Thunder River Loop

Sun, 18 Oct 2026 00:00:00 -0700

Standing on the upper reaches of Deer Creek, surrounded by the weird rock formations and scattered brush of the Esplanade formation, I watched the sun lighten the sky and felt bitter. The last three hours had been a frustrating and terrifying scramble along the poorly defined Thunder River Trail off of Indian Hollow. This section was supposed to be easy. After all, the route down from Indian Hollow, while longer than the descent down Bill Hall, was defined by the Forest Service as a “more gentle tread to Thunder River”, an old pack mule route. Instead, this section had washouts along a steep traverse that had me climbing along loose scree, eroded tracks that confused the path down, and long cairn-less pieces that left me meandering through brush and prickly pear. Now I was hours behind schedule on a day that with little room for error, in a remote corner of the Grand Canyon with no support, on an ambitious, perhaps even foolhardy, dayhike.

Bill Hall Trail on Jacob Emerick

Thunder River Loop