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| Morning on the Esplanade |
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Southeastern View of Surprise Valley from Esplanade |
On the morning of July 7, we continued hiking the Thunder River Trail across the Esplanade for roughly two miles, ultimately reaching the rim of Surprise Valley. We descended 1100 feet on the Thunder River Trail through the Supai limestone and sandstone layers (285 million years old), as well as the Redwall limestone formations (335 million years old), to reach the Surprise Valley floor by mid-morning. The Thunder River Trail intersects the Deer Creek Trail in Surprise Valley roughly 4.25 miles after it crosses with the Bill Hall Trail. At this point, we began hiking southwestwardly on the Deer Creek Trail through the rolling hills of Surprise Valley. More detail on the Deer Creek Trail may be found at: Deer Creek Trail Description
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View of Surprise Valley & Cogswell Butte from Esplanade |
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View West from within Surprise Valley |
Surprise Valley is bounded on the north by the Redwall limestone cliffs that rise to the Esplanade above and the rocky walls of Cogswell Butte on the south. The vegetation in Surprise Valley is scrubby and hardy. The valley is exposed to direct sunlight for much of the day and there's little shade to be found. While there aren't sharp elevation changes in this region, the heat is extraordinary, even for the Grand Canyon. It's a good idea to hike this area in the early morning hours.
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Deer Creek Valley |
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| Deer Spring |
After roughly 3 miles through Surprise Valley, the Deer Creek Trail led us to the edge of a Muav limestone cliff. The gray Muav limestone comprises yet another layer of the Grand Canyon, this one about 515 million years old. From this point, Deer Creek becomes visible and Deer Spring audible. We then began a third steep descent of about 1000 feet, over the course of two miles, to the Deer Creek valley. Near the bottom, we took a spur trail to Deer Spring, the source of Deer Creek. Deer Spring is a study in stark, beautiful contrast as it gushes straight from a huge canyon wall providing an environment unlike any we'd seen in the previous 9.5 miles. Deer Spring is a good place for wildlife sightings, although we weren't fortunate enough to see anything.
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Entering Deer Creek Narrows |
We left Deer Spring after a much appreciated break and returned to the Deer Creek trail. After the trail wound through a stretch of tall reed grass, we reached Deer Creek, rock-hopped across, and continued our hike. We passed a campsite on the way, the second poor decision in the trip (the first being the decision to not cache water on the Esplanade). I had read in a guide book that the NPS was planning to establish a campsite at Deer Creek Falls, along the river. In a miscommunication with the backcountry ranger, I thought that this had been confirmed. As a side note, since Deer Creek is heavily visited (more on this later), camping is confined to established campsites - there is no open backcountry camping allowed in this region. So, we continued past the Deer Creek campsite and entered Deer Creek Narrows, with Deer Creek Falls as our destination.
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| Granite Narrows |
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Colorado River from Deer Creek Narrows |
Deer Creek cuts a gorge (the Narrows) through the 545 million year-old Tapeats sandstone layer of the Grand Canyon. Soon after the head of the Narrows, Deer Creek disappears and the trail follows a ledge above the winding gorge. Through most of this section the Narrows are over 100 feet deep and roughly 10 feet wide. The trail is bounded by the Narrows on one side and a steep wall on the other while the trail itself is quite narrow in spots. This would not have been an issue had we been without our full packs; however, with them the 0.25 mile-long Narrows is a challenging area to negotiate. After a few too-close-for-comfort moments that including crawling and ducking, we emerged from the shady corridor to an amazing overlook 250 feet above Granite Narrows (the most narrow section of the Colorado River within the Grand Canyon).
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| Deer Creek Falls |
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Deer Creek Narrows |
We continued down the remaining half-mile of Deer Creek Trail, descending to the the Colorado River bank. From the river, Deer Creek can now be seen once again as it escapes from the Narrows in a magnificent 100-foot waterfall. It was at this point we realized there was no established campsite. This was confirmed by Pete, an NPS backcountry ranger that we had met at the North Rim entrance booth. Pete had been tasked with placing a sign at the Thunder River/Bill Hall Trail junction as it has been a troublesome intersection in the past and he was using the opportunity to explore the Deer Creek area. As stated earlier, the Deer Creek Narrows/Falls area is heavily trafficed by rafting groups that stop at this popular spot (all of the people we met in teh Deer Creek area were day hikers, we encountered no other backpackers). It was late in the day and the crowds began to thin as the rafters had some travelling left before setting up the evening's camp. We relaxed and enjoyed Deer Creek Falls and the Colorado River before heading back up the trail to face the unpleasant reality of hiking back through the Narrows with full packs.
The return hike through the Narrows was a bit harrowing, but we made it back to the same Deer Creek campsite we had passed a few hours earlier. The rafters were gone and the Grand Canyon was seemingly all ours, the solitude a nice benefit to backpacking during the hottest part of the year. A refreshing dip in Deer Creek was a perfect end to a long day. We had covered seven miles and 3000 feet vertically, but the physical demands were trivial compared to the mental challenges of squeezing through the Narrows. Donna wanted to leave the next morning. The Narrows made this quite the experience for her first backpacking trip.
Created on ... November 15, 2004