I am up early, drive to Hermits Rest, and get lucky by finding an empty parking place. It will be nice when this new restroom construction project is finished and we can get the hiker's parking lot by the trailhead back again. It takes a little longer than I thought it would to get all my gear ready, but I finally leave the trailhead around 6:00. My headlight is only needed for a few minutes. I never cease to be amazed at the sections of the Hermit Trail that still show the stone paving by the Santa Fe Railroad over ninety years ago.
I have been playing cat and mouse with two guys who are doing a day hike down the Hermit. As I pass the Waldron Trail, I don't see the trail sign, but it was here in March when I went up that trail. I reach the Dripping Springs trail junction just over an hour after leaving the trailhead.
There's no need for my fleece jacket, so I tuck it under some straps at the back of my pack. I reach Santa Maria Spring in another twenty minutes. In a little while, the two guys I passed back there walk in and ask if I lost a green, fleece jacket. I look and sure enough, I have lost it. They say it's back up the trail about a quarter-mile. Geez Louise, you would think they would have picked it up and brought it to me. Now I have to hoof it back up the trail and retrieve my jacket. That's a half-hour I lost doing that.
I place my name on the register book inside the rest house and then take some pictures of the South Rim and the Hermit Gorge before continuing down the trail.
In one more hour, I am approaching Lookout Point and shortly after that, I reach Breezy Point. Unlike my last hike through here, the wind is completely calm today. I am having difficulties with my new Nikon D70s handling pictures with both shade and sunlight in them. My old Nikon 5700 handled those admirably. I am completely discounting the remote possibility that it is an operator problem - ha! Of course, I wish I had the camera manual with me right now, so I guess I shoot in the automatic mode for the remainder of this trip and hope for the best.
There are two large loops and one small one past Breezy Point before you can start down the Cathedral Stairs. Like the upper Hermit, many sections still show the stone paving and poured concrete from ninety years ago.
It is not nearly as hot as it was last October when my daughter and I came down this section. However, I do stop to rest in the shade at the same large rock just above the Tonto Trail like we did last year. This time I turn right at the trail junction sign.
After cresting a small hill, I get my first view of the Colorado River. Hermit Rapids is visible downstream a little ways. The river is still running a muddy, brown color. There have been a few sprinkles this afternoon, but no real rain yet.
In a little while, I reach the mouth of the Monument Creek drainage. After another half-hour, I am near the south end of the drainage. I was expecting the campsite to be at the end of the drainage at the same level as the Tonto Trail, but you actually drop down into the creek bed. The going is a little rough and requires some light scrambling.
Finally, I round a bend and get my first close-up view of the Monument, a tall, cylindrical pillar of rock. This thing must be fifty or sixty feet high and ten feet in diameter. It is surprising that it remains standing.
I make my way the final quarter-mile to the campsites. No one else appears to be here, so I get to pick and choose my site. The big blister I got on my right foot from these new boots doing the Havasu Canyon hike last week is still bothering me. I apply new Moleskin and hope for the best. I am really pooped, so after I have supper, I'm going to bed early. I am trying out a new compact propane stove, an MSR Pocket Rocket. It works great and is very light. Tomorrow I am doing a day hike to Granite Rapids and then moving on to Cedar Spring. MAIN INDEX | HIKING INDEX | BACK TO PREFACE | FORWARD TO DAY 2
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