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Day 2: Clear Creek to the Colorado and Back

Waking up refreshed after 10 hours of sleep with surprisingly little pain, given the hike from the day before, I decided to shoot for the Colorado River, which is 12 miles round trip down Clear Creek Canyon from where I was camped. There was a bit of a trail in some places, and the rest of the route involved walking along the streambed and crossing the creek countless times. The only tricky section was a ~15 foot waterfall that I had to climb around, about half a mile from the river. Fortunately, since I was returning to the same camp, I did this with just a daypack. It was definitely hot, but given that I had a light pack, frequent shade, and was walking in or near water the whole time, it didn't seem all that bad.

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My awesome little campsite
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Sunrise on the cliffs
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There's even facilities, although definitely not flush...
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Beginning the hike down towards the Colorado River
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The confluence of the East Fork of Clear Creek with the main Creek, not particularly impressive looking even though it was able to carve a pretty major side canyon!
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As you get closer to the River, the rocks are much darker. Some are the dark Vishnu Schist common in the inner Canyon, but some appear to be pink-ish sandstone with a desert-varnish sort of coating on them. I still haven't totally figured that out...
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Bright red 'seaweed'
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Little frog
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Lots of little soon-to-be frogs
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It's hard to tell with the lighting here, but this is a ~15-foot dropoff...
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...over a waterfall about a half mile from the River. Fortunately there's a not-too-difficult route around and past it.
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The confluence with the Colorado River!
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Looking back up the Creek from the confluence, and getting ready to head back towards camp
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Getting past the waterfall requires climbing up the slope in the foreground on the left and walking/climbing along the ledge
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More frogs
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The yellow thing by the tree is a Century Agave plant. There were a lot in bloom throughout the Grand Canyon this time of year.
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Sunset on the cliffs, and time for dinner...

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