River miles 132-140; Deer Creek
Kimberly and Paul went in the paddle raft again, and paddled a big rapid shortly after launch.
We passed right next to some bighorn sheep alongide Helicopter Eddy, then pulled over at mile 137 to hike up Deer Creek. From the 180-foot waterfall, we hiked up high above the river, and then walked along
narrow ledges. About half an hour later, we arrived at the Patio, an open flat
area with trees and a small waterfall just upstream.
Returning to the boats, we ran a few rapids before stopping for the evening at mile 140. The canyon
was narrow, with towering walls of dark red Muav limestone. In the evening, Pablo invited guests
onto the dory while he played guitar and sang classic rock songs.
We filled 5 gallon buckets with river water each day. The guides let it settle overnight or added polyaluminum chloride to bind to the sediment.
After the silt settled, the water went through a battery powered two stage filter and then into 20L jugs for drinking.
Every day, the guides blew a conch shell soon after sunrise when the coffee was ready, then again when breakfast was ready.
These big horn sheep ran along the slope across from camp.
We usually launched in shade while the sun was below the edge of the canyon.
The rocks changed to bright red as we oared downriver.
We stopped at Deer Creek, where the creek drops 180 feet out of the rock.
We hiked up above the river to get to the level of the creek.
Sometimes the trail went right up and over the rocks.
We stopped at the top to look back upriver.
The rafts were tiny far below us.
We walked along ledges above Deer Creek. We usually couldn’t actually see the creek below us.
Our guides helped everyone get through the tricky narrow spots.
We started to see more green as we approached the Patio.
The Patio feels like an oasis in the canyon.
We walked up the creek toward a small waterfall.
The water in the creek was an amazing clear green color.
This rock was striped in black, yellow, and several shades of orange.
We went a different way down. The trail was covered in rocks by a landslide. Our guide said it’s good for going down but not up.
We stopped to play in the pool under Deer Creek Falls.
Evan did a jump spin at Deer Creek.
We camped around mile 140. The canyon was narrow and surrounded by dark orange Muav Limestone.
Pablo played guitar for an audience in the dory.