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| Hiking | 14.00 Miles |
3,600 AEG |
| | Hiking | 14.00 Miles | 9 Hrs | | 1.56 mph |
| 3,600 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | Well this one was an adventure! Wish we'd had more time, as this would be more enjoyable as a backpack. We were camped out at Parrissawampitts Point with a group of mountain bikers, who were off riding the Rainbow trail. Tanya's not interested in mtn biking, so we looked for a nearby trail to hit. I'd heard a lot about this trail (particularly about the Thunder River Falls that lay below), but was a bit apprehensive about the distance and the heat. Our friend Eric was intersted in seeing the falls too, so off we went at the crack of dawn down Bill Hall Trail.
We were enjoying the views and I found the Esplanade traverse to be an absolute delight. What an amazing place... we made good progress and by 9:00, we were ready to drop down to Surprise Valley. It was getting warm, but we were getting there and still had 2 gallons of water apiece. We encountered a large group of about 10 climbing up to the Esplanade - we later found out this was an REI adventure grup.
Things looked good to see the falls until, heading down the hill, I rolled an ankle badly(staring at a fault across the valley, no less,  ) I found a walking stick and hobbled down into Surprise Valley to the Deer Creek junction, and decided not to risk further ankle damage, reluctantly turning around. So close yet so far! Eric went ahead, taking one of my two-way radios, to see the falls and refill his water. Tanya would not leave me alone, so back up we went, taking it easy up the brutally hot climb out of Surprise Valley. We found a huge pinyon on the rimrock and sat in the shade and breeze, snoozing until Eric rejoined us. He had reached the falls, which was good to hear!
Together again, we set across the warm Esplanade but the breeze made it pleasant, and we reached the base of the final climb around 2:00. We overtook the REI group halfway up, which had one member out of water and in the beginning stages of heat exhaustion. They had him in the shade and resting, forcing fluids into him. I left them with a half-full gatorade that I had left, and my bag of sour worms, and one of the guides set off up the hill to return with more water. Be careful out there...
We topped out around 3:30 and enjoyed the afternoon light playing on the canyon walls. What a day, what a trail. Need to bring the backpack next time... |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
