So It's not really a wheeling report, but it is the reason I missed the Hackberry run in AZ this weekend. I took a 5 day backpack into the Grand Canyon to Thunder Springs, Thunder River, and Tapeats Creek. We had a great time. This was my 5th trip but 2 of the guys were 1st timers and it was really fun to see their excitement. Seems like I find something new every time I go down there. Okay, on to the pics.

Day 1 (in we go)

We're up here. Gotta get down there.


I was sure that elevator was around here somewhere.


Here's what we came for. Thunder Spring. For scale, those trees next to the spring source are about 60 feet tall. Thunder spring puts out approximately 21 million gallons of water per day. Yes, thats 21 MILLION!!! A link to some interesting facts about Thunder Spring- http://web.mst.edu/~rogersda/cp_mega...nder_river.htm



A shot of one of the smaller falls from underneath.


The Monkeyflowers were in bloom.


Back on the trail to head down to Tapeats Creek.


And here we are at the confluence where Thunder River flows into Tapeats Creek. How, you may ask, can a river flow into a creek? I asked the same thing and found that usage of the terms river, creek, stream, brook and any others you may think of are largely a matter of semantics. They are not used by the scientific community and vary in usage from different areas of the world.
http://www.usgs.gov/faq/list_faq_by_...m=rss_homepage
http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives...7311.Es.r.html
I also found this page but it has no real references so it's hard to give it any credence.
http://www.liquidlocomotion.com/2007...iver-vs-creek/

 

Day 2 (up the creek with out a...)

Sometimes there is a trail. Sometimes the creek is the trail.




Some cool rock texture and some waterfalls.








Tim takes a break and enjoys the scenery.


Todd and Bryan take a closer look.


Then Bryan takes a really close look. We all ended up in there eventually. Oh and that water is about 50-55 degrees.

 

Day 3 (sent down the river)
We make the trek down to the Colorado but I FORGOT MY FLIPPIN CAMERA!!! Sorry about that. I should be able to update/edit when I get some pics from my mates.

 

Day 4 (gettin a little on the side)

Today we explore a side canyon that in years past we just walked by and thought was inaccessable. The 2 new guys had different ideas however, and a little investigating found us a way in.
We head up here...

Scramble over this kind of stuff...

and under this kind of stuff...

and along this kind of stuff...

to finally hit the end of the road here. This thing was about 3 feet wide and 100 feet high and had scoured out a big round cathedral easily a couple hundred feet across.

 

Day 5 (UP and at 'em)

Well we have to go home now, so back up past the springs to Surprise Valley.


Problem is, we're down here and to go way up there...


so we can hike a few miles across this so we can...


oh crap, go up this




So that's that.


Hope you had fun.

 

Excellent! Looks awesome. I would love to get myself organized and plan a similar trip. Did you need permits etc?

 

Very nice thanks for posting that up. Looks like some where that would be worth going to see.

 

Yeah. Any time you overnight it below the rim, you need a backcountry permit. They are not too hard to get what you want when you go out into the wild areas. Most people apply for a very few spots in the main corridor use areas and end up disappointed to not get their request. Choose something remote and you will likely get just what you want.

Linky: http://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisi...try-permit.htm

The lodges and Phantom Ranch campground (IIRC) are run by a private contractor and reservations are thru them. They are called Xanterra but I heard rumor that they may not be getting re-newed and that reserv. are on hold until...? I'll noodle around and see if I can confirm that.

 

cool pics man! that place is awesome. i dont go there much even though its 45 mins away. geez i needa get out more....

 

Nice trip report. I'll have to get some info from you in regards to the location of Thunder Spring and the rest.

 

Anytime Steve.

 

Nice pics, that looks like a lot of fun

 

great pics

 

looks like fun. I would enjoy hiking down in there.

I flew over the GC last week and for the first time in my 6 trips thru there this summer the lighting was perfect and man was is gorgeous (and of course my camera was in my truck)