Keith and I are up at 6:30 again this morning.  Around 7:30 five of Bob Bordasch's group come by headed for the Little Colorado.  A little later a solo hiker comes by going that way also.  He appears to be of Indian descent and explains he is going to search for the Hopi birthplace.  Keith and I decide to explore Seth Tanner's mine this morning before moving on to Tanner Rapids.  The mine is not too far from our campsite.

Tanner mine 10-16-2007 @ 7:50	Tanner mine 10-16-2007 @ 7:50	Tanner mine 10-16-2007 @ 7:52

     We brought our headlights so we can explore the mine shaft.  This spring my daughter, son, and I explored the Tanner Lone Star mine on the other side of the river when we did our raft trip.  Unfortunately, the floor of this mine shaft slopes up towards the opening and there is a lot of standing water in it.  It looks a little deep, so we elect to take the few pictures we can from near the opening.  The copper deposits are readily visible.

Tanner copper mine 10-16-2007 @ 7:54	Tanner copper mine 10-16-2007 @ 7:56	Tanner copper mine 10-16-2007 @ 7:56

     Just outside Keith and I get our picture taken by the mine opening.  I am surprised that the opening and shaft height are so low.  At only about three feet high, it would have required a lot of stooping and crouching to work in there. 

Keith outside first Tanner mine 10-16-2007 @ 7:59	Richard outside first Tanner mine 10-16-2007 @ 8:01

     We are just getting ready to leave when we discover a second mine shaft a little south of the first one.  This one is also filled with water.  It appears this was a salt mine.

Second Tanner mine 10-16-2007 @ 8:06	Second Tanner mine 10-16-2007 @ 8:06	Second Tanner mine 10-16-2007 @ 8:07

     We head back to camp and begin packing our stuff.  The group across the river is doing the same thing and they soon leave.

Group preparing to leave 10-16-2007 @ 8:19	Dory running the rapids 10-16-2007 @ 8:39

     We eventually leave around 9:30 and pass Bob's campsite, but he is nowhere to be found.  In a while, we reach the small island and the place where the high-low route decision must be made.  We decide to run an experiment: I will take the high route and Keith will take the low route, letting us know which way is best.

Leaving Palisades Creek 10-16-2007 @ 9:34	High-Low route junction 10-16-2007 @ 9:58	Keith on the low route 10-16-2007 @ 10:02

     The high route climbs up a ways on a well traveled trail and then contours in and around several drainages before descending back to the main trail.  Keith has been waiting for me at the trail junction for five minutes or so.  I guess that answers the question of which way is best.  We notice that someone has placed a small rock barrier on the high route, a barrier that wasn't there two days ago, effectively directing hikers to the low route.

High-Low route junction 10-16-2007 @ 10:21	High-Low route junction 10-16-2007 @ 10:21

     A little later, we pass a section of cryptobiotic soil that you should avoid walking on.

Cryptobiotic soil 10-16-2007 @ 11:06	Cryptobiotic soil 10-16-2007 @ 11:06

     As we near Tanner Rapids, we begin the climb up and around on the last half-mile of trail.  Unfortunately, there appears to be no way to bypass this section of the trail that goes in and out of several drainages.  We then reach the Tanner Trail junction, the place I walked right by two days ago when I wasn't paying attention.

Approaching Tanner Rapids 10-16-2007 @ 12:04	Approaching Tanner Rapids 10-16-2007 @ 12:08	Beamer trail junction 10-16-2007 @ 12:10

     After inspecting most of the campsites at Tanner Rapids, we take one that is only a few feet from the water.  That will make filtering water easy.  Surprisingly, we don't see any other hikers spending the night here.

Tanner Rapids campsite 10-16-2007 @ 1:44	Tanner Rapids campsite 10-16-2007 @ 1:44	Keith filtering water 10-16-2007 @ 1:46

     It clouds up this afternoon with a few thundershowers nearby.  It actually spits a few drops of rain on us, but then the clouds dissipate.  Sunset is only slightly better than previous nights.

Fourth night sunset 10-16-2007 @ 5:51	Fourth night sunset 10-16-2007 @ 5:51

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