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| Canyoneering | 20.00 Miles |
6,000 AEG |
| | Canyoneering | 20.00 Miles | 3 Days | | |
| 6,000 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | You know it's going to be a good trip when the NPS includes a fun warning of "AGGRESSIVE ITINERARY! HIKER INSISTED ON ITINERARY!!" on the permits.  This was an amazing backpacking/canyoneering trip on the north rim, including a technical descent of the middle fork of upper deer creek and many incredible sights along the way.
Friday: We got an early start from the Monument Point TH and made our way down the trail, caching water for the hike out along the way. After a couple hours on the trail, we turned off down the middle fork of deer creek canyon and made our way towards the technical section. We had a ways to go through this section but after a few "nuisance" rappels the canyon began slotting up and getting significantly more beautiful. Out came the gear and on went the wetsuits as we spent the next 5 hours rappelling, down-climbing and wading through the canyon. It was incredibly beautiful with narrow glowing walls, sculpted stone, boulders jammed in high above and many reflecting pools. The keeper pothole at the end was about 3' low but still easy to get out of thanks to the natural steps along the lip. Lots of tricky downclimbing in here and we had to utilize LMAR (last man at risk) in two spots. Soon after the canyon opened up, we found our campsite for the night on a shelf above the watercourse. We scarfed down our dinners and barely made it to backpacker's midnight before we fell asleep under the stars to the sound of frogs and the flicker of lightning from a far-away storm bouncing off the towering canyon walls. A peaceful end to a perfect day.
Saturday: I thought Saturday was going to be our easy day... ha!! Our morning started with a scramble up a crumbly scree slope in order to bypass the obstacle blocking our way in the creek past our campsite. A few hours of boulder-hopping, route-finding and tons of down-climbing down deer creek canyon ensued. Finally we hit a regular trail and followed it out to lower deer creek where we marveled at the incredible narrows while making our way down to see the big waterfall... what an amazing sight! The Colorado was green and beautiful and it was so nice to frolic through the little oasis there before continuing our hike. We reluctantly left and started the steep trail up to Surprise Valley -- our packs at this point were loaded down with backpacking gear, canyoneering gear and 5 liters of water! It was hot and relentlessly uphill but the views here were astounding. I think we were all somewhat "out of it" by the time we reached Surprise Valley. Plus we were all feeling kind of dejected by the only small campsite we could find there, as there was no shade and it was home to a big pile of red ants. We were contemplating pushing on to find a better campsite or even going straight though to make it back to the car, as both options sounded more appealing than sitting there roasting in the sun all evening. And then a crazy bearded mystery hiker man appeared on the trail and stopped to chat with us for awhile. Turns out he was partway through an 800+ mile trek along the Hayduke trail carrying only a small backpack. He provided the perfect inspiration to get us up and hiking in search of a better place to sleep for the night. We ended up doing another 1500' before finding an awesome little campsite that had a great view of the sunset. I am a little bummed we skipped Thunder River but it's a good excuse to go back sometime and see it.
Sunday: Up bright and early again to finish the rest of the hike and get back to the car. Found our cache and then made the push up and up and up to the top. Found myself stopping to enjoy every last glimpse of the canyon as the parking area finally came into view. Flip flops and clean clothes awaited at the car... woohoo! Before long we were flying down the road towards civilization, food, hot showers and soft beds. An unforgettable adventure to be sure.
Some afterthoughts... Man, I love the Grand Canyon! Hiking and canyoneering there is so much more difficult... everything is bigger, steeper, rougher, heavier and technically challenging... but so much more rewarding. Getting to see the geology change so drastically on this trip as the miles passed below our feet was pretty amazing. It also never ceases to astound me how much one learns about themselves on such an adventure. I'm pretty awed and full of gratitude for such a place even existing, and being able to make our way across just a tiny slice of it with the company of really incredible people. I already can't wait to go back.  |
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