Deer Creek/Thunder River Loop Photoset • PrestonSands • 2013-11-02 • HikeArizona.COM

Deer Creek/Thunder River Loop, AZ

	2013-11-02
	48 by PrestonSands

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Deer Creek/Thunder River Loop, AZ

Backpack	25.75 Miles	8,500 AEG

Backpack	25.75 Miles	2 Days
	8,500 ft AEG		35 LBS Pack

no routes

Linked

linked

Bill Hall Trail

Deer Creek Trail - GC

Deer Creek Narrows

Tapeats Creek

Thunder River Trail

Partners

partners

	Dave1	The_Eagle
	Tortoise_Hiker

After an hour's sleep, I met up with Dave, Bruce and Denny in Camp Verde in the middle of the night (morning?), then crawled into the Brucemobile for the long journey to the North Rim. The sun rose as we crossed the Colorado River, turning the Vermillion Cliffs...vermillion. Quite a sight. After a breakfast stop in Jacobs Lake, we headed into the wild woods on slightly snowy back roads, encountering several turkeys and a couple of "you shore got a purdy mouth" boys along the way. Dave led the way into the Canyon on the Bill Hall Trail...

The four of us descended to the broad red rock country of the Esplanade, with its Sedona like feel. We stashed water for the return hike before our big drop through the Redwall. It was a big drop indeed down jumbled blocks of massive landslide debris to the floor of desolate Surprise Valley, which looked like it would be HOT :sweat:

during the summer. We searched for and found a little mesquite tree to cool off under and eat lunch, before continuing onto Deer Creek.

As we dropped into Deer Creek canyon, the sound of a waterfall greeted us below massive Redwall cliffs. Deer Spring poured out of a hole in a cliff. We cooled off and reloaded on water at the base of the falls, enjoying a little piece of paradise. Deer Creek itself started off beautiful and grew to jaw-dropping-amazing as we entered Deer Creek Narrows. I was blown away by the Narrows with its slot canyon and waterfalls. After a brief search, we found a route down to the base of enormous Deer Creek Falls, on the shores of the Colorado River. A beautiful and impressive waterfall, to say the least.

We backtracked a bit to the beginning of the Narrows, and began our off trail journey up the Colorado River at dusk. A couple hours later we reached Tapeats Creek and our camp for the night. Mountain House never tasted better. Much needed sleep came quickly. :zzz:

Sunday morning dawned and we were on our way, making a steep climb up the western wall of Tapeats Canyon. High above the creek, we contoured along above the cliffs into a deep gorge of overwhelming scenic beauty, where a ribbon of whitewater snaked its way through a never ending series of red rock walls. I filled one memory card on my camera, then loaded another. Our route involved crossing the swift, chilly waters of Tapeats Creek a couple of times, which we did with care.

Two miles up Tapeats Creek, we reached its confluence with the thundering Thunder River. One last creek crossing and we began ascending Thunder River's course to its source. Aptly named Thunder Spring greeted us amidst a lush, leafy green canopy, below a sheer cliff of Redwall Limestone. We rested here awhile, enjoying the impossible beauty. Dave and I attempted unsuccessfully to reach the cave where the spring flowed out of. It was possible, but the move from one ledge to another over open air seemed too risky. We continued on, reaching Surprise Valley once again, where we fueled up for our push through the Redwall cliffs. Gerhardt, the German hiker we had met the day before, joined us for lunch.

Up the cliff and across the Esplanade once more, where we retrieved our water stash and rested for he final push to the North Rim. A lone bighorn sheep atop a cliff watched us for some time as we trudged up the Bill Hall Trail. The setting sun turned the Kaibab Limestone from white to gold as we crested Monument Point, exhausted. A short time later we arrived at the trailhead at dusk. A change of clothes and were racing down the back roads toward Jacobs Lake Lodge, where we enjoyed a well deserved, delicious post-hike dinner. Best burger I've had in a while.

Following dinner, four dead-tired zombies climbed back into the Brucemobile, and sped south into the night for home. An amazing, unforgettable, and perfect trip. I had a blast with you guys!