Clear Creek

Oct 20-23, 2000

Oct 20, 2000 - We left Tucson at about 2am for the 5 hour trip to the south rim. Somehow I had been able to sleep from 8pm-12:30 am so I did the driving to Flagstaff while the others slept. In Flag Tom took over and got us to the south rim by 6:45am. We wanted to get on the trail as early as possible because we had a long day of hiking in front of us. Depending on where we set up camp on the Tonto that evening, we were planning on walking between 13-15 miles the first day. Before heading out though we needed a thing or two at the general store. Since it didn't open until 7am we went into the Yavapai(?) cafeteria and had a big breakfast. When the store opened we picked up some last minute items (batteries, film, a sweatshirt), did some final packing and caught the 7:20 tram to Yaqui point. We were on the trail by 7:45am, a rare feat for us.

The walk down the Kaibab was beautiful and uneventful. It's always interesting to meet day hikers getting their first exposure to hiking below the rim. We were at Phantom Ranch by 11:45, and rested about an hour before continuing on.

• Overlooking O'Neil Butte
• Towards O'Neil Butte
• Another view
• Looking west
• Resting
• Below the Dropoff

We loaded up on water there, knowing that the first nights camp would be dry. The trail to Clear Creek branches off to the east about a half mile north of the ranch. It climbs quickly through the pre-cambrian rocks up to what I think is called the Phantom overlook, which looks directly down on Phantom Ranch. The trail is easy to follow and the overlook is a popular day hike for those staying at the Ranch. Clear Creek Trail was built in the 30's by the Civilian Conservation Corps and the stone bench at this overlook is evidence of that. Your average unmaintained trail in the canyon does not boast such a nice touch. At the overlook the trail heads north and then east as it stays just at the bottom edge of the Tapeats Sandstone and the precambrian layer, that intersection known as the "Great Unconformity". The trail works its way up through the sandstone until it reaches the Tonto Plateau.

Our original plan was to get all the way to below Demaray Point, the easternmost arm of Zoroaster Temple. On the topo at least, it looked pretty flat there and we were confident we'd find some nice camp spots. In reality, we were tired enough that somewhere below Bradley Point we found a nice camp spot and called it a day. The weather was clear and after a great meal we slept under the stars.

• Phantom Overlook
• Looking south
• Zoroaster
• Below the Tonto
• Camp
• Camp
• Camp
• Camp
• Resting

Saturday, Oct. 21. In the morning we headed approx. 5.5 miles to Clear Creek. The trail on the Tonto goes in and out of the drainages below Zoroaster before heading north into the Clear Creek drainage. There was a party of three at Clear Creek, archaeologists with the National Park Service who were studying ways to minimize human impact on the ruins found at Clear Creek. They showed us photos of their work on the 21 room Pueblo in the area, though to an untrained eye, most of it looked like rubble. We did not walk to the ruins, which are a distance upstream. Instead we bathed, had lunch, explored a little of the creek area, and relaxed for a few hours before heading back to camp. A cold front was due in that evening and we wanted to get settled before it hit. The archaeologists were debating whether to cut their 5 day trip short because of the weather. Whatever it was they decided, we never crossed paths again.

• Clear Creek
• Looking south
• Grotto and falls
• Cooling off
• Cooling off

We ate dinner about 5:30 and it was beginning to sprinkle off and on. Never hard enough to drive us to our tents though. When it did start raining in earnest, it rained for about 11 hours straight. Happily, our tents held up just fine.

Sunday Oct 22. Just as we decided to crawl out of our tents, the rain stopped. We had a nice breakfast, broke a very damp camp, and headed back to Phantom Ranch. We arrived at Phantom for lunch and a rest and then headed across the silver bridge and up to Indian Gardens. Many of the camp spots were wet but we found a nice one and set up the tents. It started raining again. During a break in the weather we decided to head out to Plateau Point to watch the sunset. We timed it a little wrong and enjoyed the sunset on the walk out there. There were big puddles on the trail all the way out. I stayed a bit longer than Tom and Rob and had to walk back to camp in the complete dark. No stars and no moon. It was near impossible to see anything when I dipped into the trees near the corral, Eventually though I made it back to camp and we all had dinner under the ramada, a luxury indeed. It rained off and on that night.

• Leaving the river
• Indian Gardens

Monday Oct 23. The walk back up the Bright Angel trail was wet and muddy, and in some parts very slippery. It seemed to me to make the hike go a little faster because one was always concentrating on where to step next. At about the 1.5 mile marker from the top I met a young couple coming down on a day hike. "Where does this trail end?" said the woman. I laughed and said "Oh, about 30 odd miles straight ahead." They decided to turn around. Again, the weather was cloudy and drizzly at times. I made it to the top in approx. 2.5 hours, caught the shuttle and went over to get the car. Tom and Rob came up shortly afterward. An incredible rainbow spanned the length of the canyon visible to us. It was majestic and a wonderful ending to a great trip.

• On top
• The Rainbow