On day four we followed the Middle Granite Gorge Route from the Lower Tapeats camping are, a along the Colorado River to the Cogswell Butte saddle and then down into Deer Creek.

19:00 - Deer Creek camp

Today was a better day but still took its toll on Maggi. The ascent portions have been giving her a hard time because of the hip problems. It worries me because of the long ascents we have coming up over the next two days. Another part of the problem on the up-climbs is because of problems with her pack; it isn't sitting right and I cannot figure out why. The hip belt seems to be on the hips where it is supposed to be but the chest strap is too high and keeps trying to strangle her.

We did make pretty good time in sprite of the problems though and made it to Deer Creek by 15:00. We encountered a rattlesnake along the trail just west of Bonita Creek and just east the beach at Hundred-and-thirty-five-mile rapids, where we stopped at for a rest break. The snake was right in the middle of the trail and we had to do a little boulder hopping to get around it. I am not sure if it was a "pink" or not. It really didn't look pink.

The only decent campsite at Deer Creek was the group campsite so we just dropped our packs there, put on our bathing suits and went back down to the narrows to play around in the creek for a while and take some photos. We did not want to setup camp for fear of an actual group showing up and laying claim to the site. I also walked down through the narrows and then down to Deer Creek Falls at the Colorado River. Maggi was not thrilled with the section of trail through the narrows and opted to go back to camp rather than deal with that and then the down and up to the river and back. Robin went back to camp as well to keep her company. I made great time doing it alone and it only took about 90 minutes including about 30 or 40 minutes at the river. There was no one else around and I had the whole place to myself except for a few birds.

We have had fabulous weather for the entire trip so far. We have had lots of sunshine but also lots of clouds to keep us from overheating on the trail. The clouds have been coming around at just the right times too.