The views of the gorge cut by Tapeats Creek were very nice on the way back. I hadn't noticed it that much on the trip down but then again I was very tired at that point and just wanted to get the hike over with. The views somehow seemed more dramatic when I could see the creek climbing back up and away from me. I turned a couple of times to look at the portion that was descending back towards the Colorado and it didn't seem nearly as awe inspiring.

The second ascent was not nearly as bad as the first but still took about 15 minutes before I topped out. After that it was a long half hour before the trail finally reached the creek again. The trail followed contours for the most part and made a very gradual descent with only a couple of rough sections. The creek did more like rise up to meet the trail rather than the trail actually descending to it. When the trail and creek finally came together again the trail was wedged between the creek and the cliffs and if the creek got any higher the trail would be under it.

Beyond that point the trail follows along the creek for a good distance as it winds its way through a forest of cactus. Most of the cacti were of the Prickly Pear variety with some Barrel cactus and other types thrown in for good measure. It was a very pretty spot and I was quite taken by it. I did manage to get a couple of spines stuck in my calf when I backed up too far to take a pictures and backed right into a cactus. Ouch, that's smarts! There were some other types of flowers in the area as well but it was mostly cactus.

After the cactus garden the trail goes through two more ups and downs. Each of these takes only about 5 minutes of climbing before you top out on the trail. The first one takes you down a very gradual descent that brings you back to the creek in about 5 more minutes. The second descent follows the contours and is very exposed. There was one place where I actually had to turn sideways (with the pack out!) to get past a rock that was protruding from the cliff face. This made me feel most uncomfortable as it was a pretty good drop. I took a wrong turn when the trail finally came back down to creek level. The trail continued through some brush next to the creek but eventually went under water. This must have been the low-water trail. I backtracked and found the high-water route going up just where the brush started. At the end of this section I came to the cliff again. Getting up was interesting. There was a pile of rocks below the cliff which looked like they could have formed steps at one point. I stacked these so that I was able to climb to the top of them and push my pack over the top. All I had to do then was scramble up myself between the rock and the hardplace and voila. Beyond that point the trail does a very quick up/down and comes back to the creek. This time the trail goes through the brush along the banks and it's supposed to. On the other side I found myself at the southern edge of the Upper Tapeats camping area. It was only 9:50.

I met a very nice couple from Seattle who were camped at Upper Tapeats. They asked me some questions about the trail to the river as they were thinking about doing it as a day hike. They were also planning on hiking out to the Esplanade tomorrow and then back out to the rim the next day so apparently I would have some company along the trail. They also warned me about mice problems in the camping area and claimed that the mice had gotten into some of their food the night before even though it was hung. I said goodbye and proceeded to locate a good camping site.

The guys that I had met on the rim were gone so I took that site and setup camp. I hung my food good and high and placed a baffle between the food and the tree. I used the empty plastic/foil pouch from my meal the night before as the baffle. I just poked a hole in it and positioned it above a knot in the rope about midway down the line to the food. I was hoping that if the mice came down the rope the baffle would stop them. It was too slick for them to get a grip on and their little legs aren't long enough to reach around. This would never work with a squirrel however. After setting up camp I went to cool off next to the water for a while. Unfortunately there was no shade to be found in the immediate area but the afternoon looked like it would be nice when the sun went over the cliff that I was camped next to. I ate an early lunch and then took off to look for some shade.

I found a very nice shady spot just above the place where Thunder River joins with Tapeats Creek. There were some very big trees and lots of bushy type shrubs in the area. I pumped some water, did a little reading, sat there and stared at the view, took some pictures, pumped some more water, read some more... it was a very relaxing afternoon and it would have been nice to stay there for a week. The only problem was that the pumping was getting more and more difficult. My main filter was obviously getting clogged even though I had a prefilter on the dump. I tried replacing the prefilter with the spare that I had but this really didn't seem to help. I was just hoping that I would be able to get enough water to get me back out to the rim. By the end of the day I had managed to get the full 6 quarts that I would need to the hike out. I would just need to refill my canteen tomorrow before starting out.

At around 4:00 I headed back to my campsite to see what the shade situation was like there. The shadow from the cliff had just crossed my tent and soon the whole site was nice and shady and cool. Later in the afternoon the winds picked up and really cooled the place off. I wandered around and took some more pictures, read some more, and then proceeded to make dinner. After dinner I went out for a short walk southward along the creek. I found a nice spot, next to where the people from Seattle were camped, where a big ledge went right out into the creek. It was a beautiful spot so I just sat and watched the water roar past. I am still amazed by the amount of water that was flowing down Tapeats Creek. Never have I seen so much water flowing with just ferocity through so narrow a space. It was simply mind-boggling.