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March/April, 2015 - Deva Temple Backpacking Trip |
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Anyone who has been following my trip reports for a while knows I had developed this fascination and obsession with Deva Temple. It started back in 2007 when I read a trip report someone posted... somewhere... about a day hike he did with some friends from the Clear Creek camping area to the top of Deva Temple. It sounded like a nice day hike and I though I had enough information about the route to give it a try. Not so much. I did not make it on that first attempt, nor the second or the third.
On the first attempt I made it to the top of the Redwall ravine around noon and looking at what still lay ahead of me I knew it was going to take way too long and I was not going to make it. I left camp a little after 6am for that attempt which was probably too late but still. I could not figure out how the heck these guys did this from the Clear Creek camping area as a day hike. They must have been flying. For the second attempt I decided that I needed to camp closer to Deva and decided on a spot up in the Brahma-Deva drainage next to a spring I discovered on the first attempt. On that attempt I made it to the saddle between Brahma and Deva, which was much better than the first time, but the top of Deva still looked very far away and I did not think I had enough time to get there and back to camp in the time remaining. The third attempt was a complete abortion! I was hiking in a new pair of boots and probably did too many miles on the first day. By the time I got to the Brahma-Deva drainage camp I was having foot problems and had to abort the hike. The spring I had used on the previous hikes was dry this time but luckily I found some good potholes to get water from. I ended up hiking out in Tevas. On that third attempt I was determined to get to the top of Deva no matter what and was going to bring with me whatever I needed to spend the night away from camp if I could not make it back before dark. That was the plan that I continued with for this FOURTH attempt. I did not bring much and did not want the added weight of sleeping bag and pad. All I had with me was some extra food, water and one of those emergency space blankets. I made it to the top of Deva Temple on this attempt and it felt awesome to finally get there. Even though Deva Temple was described to me as a "walk up" it occurs to me that can mean very different things to different people. I would consider it more of a "slog up". It's doable, and it's not technical in the least but it is hard work. The final climb to the summit was quite steep and was on a scree slope that was littered with large slabs of sandstone. These were constantly shifting beneath me and had a a tendency to slide down-slope in many occasions. It was 230 in the afternoon by the time I made it to the top and I knew there was no way I would make it back to camp before dark. If I had wanted to attempt it I would be going down through the Redwall ravine in the dark. I had a headlamp with me but I was not thrilled with the idea. I made it down to a p-j grove below the Brahma-Deva saddle as the sun was setting and decided to call it a day there. It was not a very comfortable night nut knowing I had finally made it to the top of Deva made it totally worth it. It was a beautiful night at least. I was up as soon as it was light enough to see to make my way back to camp. I was back at camp by mid-morning, packed everything up and started the hike back to Phantom Ranch and Bright Angel Campground. It was another long day and I made it there just a little before dark. After setting up camp and having a rather large dinner I went over to the Phantom cantina for a well deserved beer... or two. Deva or Bust! The full trip report is here. |
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Next >> Trip number 54 - April, 2017 - Nankoweap, Kolb Natural Bridge & Marion-Seiber Backpacking Trip
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