Day 1

October 18, 2014

Down Twin Creek Canyon to Dry Camp in Twin Spring Canyon


 


Click on photos to see larger image.

Today's route stats: 

    Distance: 7.2 miles

    Elevation Gain:  0 feet

    Elevation Loss:  2400 feet

As per usual, we got up at first light, ate breakfast, organized gear, then drove the mile or so to the start of our hike.  We starting hiking at around 8 AM, at the beginning of the closed road leading to theTwin Creek Canyon overlook.   Each of us began with 6 to 7 liters of water, necessary for our first night's dry camp.  We followed the dirt road for a half mile or so, then veered off slightly and headed directly to the short upper arm of Twin Creek.  The drop to the canyon bottom is about 300 feet and is steep.  Below where the two upper branches meet, the canyon bottom levels out some and the hiking is much easier.  But not easy.  The jumble of rocks in the canyon bottom make for arduous hiking. 

Ben and Dave in Twin Creek Canyon.

 

 Ben Hiking in Twin Creek Canyon.

 

 Ripe Cactus Apples .

 

It took about 4 hours to reach the junction with Twin Spring Canyon.  Dave and I left a total of about 2.5 liters of water for the hike out.  Shortly thereafter we ran into two rattlesnakes in quick succession.  These were the only rattlesnakes we encountered for the rest of our trip.  It seems a little odd to me that we found snakes only in the driest part of the canyon.
Rattlesnake No 1. Rattlesnake No. 2.

 

 Bob at the Start of the Supai Formation.

 

I can't remember exactly when we arrived at our camp for the night, but I think it was between 4 and 5 PM.  Good campsites were scarce due to all the rocks and boulders in the creek bed.  We found a side canyon that was flushed clean of rocks and decided to camp there.  A few hundred feet up this canyon we found a nice pothole.  This was an unexpected and  very good find since we could certainly use this water on our return hike.

Overall, today was rather uninspiring.  The canyon bottom was dry and rocky, and the canyon was wide open. 

For this hike we decided to do all of our meals separately.  All of us brought Mountain House freeze dried dinners and breakfast food that required no more than hot water.  We brought one titanium pot and two small pocket-rocket stoves.  We also brought three 8-oz canisters of fuel (We only used two).

During the night I continued to listen to the audio book that I began on the drive from New Mexico:  No god but God, by Reza Aslan.

 
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