Oct 10: Deer Creek Falls

What a day! Only 13.5 miles thanks to crazy terrain.

The night at Teddy's Cabin wasn't such a great sleep, as I was afraid to use my mattress on the metal cot, and the springs weren't all that comfy with just my sit pad. Anyway, we got a decent start and rolled off the porch steps down the drainage into Saddle Canyon. It was brushy at first but honestly not bad, because there has been a fire in the last few years and the regrowth is pretty slow. Still, we were only making about a mile an hour. There were a few pour-offs that required climbing around (left-right-right? Or was it right-left-left? Doesn't matter they were small.) Then there was a big honking pour-off that necessitated going on a ridge way above it. The route had a few cairns and you can either stick to the ridge, or whenever you can, drop off to the left and another wash that will put you back in the main wash soon enough.

Anyway, after this giant pour-off, the canyon narrowed and there started to be a bunch of slides. These often have pools of water at the end, so we thought we, and all our gear, were going to get wet today, but only half a dozen total potholes had any water, and only 2 of them required either of use even get our feet wet. Note: none of this water seemed drinkable, the water was shallow and dark with ash and dirt, and the first pothole we had to get our feet wet in had a dead rodent floating in it. Regardless, the slides were pretty fun, and challenging downclimbs.

The canyon opened up, turned a corner, and we passed the beautiful Stina Canyon and also Crazy Jug Canyon. We expected water here but there wasn't any, just a kind of annoying volume of anklebreakers. A couple miles later water did start running in the canyon and I enjoyed it. But only 3/4 mile later the flow from Tapeats spring came in and the flow was raging, and often from wall to wall. We forded maybe a dozen times, and had to walk in the creek for stretches. I didn't think this was all that terrible, but in heavier flow this could for sure kill you. Go down and you're not stopping, because it's really steep.

Maybe a mile and a half of that and then we passed the flow from Thunder River and hit official trail. This is apparently the shortest named river in the world? The entire flow just comes shooting out of the middle of a cliff. Isn't there some scene in Mad Max: Fury Road where they turn on the water and it comes gushing out? Or near the end of Indian Jones: Temple of Doom? It's basically that, but real. It's incredible.

Decent trail across Surprise Valley (shockingly good condition). Then we descended to Deer Creek, and the most amazing narrows where you're walking along a ledge a hundred feet above a torrent, that then drops off a cliff in a giant waterfall mere feet from the Colorado River.

We're camped near the falls and are hoping to get a ride downstream tomorrow morning. I'm not looking forward to waiting around, but I also don't really want to boulder hop the seven miles to Kanab Creek. Since we're at Deer Falls, boaters will for sure be stopping here, but will they give us a ride?