Grand Canyon 2023:
This year we’ll be hiking the the Thunder River – Deer Creek loop. The map below shows in green, our route and our camp sites 1, 2 and 3. We will leave a vehicle at the Thunder River trail head (our exit) and drive around to the Bill Hall trailhead where we will enter the canyon.
We will get together as a group roughly two weeks before the trip for a shakedown hike up Shaw Mountain or equivalent. This will be a ~6hour hike with full packs and the footwear that you plan on using in the canyon.
Travel Day, Wednesday May-17:
Drive to the North Rim. There is a first-come-first-serve campground near the Thunder River trail head, we’ll try to fit in there (I don’t expect this to be a problem) and get some sleep.
Canyon Day 1, Thursday May-18:
We’ll leave a vehicle at the Thunder River trailhead and drive around to The Bill Hall trailhead. This trail is steep and rough and may not be a lot of fun in parts, but will improve once we merge with the Thunder River trail. We’ll go west at the fork in Surprise Valley and over to Deer Creek to our first camp site. We can explore the trail down to the river from here (this is the only section of the trail that I have already done), or hang out in the slot canyon. This is a beautiful area to spend time in.
Day 2, Friday May-19:
This is an easy day so we can take our time to pack up and follow the river to Lower Tapeats campsite. This section of trail isn’t really an official trail, it’s more of an animal track (mostly human animals). It’s on loose rock, steep in places and is a bit exposed in one section.
Day 3, Saturday May-20:
Another easy day as we hike to Upper Tapeats campground. This trails follows Thunder river to the point where it pours out of the cliff face. We may have to cross the “river” a couple of times but I’m not sure. I’ve seen trip reports that describe trail on both sides of the river, the west side being tricky. We may have to make some route-finding choices along here, or it may be an obvious trail. We’ll see when we get there.
Day 4, Sunday May-21:
We hike back to the rim, but instead of following Bill Hall, we’ll stay on the longer (easier) Thunder River trail back to the rim. This will be a dry section of trail so if you want, we can stash water near the intersection with Bill Hall on our way down so we don’t have to carry it up from Thunder River.
Travel Day, Monday May-22:
Head back to Boizy.
Things to know:
This is a remote trail so there won’t be any outside support. Meaning if someone gets injured we either rescue them ourselves or it’s going to be a very expensive trip! So we need to be extra cautious and take our time in the tricky sections. We also need to be very mindful of the wildlife, Tarantulas, Scorpions, Rattle snakes and the like. Some people like to sleep under the stars, but a lot of critters like to snuggle up with you if you’re laying out on the ground so I would suggest zipping yourself into a shelter of some sort. Also, keep your foot gear (shoes/boots) in the shelter with you or be very careful to make sure they’re empty in the morning before putting your feet in.
We also need to keep our food in rodent proof containers (Ratsack or equivalent).
When you’re body is done with your food, you can bury your human waste away from beach areas, but please bring appropriate bags so you can pack your toilet paper out with you. When we’re near the Colorado river, pee in the river, not on the rocks. There are a couple of toilets near Thunder River but again, only human waste should go into them.
Along the trail we should be able to find Cryptobiotic soil. This is a living curst that is important to the area for the desert life and erosion control. We’ll try to identify this early on so we can avoid trampling on it throughout the trip. Don’t bust the crust!
Here are some links to Youtube trip reports that you might find interesting:
Bill Hall Thunder River Deer Creek
