Upstream Meandering

The day started quite lazy. We had a late start since this day called for some light day hiking. Two other hikers came in the night around 2200 hrs. El caught them going through our camp as they searched in vane for the toilet. More on them later. We were both looking forward to this day. No packs!!! The hoods on both our packs transform into lumbar packs. Thank you Gregory. We put our hydro systems in them and proceeded upstream along Clear Creek. The original plan was to continue all the way up to Cheyava Falls, but the rangers said that it was not running due to little snow that winter. Instead the new plan called for Obi Canyon and Ariel Canyon. As we slowly picked our way up the creek it was apparent that I wasn't fully recovered. After only going a half-mile I was hit with fatigue and nausea. After about a 15-minute break I felt pretty good and remained that way for the rest of the day. We headed up into Obi up to the dry waterfall. On our way out we started to look for the Anasazi ruins. No luck. We looked under every overhang over the entire length of the canyon. El even scrambled all the way up one of the embankments to a very unusual overhang. Still nothing. A little dismayed, we continued north up into Ariel Canyon. I was letting El lead again (will I ever learn), his pace and endurance is truly to be admired; his path-finding skills is another story. He has the unique ability to find the path of most resistance. "Hey El, Care to take the nice flat creek bed as opposed to the rock field?" Eventually El found the rock with his name on it and stubbed his toe pretty bad. For the rest of the trip I would here an occasional bark followed by a succession of colorful words. There would be at least one lost toenail on this trip.

Ariel Canyon is quite pretty, but the objective of the falls was quite distant. We eventually stopped approximately less then two thirds of the way up. According to the map there is a fork in the canyon, but we didn't even reach that. Every time you went around one bend there was another...... Ariel Canyon is narrow with some wonderful sitting spots to enjoy a snack. The creek is with you all the way and produces some wonderful echoes through your travels up and down the canyon.

As we headed back down to camp we bumped into the other two hikers that came in the previous night. They were slowly meandering upstream. They looked a little beat up. It turns out they came all the way in from Indian Gardens. They had stopped at Phantom, but then did not leave Phantom until late in the afternoon. They didn't make their descent into Clear Creek until around 21:00. The moon is not at full rise at that time in the evening and they traversed the descent in to Clear Creek without lights. They commented on their newfound religion. I'm sure.

The rest of the day was spent lounging around camp. As I was resting in my tent a runner came into camp and asked us if we would mind purifying some water for him. This unique fellow, Gar, is one of those ultra-marathoners. He had actually run all the way down from the South Rim and was headed back! Yes, I do mean all in one day. I purified some water for him while he jumped into the creek to cool himself. It turns out that he runs the canyon about once a year. His only equipment was a light hydration pack and some water bottles to sprits himself. He was quite the interesting character and was ecstatic to find that the distance from Phantom to Clear Creek was more close to 11 miles. Gar thought it was no more than 8. He had the perma-grin going when he realized that his mileage that day would be closer to 42 miles. I am impressed and scared. There has got to be a bolt loose somewhere. He gave me one of his Balance bars he wasn't going to use (He said he still had half of an uneaten hamburger!??!?!). After some well wishing he was off again back to the rim. Both El and I stood there shaking our heads. "Better you pal then us." As we sat around camp our squirrel friend constantly visited us. The Rock Squirrels in the canyon have no fear. They will literally make beeline straight for your pack. They know. They are aggressive and unabashed. They will eventually move after tossing a few pebbles near them, albeit with no great hurry. I already found this squirrel inside my pack once. Fortunately at Clear Creek they have food storage cans. Dinner that night consisted of Macaroni and Cheese, dried fruit, hot chocolate. Remember that food duffel I mentioned that El brought.... well he managed to put a flask of rum in there also. Unbelievable. Cocktails at Clear Creek.

Distance traveled: 6 miles.