River miles 127-132; 130 Mile Creek, Stone Creek
We floated a few miles and rapids in Gary's oar boat, then stopped to see the waterfall at 130 Mile Creek. We stopped for the day on Stone Creek beach at mile 132. After lunch, we hiked into Stone Creek Canyon. We climbed up and over a steep ridge, then walked in and out of the creek for about an hour to a waterfall. Paul and Kimberly stopped to relax in the waterfall pool, while Evan hiked on for another hour to an "even better" waterfall. Back at the beach, we set up our tents in the shade of the canyon walls. As it got dark, bats swooped low between the tents.
The rocks changed color as the sun gradually lit up the canyon.
view of our campside around mile 127
tiny stalagmites and stalctites form when water leaches minerals out of the rock
from bottom, black Vishnu Schist, layers of Tapeats Sandstone, redwall limestone , and the Kaibab Limestone of the rim on the distance.
The Great Unconformity describes about more than a billion years of missing rock between the Vishnu Schist and the Tapeats Sandstone.
We stopped at 130 Mile Creek to see a waterfall.
The sacred datura is related to the tomato and pollinated by the same really big moth.
Paul and Evan climbed up a small waterfall and walked right up to and under the big waterfall.
The guides offered help scrambiling up and down the rocks to get to the waterfall (Evan didn’t need it).
We hiked up into Stone Canyon from the beach around mile 132.
One group walked a few hundred yards to a waterfall; we hiked up and over a ridge.
Once over the ridge, we hiked along and in Stone Creek.
We found another small waterfall about half an hour later.
Gary pointed out an agave oven, which Native Americans built to roast agave roots. This one has been partially washed away by the creek.
The water looked bright orange as it flowed over the red rocks.
We cooled off by getting wet in the creek.
An hour after we started, we found another waterfall and cooled off in the pool at the bottom. Evan continued up the canyon to yet another waterfall.
Even the smallest pool in the creek contained lots of black tadpiles.
Some parts of the trail were actual vertical.
looking back up Stone Canyon at the first waterfall
After the hike, we set up our tents just above the high water mark on the beach.