to Jacob Lake Inn and they confirmed that she could use a terminal there to email a file from a CD. Problem, no CD drive in said computer. It's a nice evening, we decide to drive back to Kanab and find an internet connection and have a Nedra's Too meal. The first RV park just south of Kanab had a sign advertising free wireless internet, so we pulled in. The network was secure, so Kelly inquired within about possibility of accessing the network to send this vital email. A reportedly heavy German accent sent us looking for another option - the library. While searching for the library, Kelly's wireless card picked up a signal. A few u-turns and abrupt stops later, we had a weak and slow signal. Fearful of the neighborhood watch, we continued on to the next option - Holiday Inn Express. The nice folks there set Kelly up with a connection and the email was sent. Vacation for Kelly can officially begin. After turning down the hard sell special at Nedra's (real imitation crab enchiladas), we headed back to Jacob Lake.
The drive to the trailhead on Friday morning was disappointedly uneventful. The backcountry office had earlier in the week stated "let me be blunt, it is not possible to drive to the Monument Point trailhead" due to snow and wet conditions. I couldn't even find a mud puddle to splash. Perfect road conditions.
The "before" shot
We started hiking about 9 am with temperatures in the low 60s - absolutely beautiful. We climbed quickly through the burn area on the rim before abruptly dropping into the Canyon on the Bill Hall Trail. Pretty rough trail conditions and a steep descent. By about 10 am we had made our way down the 10 - 15 scramble and the steep switch back leading to the Esplanade. We took a break there in the shade of Juniper. Shortly thereafter we passed the junction with the trail from Indian Hollow and stopped again in some red rock over hangs. This is where we cached 2 liters of water each for our climb back out in a few days. Another red rock overhang near the Esplanade rim served as our lunch spot. Temperatures were still only in the mid 60s, and it was almost too chilly in my short sleeves to take a good nap. But I wanted to stay cool, fearing the upcoming drop into Surprise Valley would make me long for coolness. And it did. Temperatures quickly rose as we made another steep down climb towards Thunder River springs, reaching a peak of 93 before we dropped into the Thunder River drainage. As advertised, we heard the springs before we could see them. We dropped our packs there and climbed up near the source of the springs. The sound, mist and wind created by the rushing water was amazing. I was still in awe when Kelly dropped the bomb that has made more than one adventure even more perilous "I think I feel a urinary tract infection coming on". Now I have never had the pleasure, but a urinary tract infection seems similar to bamboo shoots under the fingernails. The punishing days we had in store were going to be fun enough without the added complication of blood in the urine. But Kelly's a trooper, and we continued down the brutally steep trail to upper Tapeats campground. We were all feeling poorly by the time we hit the campground, sore knees and generally worn out. All the upper campgrounds were already claimed, so we settled into the southernmost site. Not bad, but quite a ways from the toilet and home to a large red ant hill. But the Raman noodles tasted good, the water was running high in Tapeats Creek, and it was just nice to get the body horizontal and the weight of the feet. Tapeats Creek was still running high enough roll boulders all night long, and cause conversations to be full of "huh" and "what".
Day Two:
This was to be our easy day, and it worked great. Kelly decided that she would press on. We slept in until after 8 am, and didn't break camp until after 10 am. We hiked slowly with lots of breaks along the west shore Tapeats Creek. In one particularity long break, about half of a group river rafters on their way to Thunder Springs stopped to make sure we were OK. Apparently, we looked less than OK.
I don't think they look that bad
It was also at this stop I saw my first snake in the Grand Canyon. I don't know what kind it was, but was black and whitish yellow striped. Kind of exciting because I rarely see much for wildlife when hiking in the Canyon. After a little more hiking, we took another extended lunch break in the shade of a rock overhang just after starting the hike down the gully leading to the delta of Tapeats Creek. We filtered/treated some creek water here and watched the rapids for awhile before beginning the hike along the Colorado "beach". This hiking was not exactly what I expected. A lot more boulder hopping and a lot less romantic beach sand than my mind envisioned. We took another break in the shade of the black rock layer and watched a few rafts pull into Tapeats Creek. Temperatures at this time were in the high 90s. By 5 pm, we had found our campsite on a sandy beach, upstream a few hundred yards from what is probably considered the 135 mile rapid camp area. It was a very peaceful evening for sleeping, a little less roar from the water than the banks of Tapeats Creek.
Day Three:
No sleeping in today. I had been a little worried about Day Three - the miles and elevation gain seemed a little ambitious for my out-of-shape body. So we set a goal of being on the trail by 7 am, and we were actually hiking by 6:45. Definitely a first for Kelly and I. The 15 min of relatively level walking towards the granite narrows ended abruptly with steep climb up and around the narrows. A lengthy traverse and some more climbing put us at the rim of the Deer Valley drainage.
Kelly and I with Deer Creek in the background
We dropped down to Deer Creek and I took a few pictures of the upper narrows while Paul and Kelly, how do I put this, attempted a daring creek crossing. The creek was pretty deep and fast in what must be the typical crossing point, so Kelly and Paul headed upstream a ways, changed into flip flops and headed across. I wasn't there (and unfortunately neither was my camera) but apparently the creek de-flip flopped Paul, causing a reactionary dunking of the hand held socks and boots. Following the laughter, I crossed on a log laying conveniently across stream. My dry condition caused some very unnecessary derogatory statements to be directed at me. We took on some water here, and then ventured down the west bank of Deer Creek towards the falls. Our apprehension about the miles ahead dissuaded us from climbing down to the river to get a good view of the falls. By 10:30 am we had full pack back on and headed up Deer Creek. We made a stop at Deer Creek springs to top off with water and began the climb towards Surprise Valley. Shortly after the springs, we made a wrong turn following some confusing cairns and ended up scrambling up a scree field which then required a traverse across some more sketchy scree fields to regain the main trail. Good news, it was the only possible way to hike the trail in shade. Bad news, very tight sphincter contractions and spousal cussing. The temperature reached the mid 90s during our climb out, and we stopped for an hour plus lunch break under some manufactured shade. Breaks we had taken during the day really helped me stay in good condition. The climb back up the Esplanade was tough, and temperatures climbed to triple digits, but we stopped for a couple more shade breaks on the way out. Kelly and Paul both like climbing rather than descending, so it always tough for me to keep up. But by about 4 pm, we were resting in the shade on the Esplanade. By 5:30 pm, we were at our water cache/camp site. The sunset that evening was spectacular. Our normal campsites in the Canyon don't provide the expansive views that the Esplanade does. I think we all really enjoyed hiking and camping on the Esplanade, I'd like to explore that layer some more in the future.
Sunset on the Esplanade
Day Four:
We had a relatively short hike ahead of us today, but substantial elevation to gain. We didn't really plan on getting an early start, but we were hiking before 7 am again. Thanks to the early start, the tough switchbacks up to the traverse were completed in the shade. Tough climb, but temperatures in the mid 60s sure helped. We hit the sun as we crossed over the ridge that leads to Bill Hall Mesa and began our last tough climb of the trip. We were back on the rim before 10 am even with a couple of extended breaks on the way out. We opted out of reservation at Jacob Lake Inn and headed to Kanab and checked into the internet providing Holiday Inn Express for a shower. We spent the rest of the day in Kanab, relaxing and eating. Houston's Trails End provided lunch, and it was back to Nedra's Too for dinner. Any guess on the special....yep, still offering those real imitation crab enchiladas. I had pork.
The "after" shot - and still smiling
Closing Notes:
When I did my first Grand Canyon hike in 1997 with Sally undertook and the Field Institute, I remember hearing about Thunder River and thinking that I'd never be able to handle such challenging/rewarding hike. But I highly recommend it to those masochists out there who are willing to lose and gain massive elevation over rough trails. Our hike was perfectly planned by Paul, and I would highly recommend our route over the way others in the Canyon were doing it: down to Thunder River, back up through Surprise Valley and down to Deer Creek, then back up. The hiking along the Colorado is certainly not a typical beach hike, but I enjoyed it. Having an easy day to help us recover was awesome. It was also nice to be camped along water for two of the three nights - very atypical for our usual Canyon hikes. Kelly bucked up and toughed out severe discomfort during the hike, she continues to amaze me. The Esplanade rocks - I'd like to see more of it.
If 5 pictures of the Canyon isn't enough for you, click here for 174 more.
