Grand Canyon: Thunder River Deer Creek Loop - Barely Made It Out!

This video describes my 4 day backing trip into the Grand Canyon hiking the Thunder River/Deer Creek Loop. This trip could definitely be done in fewer days but like always I like to take my time and enjoy the canyon. I started my adventure from the Indian Hollow Campground instead of the typical Bill Hall trailhead for a couple reasons: (1) It was an established campground with fire pits and a privy. I figured why not have one good night of car camping before hitting the trail, and (2) I know it adds a few miles to the trip but again I'm not in any hurry, plus the descent/ascent is less steep than the Bill Hall trail which I was thankful for by the end of this trip. Day 1 I hiked approximately 13 miles from the Thunder River trailhead to the Upper Tapeats campsites. It basically rained all day but luckily cleared up when I got to the Thunder River Waterfall. The descent down from the waterfall to Tapeats Creek was pretty steep and slick after all the rain but slow and steady was the name of the game on this day. I setup camp in the best spot on Tapeats Creek (the one farthest up creek). Tapeats Creek was a flowing river of mud but thankfully Thunder River was only .1 mile away from my campsite so I could get fresh water. I didn't even think about the creeks flowing with mud because of all the rain, that could have been real bad. Day 2 was a total washout. I checked the forecast the night before and it called for rain all day. And as I woke up it was raining hard and didn't stop raining until earlier that afternoon. Tapeats Creek was still flowing with mud and I wasn't sure what Deer Creek would like look and if I would have access to fresh water. I was coming into the beautiful part of my hike and didn't want it ruined by the rain. So after some considerations that you see in the video, I decided to stay one more night and just hike a bit farther than originally planned for my third day. The weather forecast was looking good for the next several days so I was hoping that would hold true. Day 3 I woke up to a beautiful morning. It didn't rain all night and the sun was shining, thankfully. Today's agenda was to hike to the Deer Creek Waterfall, rest there for lunch and then hike up to Surprise Valley that afternoon/evening. Well, things didn't go as planned. I only had 6 miles to Deer Creek but it was much tougher than I expected. The route finding on Tapeats Creek Trail was difficult. I kept finding myself overshooting the trail and circling back. Then when I got down to the Granite Narrows Trail it was even less obvious, plus with all the bouldering, it really slowed my pace. So those 6 miles took me about 5 hours! Anyway, I hike down to Deer Creek Waterfall. This involved .3 miles of fairly flat walking through the Patio and then .2 straight down (approximately 200 ft. descent). I made it down fine and rested at the waterfall for about 45 minutes in the shade talking with some of the rafters that had stopped there for the day. At this point, I needed to get going and head back up as I have to hike up to Surprise Valley (an extra 2 miles) since I didn't hike yesterday. Well, this is where things got bad. I was feeling great. I felt hydrated and refueled. I had been sitting in the shade and had cooled off. But on my way back up I just didn't feel right. I just couldn't catch my breath. Now I'm from Colorado and I hike 14ers and go over mountain passes all the time so I'm quite used to being out of breath and needing to take a break. I took small breaks but just couldn't catch my breath. So I stopped on one of the switchbacks and sat down on a rock with my backpack on, and then it went dark. The next thing I know I was on the ground 10-15 ft. down the trail. It took me a bit to get my bearings. Once I realized what had happened I hike about 100 ft. to the next shade spot and rehydrated some more, ate some snacks and just rested for the next hour. I just sat there thinking about how bad it really could have been. Thankfully I had my backpack on when I sat down. I think having that weight kept me from falling forward instead of the side. Falling forward would have sent me down to the next switchback. At this point I was physically and mentally done for the day. There was no way I was going to be able to hike another 2 miles up to Surprise Valley with about 1,500 ft. ascent. So I stealth camped on Deer Creek and just crashed for the rest of the day. I figure if a ranger came by that they would understand my decision. Day 4 I woke up super early so as to avoid the sun as much as possible, especially during my two biggest climbs. I still had to hike 13 miles and 4-5k ft. of ascent so I was a bit nervous of making it out and having another episode. Luckily everything went well and I made it out okay. It was a very uneventful hike out which was good. It was a beautiful morning and the clouds helped blocked the sun some which helped tons. Just be ready!