Deer Creek Falls : Day5 Grand Canyon Rafting Trip!

2025/09/10 - 2025/09/10

Day 5: Beautiful Waterfalls and a Starry Night!

Today, we explored two beautiful side canyons, Stone Creek and Deer Creek.

We enjoyed waterfalls, amazing rock formations, and a relaxing time by the river.

At night, the sky was filled with thousands of stars, and we could clearly see the Milky Way!

Another unforgettable day in the Grand Canyon!

エリア グランドキャニオン周辺(アメリカ)

• 旅行の満足度: 5.0
• 観光: 5.0

• 旅行の手配内容: 個別手配

On the fifth day, our morning started slowly.
Usually, the "Coffee Call" is early at 6:00, but it was a little later today.
It was a relaxing start to the day.

Today is Guide S’s birthday.
Someone wrote "Happy Birthday" on the sand for her. I didn't know about it, so I was surprised, too!
In this photo, she is jumping for joy. It is a wonderful surprise!

We floated calmly down the river, looking at the Tapeats Sandstone on both sides of the river.

I saw Prickly Pear Cacti and Century Plants in the Bright Angel Shale layer. Now, I can see new round cacti called "Barrel Cacti."

We are entering the Middle Granite Gorge. Mile 128, around 11:00 AM
We can see the granite intrusions again. At first, they are large and red.

Why are they red?
One of the main minerals in granite is "Potassium Feldspar." It is usually white or light pink.
However, this granite has a little iron. The iron changes the color to a deep red like rust.
This color is very beautiful and impressive!

We landed at a nice spot for lunch and visited Stone Creek first.
Stone Creek: Mile 133, around noon

The water was so clear and beautiful!

The waterfall starts from the Tapeats Sandstone and falls down the Vishnu Schist walls.
Like Shinumo Creek and Elves Chasm, the rock surface is partly covered with travertine. It looks like a thin white or beige crust on the dark Vishnu Schist.

The waterfall at Stone Creek was quite high, but the water flow was gentle.
I stood under the falls like a monk and put my hands together in prayer. It felt like I was doing a spiritual training.
It was a funny and peaceful moment!

After our visit to the waterfall, we enjoyed lunch on a flat, sandy beach.

This area is wide and peaceful.
The Stone Creek Fault may have helped create this wide, open area.
The fault weakened the rocks long ago, and erosion created this open space. The cliffs are not as steep here, so the sky feels bigger.

In this photo, one of the participants is lying on the warm sand and relaxing completely. It looks so comfortable! We are all enjoying the sound of the river.

The hard Vishnu Schist is still around us, but this spot is like a natural living room. It is a very happy and peaceful moment for everyone!

While we were relaxing on the sandy beach, we saw a private raft floating down the river upside down!

It had flipped over in a rapid upstream. One of the rafters was holding on to the overturned raft and even waved at us. He looked surprisingly calm!

After lunch, we got back on our raft to continue down the river.

In the background of this photo, we can see the Bass Formation and Hakatai Shale in the canyon walls.


The river gradually became narrower. The walls changed into powerful white granite. This was my favorite rock formation in the canyon.
Then, the propeller hit a rock at the bottom of the river and broke.

The guide showed us the broken propeller. One of the three blades was broken.
It showed me the raw power of the river.

Deer Creek Mile 137, around 2:00 PM
At Deer Creek, some people went hiking up the canyon, while others stayed near the waterfall.

I was feeling tired and still had some lower back pain, so I chose to stay near the waterfall.

The waterfall was amazing! There was so much water falling from the high cliff.

I swam in the pool below the waterfall and even saw some fish in the water.

After that, I followed the stream down toward the Colorado River, climbing down over the rocks. It felt like canyoning!
I tried to climb back up the same way, but it was too difficult. So I got out of the stream and walked back to the waterfall.

Meanwhile, my travel companion joined the hiking group and explored the upper part of Deer Creek.

They walked along a narrow rocky ledge high above the canyon. The views were amazing!

They walked along a narrow ledge of Tapeats Sandstone high above the canyon.

Along the way, they saw some interesting greenish-blue rocks. The rocks looked soft and crumbly, possibly sandstone or shale.

Near the stream upstream, they saw some interesting plants, including water plants with red roots, algae, and beautiful red Cardinal Monkeyflowers.

They also found a large, colorful lizard hiding between the rocks.

I think it was a Desert Spiny Lizard. What a beautiful pattern!

On the way back from the upper canyon, the hiking group had this amazing view of the Colorado River.

Our raft looked so small surrounded by the huge canyon walls!

Their hike took about two hours.

The hiking group also came back to the big waterfall, and we all spent some more time here together.

The waterfall was so powerful and beautiful!

Some of the other participants also spotted hummingbirds around the waterfall.

Around 5:00 PM, we arrived at our campsite near Deer Creek.
Camp at Football Field Mile 138

The evening sunlight was shining on the canyon walls. What a beautiful place to spend the night!

We set up our cots.
We slept under the stars again, without a tent.

After getting everything ready for the night, we enjoyed a bath in the Colorado River, followed by dinner.

That night, the stars were even more beautiful than the night before!
Since our trip started just after the full moon, I hadn’t expected to see so many stars.
But as the moon set, the sky became darker, and thousands of stars appeared. I could even see the Milky Way clearly!

I enjoyed looking at the stars with the star chart I had brought from Japan.
It was one of the most beautiful night skies I had ever seen!