ALL HIKERS

POSTSCRIPT

     This was a fantastic trip, the best of all my Canyon hikes.  I had no blister, toenail, or knee problems.  And of course, it's always neat to be hiking with your daughter.  Things went pretty much as planned and we got to see some wonderful sights.  Our trip highlights were:

• The stone-paved portions of the upper Hermit Trail and the Cathedral Stair section.

• Santa Maria Spring and its Respit Bench.

• Hermit Rapids.  Beth especially liked the high canyon walls on the trip to the rapids.

• The entire Boucher Creek area including Louis Boucher's cabin and copper mine.

• Boucher Rapids.

• The unbelievably great views from Whites Butte and Yuma Point.

     If you are hiking any of these trails, I have the following recommendations:

• The Hermit Trail is very straight forward; there is water at Santa Maria Spring; and it is suitable to travel either up or down.

• The trail from Hermit Creek to Hermit Rapids requires some mild scrambling near the campsite.  My map maker shows this to be a "Black Diamond," but I would rate it a "Blue M" or medium trail. 

• The Tonto Trail from Hermit Creek to Boucher Creek is a little narrow and exposed around Travertine Canyon.  If you are squeamish about narrow trails or have a fear of heights, this might not be the trail for you.  My map maker shows this to be a "Blue M" or medium trail.  I would rate it mostly the same with a few "Black Diamond" areas.

• The trail from Boucher Creek to Boucher Rapids is downright easy, definitely a "Green E."

• The Boucher Trail has two very steep sections - the entire area below Whites Butte and the section between the south end of upper Travertine Canyon and Yuma Point.  There is no water on the Boucher.  My map maker rates it a "Black Diamond" in most places and a "Double Black Diamond" in the two steep sections above.  I agree with their assessment.  The National Park Service considers the Boucher Trail the most difficult and demanding of the south side trails.

     If you are doing both the Hermit and Boucher trails, you have a choice of which direction to do the loop.  I personally can travel up a very steep section more easily than going down it.  When I am going down very steep sections, I am always afraid that my feet are going to slip out from under me.  Additionally, I don't know anyone who likes to continually have their feet crammed forward in their boots with every downward step.  My recommendation would be to go down the Hermit and come up the Boucher.  However, this direction will probably result in a dry camp one night going up the Boucher unless you are a very strong hiker.  Stated differently, it seems to me that going up the Boucher is more safe and more strenuous while going down it is less safe and less strenuous.

     Click here to see a photo gallery of the plant life we saw in the inner Canyon on this trip.

     I enjoyed having my GPS and digital recorder with me.  My GPS allowed me to view elevation contours and Canyon features and know my position at all times.  My digital recorder allowed me to dictate notes at any time without having to worry about pen and paper.  The voice playback displays the date and time the note was dictated.  My new Esbit stove worked great.  It is considerably more compact and much lighter than my old propane stove.

     I am looking forward to doing the Clear Creek Trail in March and the Grandview-Tonto-Bright Angel trails in April.

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