Grand Canyon Adventures - Thunder River to Deer Creek loop
travel·@derekrichardson·
0.000 HBDGrand Canyon Adventures - Thunder River to Deer Creek loop
 I drove out to Arizona to join my mom and her friends on a four day backpacking trip in the Grand Canyon. Day one began at the Bill Hall trailhead on the North Rim. The trail was steep and rocky but the views were spectacular. We dropped down steeply through the Kaibab and Toroweap formations. Leveling off through the Coconino sandstone formations on the Esplanade and then dropping steeply again through the Redwall Limestone down into Surprise valley. From there we followed the very impressive Thunder river downstream passing lots of beautiful waterfalls on our way down to Tapeats creek. We continued downstream climbing high to bypass the Lower Tapeats gorge and then dropping steeply to the Lower Tapeats camp down in the bottom of the canyon right where Tapeats creek meets the Colorado river. We setup our camp and enjoyed our first night at this absolutely spectacular location.  The Bill Hall trailhead  Overlooking the Esplanade  Crossing the Esplanade  Overlooking Surprise valley  Overlooking the Thunder river  Thunder river waterfalls *(Here is a great article with all the interesting information about the Thunder river - http://web.mst.edu/~rogersda/cp_megalandslides/thunder_river.htm*)  Looking off the top of one of the Thunder river waterfalls  Thunder river waterfalls  The Thunder river  Upper Tapeats creek  Upper Tapeats creek  Skull of a bighorn sheep near Tapeats creek  Arriving at the Colorado river  The Colorado river The next day we left our camp setup at Lower Tapeats creek and did some hiking around there. Exploring along the Colorado river and in and above the lower Tapeats creek gorge. Without any set schedule the day was very care free and relaxing and allowed time for swimming in the river and fishing in the creek.  Overlooking our camp at Lower Tapeats creek  Overlooking the Colorado river  Exploring high above the river  The Colorado river  Taking a swim in the river  Overlooking our camp at Lower Tapeats creek  Exploring above the Lower Tapeats gorge  The Lower Tapeats gorge  Back at the Colorado river  Exploring up the bottom of the Lower Tapeats gorge  Lower Tapeats gorge  Lower Tapeats gorge  Lower Tapeats camp On day 3 we packed up our gear and left Lower Tapeats camp early and headed down river awhile. Then the trail climbed up steeply and took us up over a ridge and dropped us into Deer Creek valley where we made our camp. After setting up camp we headed downstream from there to explore the Deer creek narrows and Deer creek falls. We took a swim at the waterfall and explored the narrow slot canyon above the falls. It was so badass! After enjoying all the absolutely incredible sights, we headed back up to our camp for our final night in the canyon.  Hiking along the Colorado river early morning  Climbing way up above the river  Deer Creek Valley  Deer Creek narrows  Deer Creek narrows  Heading down to the river and the waterfall  Getting down to the river  Deer Creek falls  Deer Creek falls  The Colorado river near Deer Creek falls  Deer Creek falls from the river  Deer Creek narrows  Looking down into the bottom of the narrows  Deer Creek narrows  Deer Creek narrows  Deer Creek narrows  Down in the bottom of the Deer Creek narrows  Deer Creek narrows  Me standing in the bottom of the Deer Creek narrows  Deer Creek narrows  Overlooking our camp in Deer Creek valley  Deer Creek valley The next morning we packed up our camp in Deer Creek valley and began the 5,000 foot climb back to the North Rim. We climbed up out of Deer Creek valley and into Surprise valley where we rejoined the main trail we had hiked down three days earlier. We headed up the trail out of Surprise valley back across the Esplanade and then made the final climb back up to the North Rim successfully finishing another super awesome trip in the Grand Canyon!!  Climbing out of Deer Creek Valley  Climbing out of Deer Creek Valley  Getting back to Surprise valley  Surprise valley  Climbing out of Surprise valley  Overlooking Surprise valley (looking surprised! lol.)  Coconino sandstone formations on the Esplanade  Coconino sandstone formations on the Esplanade  Crossing the Esplanade  Overlooking the Esplanade  Back on the North Rim Thanks for reading!! Youtube video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQO0yGJXIm4 Thanks for watching!! www.californiamountainadventure.com www.facebook.com/CAmountainadventures
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