On the fourth day of the trip I hiked down along the Brahma-Deva drainage to the big pour off just above the Clear Creek camping area. From there I headed across the ridge and into Obi Canyon.

04:00 pm - Obi Canyon day hike

I have been back in camp for a little over an hour now. I slept later than normal this morning and did not get up until close to 7:00. I left for my day hike a little after 9:00 and returned from that between 2:30 and 3:00, not exactly sure.

My day hike was nice, not quite as ambitious as yesterday's and much more like a walk in the park. I started off following the creek bed all the way down to the huge pour-off above the Clear Creek camping area. The view from up there was awesome, I never realized how high up it was. When you are looking at it from below if doesn't look nearly so high and my guess is that you cannot see the whole thing from the down there.

After that I headed overland to the east and the next major drainage, Obi Canyon. The thought was to do the same thing over there and get to above the big pour-off that blocks passage from below. Wrong! That didn't work out at all. Lower Obi Canyon is just one long narrow slot canyon and there is no way down into it from the valley above, at least I could not see a way. I am sure you could get down with ropes. I don't know how far up the valley you would have to go before the slot ends but I could not see it. I hiked along the rim of the slot as far as the first bend looking for a place to descend and never found one. Obi Canyon seems like it would be a very nasty route to the top of Deva Temple.

The weather was warmer today and I am being pestered by various types of flies as I write this. The first two days were cooler and I saw no flies at all. Hopefully it cools off enough for them to go into hiding before dinner time.

I forgot to bring Chapstix and my lips are very dry. I am hoping I can pick something up at Phantom Ranch on my way out on Friday so I don't have to wait until I get back to the rim.

06:30 pm - Twilight time

Night time comes early in the Canyon at this time of year. It is only 6:30 and I am finished with dinner, cleaned up, have all of the gear stowed and tucked away inside my tent. The crickets are making much more noise than normal tonight, probably because of the warmer temperatures. I even saw several bats out tonight feasting on the airborne multitudes while I was feasting on my freeze-dried beef and potatoes with onions.

I need to get an early start tomorrow morning. I assume it is going to be another warm one and I would like to be out of here and back on the Clear Creek Trail before it gets too warm. It should be light enough to start doing things by a little after 6:00 and hopefully I can be out of here by 8:00, 9:00 at the latest. It should take about 1½-2 hours to get back to the Clear Creek Trail and I am not so much looking forward to the route out of here with a full backpack. Most of the food is gone now but I will be loaded up with water, of which I had almost none on the way in.

I love the sound of the crickets. The frogs were singing earlier and I wish they could all sing together for a while. If the crickets keep this up I may sleep better tonight.