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Day 5 April 14, 2015 Continuing Down Un-Named Canyon to Surprise Canyon |
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Click on photos to see larger image. Again we were up and hiking by 7:00 AM. The bypass, on creek-right, was rugged and fairly long. After the bypass, we continued down the awesome and ever-changing canyon. We were stunned by its beauty. There were lots of small obstacles, but nothing difficult.
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| Our Campsite. | Rugged Bypass. | Below the Bypass -- Very Pretty. |
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We thought we were through with the rappels, but we came upon another chockstone pouroff requiring a rappel -- our 6th. At this point we were tired and the canyon seemed to go on forever. But it was absolutely spectacular. The last quarter to half a mile of the canyon was dry. We were hoping for find water when we got to Surprise, but no such luck. We would have stopped right there to camp if there had been water. So we continued up Surprise. The first side canyon coming in on creek-right looked promising, but there was only a huge pothole gouged out of the sand and mud below a chockstone, and no water. However, we soon started encountering stagnant pools, and shortly after that we found some nice, clean potholes. We stopped at the first good campsite we could find. |
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| Narrow and Convoluted Canyon. | We Bypassed This Somehow. | The 6th and Final Rappel. |
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| Water and Monkey Flowers. | Awesome! | More Pools to Wade Through. |
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We were pretty tired when we got to camp, around 4:30 PM. But we both agreed that we had hiked through one of the most beautiful and spectacular canyons in Grand Canyon. Even though I wasn't yet finished listening to Wild, I switched to Redeployment, by Phil Klay. |