In May 2011, we did a four-day, three-night backpack trip on the Thunder River and Deer Creek Trails in Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona. John was 58 and I was 57.
The Thunder River and Deer Creek loop begins on the North Rim. As we started out, we were greeted with expansive views from the rim.
We took the shorter, steeper Bill Hall Trail down to the Esplanade, the broad platform below the rim but above the Colorado River in Grand Canyon. This was my first experience walking on the broad, smooth surface. I loved it!
But we needed to descend, and next came Surprise Valley.
The trail was steep and loose. Not much fun.
The trail continued to descend toward the trail’s namesake …
… Thunder River!
This improbable body of water shoots directly out of a rock face.
It continues to flow down until it merges with Tapeats Creek.
We continued our descent …
… toward Tapeats Creek, where we would camp.
We left camp early the next morning and hiked to the Colorado River. From there, we planned to hike to Deer Creek. There is no official trail, but a route used by many backpackers parallels the river downstream. Sometimes it skirts the water’s edge …
… but mostly it is situated high above.
North Rim trails are notorious for a lack of shade. It was quite hot that day, not surprising for the end of May. However, the route is short, only about four miles. We thought we had brought enough water, but it became obvious that we had underestimated how much we would need in the heat. We wanted to hurry to get to Deer Creek, but we also needed to take breaks from the unrelenting sun. We would crawl under the least little bit of shade.
We finally reached Deer Creek Canyon. It was like reaching an oasis in the desert!
We collected water and drank our fill. The area is popular with river runners, and there were quite a few rafters lounging on the flat rocks in the shade or playing in the water. We soon headed up the creek to locate a campsite and put up our tent. John was able to return in the evening to take photographs after the rafters had left.
The next morning, we started the steep hike back up to the Esplanade, where we planned to camp that night. As it would be a dry camp, we had cached water on the way down. After returning to the Esplanade, we could see a change in the weather was coming.
The temperature dropped rapidly, and the wind really picked up. We had talked to two other backpackers who had planned to camp on the Esplanade that night but had decided to hike the rest of the way out. We considered that but decided to stay. We scouted around and found a spot somewhat sheltered from the wind. After setting up our tent, we both scurried inside and bundled up.
It had been so hot for the first two days of the trip that we slept naked on top of our sleeping bags. Now, we needed to wear all the extra clothes we brought. I had initially felt silly for bringing my puffy coat and warm hat, but that night was really cold. We heard later that it snowed on the North Rim that night.
The next morning, we woke up to blue skies …
… and comfortably cool temperatures.
We were so happy we chose to tough out the cold, windy night. Backpacking is not easy, and sometimes there is a price to pay. However, it has been our experience that what you get in return makes it all worthwhile.
All photos from this trip are on Flickr.
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