Thunder River Loop

The Thunder River - Deer Creek loop starts from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  Coming from Kanab, UT, the last hour of the drive is on dirt roads.  Forty-five river miles downstream from the Bright Angel trail, this portion of the Grand Canyon feels much more remote.

The Thunder River loop starts on the Bill Hall trail which follows the rim for about half a mile, then descends into the canyon.  Initially the trail is steep and rocky before contouring between two cliff bands, searching for a place to descend further into the canyon.

Another rocky descent leads to tight switchbacks leading down to the Esplanade, a plateau roughly 2000 feet below the rim.  Small rocks cover the loose, sunbaked trail making the descent slippery.

Looking back toward the rim from the Esplanade, it's not readily apparent how the trail made its way down.  So often the rock walls of the Grand Canyon make passage seem impossible.  At least from a from a distance.

Looking back at the rim, it is a puzzle to figure out how I ended up on the Esplanade.

My journey to the Esplanade was much longer than just the trail.  This November I ended up on the Esplanade for the 4th time.  The first time was back in 2016.  After years of hiking from the south rim, we discovered the Thunder River loop looking for new terrain to explore in the Grand Canyon.

From the south rim, we had hiked the Grandview trail, the Boucher trail, the Hermit trail, the Kaibab trail, and the Bright Angel trail.  Each of these trips we explored some new places and often covered some of the same ground we had in previous years.

Whether trekking along the Tonto platform or hiking over to Clear Creek on the north side of the canyon, we always preferred the more remote sections of the canyon.  Now that we've hike the Thunder River loop 4 times, I realize that solitude of the area was just as appealing as finding new terrain.

The unique geology of the Grand Canyon has always captivated my family.  Before we went to the Grand Canyon for Thanksgiving weekend, we hiked the trans-Zion traverse over the previous Thanksgiving.  After seeing the massive shear walls in the main canyon and endless red and white slick rock slopes, we decided to head back to the southwest the next year.

I'm not sure what drew us to the Grand Canyon.  Perhaps the chance to explore a new place or maybe the warmer weather a little further south.  In the high country on the west side of Zion, we hiked through snow and had our water bottles freeze overnight.

After our first trip to the Grand Canyon, we decided to go back again.  I'm not sure if the plan was to continue to explore new places in the southwest or if there even was a plan, but something about the Grand Canyon repeatedly drew us in.

With huge red-stone walls, stacked one atop another, the Grand Canyon extends thousands of feet down to the Colorado River.  Along the way, the compilation of cliff walls creates endless side canyons in country so rugged that I often wonder if there are places where no one has ever set foot.

Many of side canyons in the Grand Canyon have trails, but if you choose to leave the trail behind, cross-country travel is slow.  Loose, rocky terrain makes the footing challenging.  Prickly pear cactus guard the way.  Perhaps the biggest challenge is the lack of water.

The Grand Canyon is remarkably devoid of water for a place which was created by water.  As the power of water is more evident in the Grand Canyon than anywhere else, it is ironic that trips are largely dictated by the location of the next water source.

That's how we ended up camping above Thunder River for our first night of this trip in the Grand Canyon.  Thunder River was the first water source available.

Thunder River is more than just a water source.  Flowing right out of the cliff wall, Thunder River has an estimated flow rate of 21 million gallons per day.  The river descends quickly before feeding into Tapeats Creek which in turn feeds into the Colorado River.

We descended along Thunder River to Tapeats Creek in the morning cool.  There are two trails along Tapeats Creek: one crosses the creek, the other does not.  This year we chose to stay dry.

The dry route along the west side of the creek climbs high above the creek to avoid cliffs near the water.  The hike along the east side offers some scenic sections close to the creek.  After the trails rejoin, there is a spur to an overlook above the Colorado River where we stopped for a quick snack.

A faint trail follows the Colorado River.  Winding through jumbled rocks, brush, and sand, the route led us toward Deer Creek.  The midday sun was surprisingly hot at the river.

Halfway to Deer Creek, the river edge becomes blocked by cliffs and the trail climbs to avoid them.  Actually two trails lead up from the river.  One climbs up immediately while the other follows the river a while longer.

We thought about taking the lower trail this year, but did not give much effort looking for the start of the it.  We had looked for the trail before, but have never been able to find it.  At least, not the east end of the trail which starts down by the river.

Each year we see the west end of the trail where it ties in near Deer Creek and spend time wondering where the trail goes.  One day we will take the low trail.  Perhaps we just need to hike the loop in reverse, then we won't have to find the east end of the trail.

We reached Deer Creek early in the afternoon, so decided to hike down to the Colorado River in the evening.  The trail leads down a tight canyon with a few exposed spots before descending down wide switchbacks to the river.

The Colorado River flowed by peacefully in the afternoon while Deer Creek falls poured down from above.  We headed back shortly after arriving to have time to eat before darkness.

Photo: Jacob Miller

Photo: Jacob Miller

Like Thunder River, Deer Creek is also spring fed.  Unlike, Thunder River, the spring is off the beaten path, so this year we decided to find it.

The hike up Deer Creek was easy due to a recent flood which had knocked down much of the brush along the creek.  The walls of the creek bed grew tall and eventually we were unable to follow the creek without getting our feet wet.

We crossed to the west side of the creek and found a trail leading upstream.  Following the trail, we ended up back in the creek bed at the foot of a brushy hillside, the sure sign of water in the Grand Canyon.

Upstream the creek bed was dry, but water was flowing into the creek from the hillside.  We hiked up to find the source, but the brush was so thick that we only were able to get close enough to the spring to hear the rush of water.

After our detour to the Deer Creek spring, we hoisted our packs and began the ascent to Surprise Valley.

We stopped briefly in the shade to eat a snack, before resuming our climb out of the canyon.  Leaving Surprise Valley behind us, we began ascending to the Esplanade.

The climb to the Esplanade is short and the traverse along the Esplanade takes much longer.  Each year it seems surprising.  Regardless, we found ourselves at the foot of the final climb out of the canyon in the early afternoon.

Standing on the Esplanade looking back toward the rim, the route to the top is hard to pick out.  Which brings me back to how I ended up in the Grand Canyon to begin with.

Stumbling on the Grand Canyon after our trip to Zion was a lucky find.  November brings ideal weather in the Grand Canyon: reasonable temperature and minimal chance of getting snowed on.

Stumbling on the wonders of the Southwest was even luckier.  The summer before our trip to Zion, we went backpacking in Washington.  The plan was to start at Snowqualmie pass and hike across the Kendall Katwalk.

That year, there was too much snow to cross the Katwalk, so we found a new starting point and headed into the woods.

Our trip was brief.  Upon reaching our first campsite, we spend the afternoon sitting by the lake with all our raingear on to combat the mosquitoes.  The next day we hiked as far as we would before the trail became covered in deep snow and we couldn't follow it though the trees.

After that we headed over a ridge and descended down the valley on the other side in hopes of finding some bare ground to hike.  The river in that valley was swelled up from snowmelt and too deep to cross.  We decided to throw in the towel and head out.  It was the first time we bailed on a trip.

To make up for that, we decided to try for a trip in the fall.  Jacob and I had got the entire Thanksgiving week off that year, so we decided to head to Zion.  The trip was great and our Thanksgiving backpacking trip has been a tradition we've tried to maintain.

Looking back on it, it's amazing how one setback opened up an entirely new opportunity.  Well, Zion, the Grand Canyon, and a Thanksgiving trip were there all along, but sometimes it takes a little adversity to get you looking in the right places.