I was up early, with the sun, and had a relaxing breakfast of hot oatmeal and coffee. After that I replenished my water supply from Clear Creek and mixed up some Gookinade for my day hike today up East Clear Creek.

I was on "trail" that heads down Clear Creek to the Colorado River around 8 am and started up East Clear Creek around 8:20. It took a little more than an hour to get to the point that I had reached on my previous hike, two and a half years ago, and the hike was much more enjoyable in the cool early morning hours. There was about 2-3 times more water flowing in the creek bed than there had been at that time though the creek still disappeared for a while in the middle section. There was very little sun up to that point but now the creek had climbed up into an open area above the Tapeats and there was plenty of sun. I rested for a while in the last patch of shade, sucked down some Gookinade and listened to the creek. The clouds were already starting to build in the sky and that created some concern for me as I did not want to get stuck above the narrows here in a rain storm. The incident up in Phantom Creek earlier in the week had me thinking a lot more about flash floods down here, especially since there had been a lot of rain recently. I decided that I wanted to be out of East Clear Creek, or at least below the lower narrows section, by noon and figured that would be reasonable as the monsoon rains don't usually start until mid-afternoon. With any luck I would be back at camp before they started... if they started.

I started walking again around 9:30 and at 10:15 I came to a fork in the creek with one branch heading north and one continueing to the east. The branch to the east was wider and looked like the main channel so I headed up that way but I would have to come back and try the other branch at another time. After rounding a bend in the creek it entered another narrows section and I figured that the cliffs here must be of Bright Angel Shale as I had already passed through the Tapeats. This section of the creek was cool and dark and there were quite a few redbud trees growing in the bed. At about 11:00 the bed finally broke through the cliffs and up onto the Tonto Platform. I rested there a while above some nice ledges and dry falls in the creek bed and took some photos of the area. There was no more running water up here but there were numerous potholes and they all had plenty of water in them. There were now lots of clouds in the sky but none of them appeared dark and there were still a lot of clear, blue patches between them so I figured I would be OK.

I reached the main channel of Clear Creek around 12:15 and was back at camp at 12:30. I finished off the last can of devilled ham for lunch and was glad to be rid of the stuff as I did not particularly enjoy it. It was pretty nasty and I was getting to the point where I was having to force myself to swallow it.

After lunch I went in search of a pool that I could use to cool off but I couldn't find one. There used to be a few nice pools in the creek that people had created by damming up some sections of it but the flood had apparently obliterated these. I found a nice spot for one right next to my campsite and started building a dam. In no time I had a very nice pool and the two small waterfalls that fed it created a jacuzzi at one end. As I was relaxing in my pool I noticed a woman pass through my campsite heading south along Clear Creek. I said "Hi" and she said "Hi" but she did not stop to talk further. A short while later a man passed through as well. If they were looking for campsites further down the creek they would be out of luck as there weren't any. I never saw them again and don't know where they ended up.

The clouds continued to build through the afternoon and I could hear thunder off in the distance. The rain held off until right when I was trying to cook dinner and when it started it came down in buckets. I took the pot off of the stove and set it aside while I scurried for the safety of my tent. Unfortunately in my haste to stay dry I jammed the zipper on the rain-fly and could not get it closed. The rain was literally a waterfall coming from the sky at this point and it was flowing everywhere. I huddled inside the tent and tried to hold the rain-fly shut but the wind was really blowing now as well and trying to keep the tent dry was becoming a major challenge. The storm only lasted about 10 minutes though and was gone as quickly as it came. When I went back out side everything was a damp, soggy, muddy, mess. Little channels of water were still flowing everywhere and there was a small pond off to one side of my tent and slightly beneath it. I made a small trench to try and drain this and then tried to get dinner going again but the stove was full of water and this took some time. The watched the passing storm as it headed up towards the north rim and wondered how much water would be coming down Clear Creek. The sun came out again and I was treated to a fabulous sunset while eating my dinner.

After dinner I went over to the creek just to see if the water level had risen at all. It had and my dam had also sprung some major leaks. Oh, well, nothing is permanent in a place like this and even structures like Glen Canyon Dam will be little more than fabulous waterfalls in the distant future.

I started walking up-creek to see if I could find the route that leads through the jumble of rocks and vegetation near the confluence of Clear Creek and the creek/wash that enters it from the north. I tried the north bank first, seeming to recall that it was easier that way on the prior visit. I could not get very far and the cliff on that side very soon came right down into the creek. I started looking around for an easy spot to cross the creek downstream and found one where I think one of the old bathing pools used to be. There also appeared to be a primitive trail on the other side. I crossed and started following this and managed to get a lot further. The "trail" led along the south bank and then down into the creek itself. The fact that all of the vegation was now laying flat in the water made it a lot easier to travel on this side of the creek and in some places I could just step on the willows themselves and they prevented my boots from sinking into the muck below. After following the creek and rock hopping a little I finally came to the jumble of huge boulders that blocks the creek at one point. I found the route over these and was shortly on the main "trail" on the north bank on the other side of them. I then worked by way back to camp and it was now starting to get dark so I settled in for the night which was clear and cool again.