|
| | | Cranberry Canyon attempt, AZ | | | |
|
|
Cranberry Canyon attempt, AZ
| | |
| |
|
| Backpack | 42.00 Miles |
10,500 AEG |
| | Backpack | 42.00 Miles | 4 Days | | |
| 10,500 ft AEG | | 28 LBS Pack | | |
|
|
| |
| Partners |
|
none
[ show ]
| no partners | | Took 4 days to backpack around Deer and Tapeats creeks. We were hoping to return to Indian Hollow via the cranberry route but couldn't find the redwall route before it got very hot. Overall the trail was slow (or NPS mileages were off) but it was very rewarding.
Day 1: Indian Hollow to Deer Creek. There were thunderstorms the previous afternoon and for a couple hours fog was evaporating off the esplanade - what a pretty effect. Potholes were abundant on our hike down and somewhat more limited on the return trip. We didn't have trouble following the old trail along the esplanade to Bill Hall jct although others reported it was difficult.
It was already warm by the time we reached Surprise Valley but we promptly found a big rock with ample shade. We made sure to stay on top of food and electrolytes and still got hot by the time we reached the creek, where we took a long break in the water. The trail to deer creek is slow over boulders and talus, but the rocks are stable. On the way to the campsite we found some flowers which were absolutely swarmed by tarantula hawks. I got excited about the photo opportunity until I noticed a truly giant wasp....
After setting our tents we continued to the patio and the beach. Wow. Possibly my favorite mile in the whole canyon. We debated and decided you'd likely die if you fell off the ledges above the narrows so we made sure to return to camp sober and before dark. As soon as we arrived on the beach a boater walked straight over and offered us beers and trash service - how wonderful! We had enough time for a quick dinner and wade around the falls before heading up to bed.
Day 2: loop through Thunder River/ Tapeats Creek. We started early and were treated to beautiful light once we got over our intial hill - golden beams shining onto the opposite side of the canyon. The trail was easy walking for about a mile and reminded me of Beamer. Some big pontoon boats passed below - that was my first time seeing them and... they're a bit much.
After a quick wade in the river we started up into Tapeats Creek. It got hot fast when we were on the hotter rocks. The trail was a little exposed on both sides of the river, but river left was worse. The Thunder River crossings weren't evident so we made our best guess. We found a nice pool and probably spent a good hour sitting in the river around noon. This paid off later because our hike out to Surprise Valley was cooler than the rest of the day had been. There were also two easy access points to the waterfall and we took advantage to keep cool. Back in Deer Creek we enjoyed dinner at the patio and filtered lots of water (thank goodness for gravity filters) to prepare for our tough next day.
Day 3: Cranberry crack attempt. We got an early start and each carried 7-8L water. Right off the bat we took the hard way up to the ancient lake bed, going over the lower saddle instead of the upper. The lakebed was very cool and the easiest walking of the entire trip. We lost elevation rather than try to sidewalk on the talus below our goal slope. First we headed straight up and lost access to cross the big ravine to climbers right. We descended partway after realizing and found a cairn indicating where to enter the ravine. There was another cairn in the ravine that wasn't visible from the first cairn, so we added one to fill the gap. The scrambling got easier for a little while, although it continued heating up. The nastiest section was talus at the base of the redwall.
Thinking our chute was at climber's left, we climbed to the base of the redwall and used handholds on the cliff to stay secure on this nastiest bit of talus. My friend climbed to the only possible chute we saw and said it was no-go. We'd already decided that was our last ditch and we weren't wasting time in the heat searching for our chute, so we promptly turned around. I think the proper chute was actually slightly to the right above us but I'd accidentally deleted my reference photos, GPX, and notes - ugh! We had a hot, slippy, slow climb back down the talus and were relieved to return to a semblance of flat ground. This time we took the higher saddle to exit the ancient lakebed with much better results. When we reached the trail he proceeded to the patio for a very welcome rest, then down to the beach/ falls again for dinner.
Day 4: Missing the Cranberry route meant we had a long hike out. We hit the trail at 5:15am and worked hard to ascend out of Surprise Valley before the sun hit us. We took a bit more time on the esplanade, finding a few nice shady spots on the slickrock where we couldn't resist breaking. Only the largest/ most sheltered potholes were still full.
I had some nasty hot spots developing (strangely, I never noticed them until I took my shoes off each evening so they got quite bad) and I was quite "over it" by the time we began our final ascent to Indian Hollow. After dumping excess water (my pack was probably now below 15lbs) I got a second wind and was marching along... until the trail routed around a dead tree. The tedium of scrambling 15ft down loose talus just 5 minutes from the trailhead nearly broke me. Once on the rim, I was hardly interested in a last look into the canyon, but that's about normal for me. Happily, I had grilled cheese fixings waiting in my car. |
| | |
|
|
|
Route Editor
Route Scout
