Heres another brief account. Hakatai Canyon was a quick jaunt on one of our non-layover days. We had set up camp early, so an afternoon walk was in order. Hakatai turned into a fairly narrow slot right off the bat and had some interesting fluted chimney upclimbs out of the pools of clear water. I was in search of Bass’s asbestos camp. After a couple solo upclimbs I came to a pile of rubble that nearly blocked the creek bottom. Not ever having seen asbestos before I just assumed that this was the spot? Took a couple photos and continued upstream a while before deciding to turn back and see what was up at camp. On the way back I encountered Duffy, Tolease and Monty working their way up. I explained that I think I had seen the asbestos mine and was headed back down. That’s when Monty asked if I had seen the archaelogic site? Once again I joined the trio to enjoy some companionship and check out the sites. As we got to the rubble blockage, Monty exclaimed that this was a very fresh “Schist” avalanche! So it wasn’t the asbestos! Onward ho…….around the corner Duffy and I startled 4 young rams as they scrambled to leave the wash. Soon we came to a wooden sign that the Park had obviously installed many years ago…It suggested no entry, asbestos hazard! He, he, he…..do we heed or not?! NOT! What the heck…even Bass lived to the ripe old age of 94 after spending years on this forbidden site! Those early pioneers were some TOUGH DUDES! Getting the asbestos out of that canyon alone was a superhuman feat! On the way back down Monty pointed to a ledge up high where I could find the Ancient Civilization remnants, so I did a quick scramble and checked them out. Now those Anasazi were an even TOUGHER BREED! Again back to camp for more great food and storytelling around “Cackles” perfect campfire! Of course later on the trip I had to do the requisite Tapeats Creek/ Thunder River/ Surprise Valley/ Deer Creek Up and Over and Back Down Hike. This was a casual 4 hour stroll that only 2 of us wanted to partake of. The rest of the crew ferried the 7 boats after dropping us off and relaxed at Deer Creek as they awaited our return. The trail is obviously very popular with commercial boat trips and backpackers coming from the North Rim as well. Tapeats Creek has quite a heavy flow, mostly fed by Thunder Spring, and is a very pretty canyon. Thunder River flows into Tapeats just above the upper Tapeats Campground and then its an ascent to arrive at the stunning Thunder Spring after a short three quarter mile. To me Thunder Spring is second only to Vaseys Paradise in sheer beauty! As we continue, the hike takes us up a bit further until arriving at Surprise Valley “slough”, and the casual walk until dropping steeply into Deer Creek. A quick pit stop at Deer Spring and the Throne Room, then down to the Water Cress abundant streambed below to the terrace and narrow ledge atop the ever deepening slot canyon below. Finally down the hillside to the beautiful waterfall where many private boat trips and backpackers alike had stopped to soak in the refreshing cooling spray as the water cascaded 200’ to the pool below. I was glad that I could do this hike and would recommend it to anyone planning to do their first “boat trip” thru the Grand Canyon.
-Bo
