I've been sleeping pretty good on this trip so far which is a little odd because usually I don't. We've been going to bed between 8 and 9 every night and waking up around 5. Seldom to we get moving before 6 but I think that will have to change on the two days we are hiking out. Right now we are awake but just laying around as the plan was not to get moving until 8 this morning. It's only about 3 miles over to Deer Creek and the route does not sound very difficult. We are going to take the high route to avoid anything to do with exposure.

09:10 - River route to Deer Creek

The first part of the route was very easy going. The climb up over the outcropping to get into Bonita Creek was not so bad but the route coming down on the other side had a couple of steep parts. No big deal really, just some really big steps.

The morning has been beautiful so far. Weve been in the shade for the most part though that will end shortly. There are some nice cool breezing blowing around on the river.

09:45 - River route to Deer Creek

We're making pretty good time so far. We've covered a little more than a mile and were taking a little break at a very nice beach just below Hundred and Thirtyfive Mile Rapids. Sue and Tom seem to be enjoying themselves today as is Robin. The views along the river are magnificent and I am in my glory.

The high route heads away from the beach from here and well be climbing for a while so its a good time for a rest break. I am anxious to see how Sue and Tom do on the uphill climbs.

11:00 - River route to Deer Creek

Well, the hard part for today is probably done. We've finished the climb to the high route and the trail should keep pretty much the same elevation until we get to the saddle that goes over to Deer Creek. Sue and Tom did very well on the climbing portion. They are ready for a nice rest now and I have no problem with that since the view from up here is to die for. Well rest for a while here and then move on for the final push to the Deer Creek saddle. I figure we covered close to another mile since we left the beach and should only have another mile or a little more to go to.

12:55 - River route to Deer Creek

We made it to the saddle and we can see Deer Creek calling to us from below. It should be pretty easy from here, another ¼ mile down to Deer Creek and maybe another ¼ mile from there to the camping area. We are taking a short rest before we start down. The day has been simply glorious and we made pretty good time. We will make an early camp and have plenty of time for resting and enjoying the area.

14:30 - Deer Creek camp

Coming down to the creek was pretty easy and we switched into our Tevas to cross, just above the narrows. Campsites seem to be in short supply here though and we walked a ways up the creek without finding anything. I ran into a couple who said they were camped further up the creek, where the trail crosses to the other side again and starts up to Surprise Valley, and they directed us to a wonderful site with a nice clearing and surrounded by some nice Cottonwoods. It's beautiful here.

Camp is all setup and the best part is it can stay setup for tomorrow. I love lay-over days! Robin and I are headed down to play in the water at the top of the narrows. Sue and Tom are just going to hang at camp.

16:45 - Deer Creek camp

We are back at camp and getting ready to start dinner. The narrows are beautiful and being there again brought back some wonderful memories of the river trip. There was a river party there when we arrived but they were just getting ready to leave and about 10 minutes later they were gone and we had the place to ourselves.

That other party that weve been playing cat and mouse with on this trip showed up here today. I thought they were supposed to be at Lower Tapeats tonight? If they came all the way from Upper Tapeats to here they did pretty good. I think they were a little peeved that we had this site as its pretty big and they have more people. We offered to share but they did not seem interested in that. Oh, well, first come, first served.

They continued up creek to look for a site and came back even more steamed up. It seems the other group that is camped up there is off permit and were supposed to leave today so they are using a site that should technically be available. I guess they are claiming someone was injured and needed another day to recover. If so, I know what thats like. We were off permit our first night but there was no way we were going to make it all the way to Upper Tapeats without someone getting hurt.