Many years ago as a young child, I read of a fantastic adventure traveling to the depths of the Grand Canyon to see a fabulous waterfall coming right out of a cave in the side of the cliff. This place of fantasy had the dramatic name of Thunder River. I read and re-read the account of the trip to this fabled place.
Years past, but the dream of the waterfall was kept fresh in my mind. Sometimes I would start to think that maybe I had dreamed about the waterfall and the cave. Maybe it didn't really exist.
One day, I decided to go and see for myself if this place of dreams really lived on the side of a cliff deep in the Grand Canyon. I recruited some friends and took my oldest son, then only eight years old, and we set off for Thunder River. Of course, the reality was hardly dream-like, we had to obtain camping permits from the National Park, find the trail head, walk miles and miles through the Canyon, but finally, there it was the fabled place.
Unfortunately, we chose to hike in August. The heat was brutal, 95 degrees at 6:00 am in the morning. We ended up spending the day sitting next to the waterfall and then walking out of the Canyon after dark.
It is not a trip for the unprepared. We found two groups of people lost in the Canyon. It is dangerous place and really far from any support system. I think about the trip often. It was one of those things, when you get my age, that you don't think seriously about doing again.
Was I really only 8? I thought I was 11, or was that the Pariah hike?
ReplyDeleteThe neat thing about Thunder River is you can hear it from over a mile away on the trail. It starts out as this faint rumbling in the distance that increases in intensity and volume. Then you walk around a corner and see the waterfall. It's amazing. We enjoyed the mist created by the falls. We enjoyed sticking our heads down to the river at the bottom of the spring and drinking the water without filtering it. It is an impressive sight. Just bring insect repellent and/or mosquito netting. :)
hi
ReplyDeletecheck this post, you might find it interesting
http://matias2000.blogspot.com/2008/10/new-visit-to-thunder-river.html