For several years Jean and I were able to take a spring break trip, a chance for both of us leave the cold and wet of a Tennessee winter, but more importantly to mark the middle of another semester for Jean. Our favorite destination was Arizona for its dependable warmth and abundant sunshine. Jean was more familiar with the hiking options in the area, having spent a sabbatical year at Arizona State she’d visited Wupatki, the Superstitions, and most importantly the Grand Canyon, where she had done a rim to rim backpack trip.
For our first trip together to the canyon we wanted to stay out of the crowded corridor area where most hikers were venturing down to the Colorado River at Phantom Ranch. We were looking for something more challenging, more remote, and settled on a loop connecting the Boucher and Hermit Trails on the west side of Canyon Village. We planned a four day backpacking trip with two nights at Boucher and one at Hermit to be the centerpiece of the trip, and planned to visit other parks on the drive up and back from Phoenix.
3-16-01
Day 1 was a busy one. We flew to Phoenix via Memphis on Northwest, took the shuttle to Thrifty for our rental car, and hit the REI. I picked up the 7.5’ minute quads for our hike, and Jean got the stuck bushing on her hiking pole fixed. We decided to try and beat the Friday traffic out of town and headed for Flagstaff.
Our first stop was at Walnut Canyon National Monument to see the Puebloan cliff dwellings. The dwellings were occupied from1125 to 1250, then abandoned and ignored until the late 1880. An era of souvenir hunting led to the creation of the monument in 1915.
There are only two short hiking trails in the monument. Walnut Canyon is serious about closing on time and we were too late to start the Island Trail, so we headed out on the shorter 0.7 mile Rim Trail. The Rim Trail had some nice overlooks and a pair of recent pueblos.
On the way to the park, we’d seen a sign for the Arizona Trail and were able to get a brochure for the trail at Walnut Canyon. Leaving the park, we turned west on Old Walnut Canyon Road (FS 303) for short drive to a trailhead. We were eager to do more than just stretch our legs so out we went south on the trail for two miles out and back. That short part of the trail was mundane, just a walk through ponderosa pine forest, but we needed the exercise . We saw one other couple and a huge group of backpackers.
We got a room at the Super 8 off Exit 201 in Flagstaff, and ate next door at the Village Inn.
Arizona Trail and Walnut Canyon Rim Trail, 3 miles
3-17-21
Wupatki National Monument is another nearby park that doesn’t have a lot of hiking trails. Like Walnut Canyon the absence of trails reflects the monument’s mission to preserve its historic treasures, not the lack of interesting things to see. Maps and images of the archaeological sites for both areas are purposefully hard to find. At Walnut Canyon we’d seen a flyer for a ranger-led hike at Wupatki. We decided to try the hike, and were surprised that only two others showed up. We drove to the start at the parking area for Crack in the Rock (Wupatki Blog) that we had used for our 1998 overnighter, and hiked a bit to the south and west. We saw two major ruins, Antelope House and Small Tower House, plus some other Puebloan sites and modern Navajo sites. The ranger had the park’s archeology site map, and the detailed maps of the two major site which were used for interpretation. We saw tons of pottery fragments, some fossil wood, and the remains of a toy gun at one of the Navajo sites. Both of the big sites above Antelope Wash were in good shape. It is amazing how dense the artifacts are at Wupatki, especially after several hundred years of abandonment. It was hard to imagine anyone living in these desolate areas now.
Antelope House at Wupatki.
After the hike we drove back into Flagstaff where a St Patrick’s Day celebration had started. We did a little pre-backpack shopping, then went back to the motel to pack up after another trip to the Village Inn.
Arch at Wupatki.
Wupatki Backcountry Hike 6 miles
3-18-01
Next up was the highlight of the trip, four days in the Grand Canyon on the west side of the main village. Our plan was to take the Boucher Trail down to a campsite on the Tonto Plateau the first day, then hike down to the river and back on day two. Next we’d follow the Tonto Trail east to the campsite at the junction with the Hermit Trail, and follow the Hermit out on the last day. I’d hiked down the Hermit Trail on my 1992 visit, but otherwise the rest of the route would be all new trail for me.
Boucher is noted as one of the toughest trails on the south rim of the canyon. The current NPS brochure for the trail describes it as “The trail consists of tough, tedious traverses linked together by knee-destroying descents, with a section of exposed hand and toe climbing thrown in for good measure.” And notes “The degraded condition of the trail, especially in the Supai and Redwall Formations, presents an obvious hazard…“ and finally “The descent to the Tonto Trail is nothing less than brutal, a physical beating in classic Grand Canyon style.”
We were up at 6:15 for the 90 minute drive to the park via Williams. We found out at the entry station that because of our backpacking permit we could get the key code to drive out and leave our car at the Hermit Trailhead. I had some navigating trouble finding the road (not a good sign!), but eventually we reached the trailhead.
Hermits Rest is a major overlook with great views, so it was immediately picture time. Our camera was a new portable film camera, so the photos shown here are scans of old slides, slightly degraded by time.
The hike started out with 50 minutes on the Hermit Trail to the Dripping Springs Trail. The trail was loose and rocky with a steep descent through the upper formations of the canyon including the Coconino sandstone. At Grand Canyon progress is tracked not as much by elevation, as by the rock formations crossed. Since most of the rocks are essentially flat-lying, the different rock types and colors form their own natural topographic map.
In another 40 minutes of relatively flat walking along the Supai Formation on the Dripping Springs Trail we reached the top of the Boucher Trail. Lucky for us the junction was signed, it would have been hard to spot otherwise out in the middle of the plateau. On this upper section we saw 14 hikers, most heading back to Hermits Rest, but we also passed a group of 5 also heading for Boucher. One returning group had started at South Bass via a shuttle from Fred Harvey Tours, an idea that inspired us when it was time to plan our next canyon trip.
Hermit Canyon from above.
We ate our lunch at Yuma Point, the only spot on the hike in where we could see the Colorado River. Just after lunch we met an excited one hiker who told us stories of the difficulties ahead, “exposed climbing, hand over hand, face into the cliff etc.” It was enough to shake both of us, as he claimed to have hiked all the major canyon trails with the exception of New Hance. Sure enough, the top of the next descent through the Supai Formation and down into Travertine Canyon was very steep and required some use of our hands, but was not nearly as bad as we expected. The section was certainly harder than what I had seen on the Hermit Trail, or any of the hiking trail back home, but never too dangerous. In fact, we thought the most exposed section of the trail was on Travertine Canyon, just before another steep drop began. That drop into the next unnamed canyon from the saddle near Whites Butte through the Redwall and Mauve formations was just as steep and rough, but without any hand climbing as the trail headed straight down into the head of a very narrow canyon.
Jean on Boucher Trail.
Eventually we saw the confluence of our route with Boucher Creek on the Tonto Plateau and our campsite, part of Area BN9. We arrived about 5PM after a 9:40 start. The campsite has at least three sets of flat, sandy campsites along the creek. There was 6-12” of cool water in the creek and we immediately washed up. The unnamed creek we had hiked down had some water farther up, but near the confluence it was dry. The party of five never showed up (spooked off by our excited hiker?), so we had the site to ourselves, except for a few hungry mice and singing frogs. Our site was perched on a low bench above the confluence with views up Boucher Creek, where we could see snow on the canyon rim. Under a crystal clear sky, we watched Orion and the Big Dipper with the luxury of solitude.
Jean in upper Boucher Canyon.
8.5 miles to Boucher Creek.
3-19-01
After the tough descent to Boucher, we slept in a bit to enjoy our layover day. Boucher was a miner who lived alone in a cabin by the creek. I ventured off to check out his mine and found what I guessed was a 50’ long tunnel on a gossan (weathered ore) zone, but not in line with any of the many veins in the rock. The waste rock around the mine contained some copper possibly as bornite. There was a small bench built just inside the adit, most likely from someone looking to escape the heat.
Later on, Jean and I decided to try the short “boulder hop” down to the confluence of the Colorado River. Boucher Creek was flowing all the way to the river with the exception of a dry patch just below the confluence with Topaz Canyon. Cairns marked the Tonto Trail here.
Jean in lower Boucher.
The beach at the Colorado was huge! It extended 100 yards upstream and 200 yards downstream. Some windblown dunes made nice camp spots on the downstream side. It was amazing to watch how fast the river flowed, and to see how smoothly worn the rocks along the river edge were. We lay in the shade and explored about for three hours. Besides the beach, we saw no passable terrain along the river. The hike had been great as well, just before the junction with Topaz Canyon we passed a twisty Utah-style slot canyon.
The Colorado River at Boucher Creek.
On our return we met two NPS rangers, one of the very few ranger encounters I’ve had in all my time backcountry hiking. They had hiked over from Hermit in an encouraging three hours and would camp that night on the beach. The rangers complimented us on the neatness of our camp, which seemed odd until we got back to camp. There we saw our brand new Sierra Designs Meteor Lite tent standing with all its seams crisp and sharp, like the tent fresh out the box that it was. The rangers probably had taken us for rookies, rather than a pair of vets who had simply worn out their older tent. But later that night we found evidence that we hadn’t quite mastered the art of backcountry when Jean pulled a copy of the Smokies trail guide out of her backpack.
Later on, we saw our group of five. They had made a planned stop near Whites Butte and were now camped near us. We also had seen one hiker on the Tonto, and a group of two also staying at the Boucher Creek Campsite.
Boucher Creek 3 miles
3-20-2001
We thought we were getting an early start this morning, but the rangers hiked through our camp before we were even finished packing up. I guess that’s how the pros do it. As soon as we were out of the shaded canyon, we were blasted by the sun walking along the Tonto. The five mile traverse took a little over three hours. A big surprise was a ton of wildflowers. We saw primrose and a lot of small colorful flowers that no doubt have very brief blooms. Boucher to Hermit is a long hot walk, but we likely enjoyed it much more than most with the flowers decorating the way. We passed a group that was also staying at Hermit Creek (BM7). The highlight of the Tonto is the tremendous view of the Colorado River and its canyon. We were lucky to spot a raft group far down on the river.
Rafters on the Colorado River from the Tonto Trail.
We set up camp on arriving at Hermit and made coffee despite the heat. The campsite is in the Tapeats Sandstone, one site is under a small alcove. Hermit Creek is bigger than Boucher Creek and has a small waterfall and pool near camp. Each subsite is marked by rocks and there is a pit toilet. After lunch we took a walk down the side trail alongside the creek to the Colorado. Our side canyon was prettiest high in the Tapeats Formation with some overhangs in the sandstone. Jean got a picture of me where a vein of coarse pegmatite crossed the canyon.
Jean on the Tonto Trail.
Reaching the river, we again did a quick washup at the rapids. There’s only room for two parties at the campsite, one at the rapid and another downstream at the dunes. We laid in the shade watching the river and wondering at rapids that were even more powerful than those at Boucher.
Jean on the Tonto Trail.
Coming back up the canyon we went left onto a trail up to the rim that climbed well above the Tapeats. We’d seen it hiking in, the trail is beautifully constructed, but we couldn’t tell if it was part of the Tonto Trail. It turns out the trail is a short cut from the Tonto to the rapids.
Curiously both Boucher and Hermit are named for the same man. Louis Boucher was well known and active around the south rim during his time, but since he lived alone he was known as a hermit. Hermit was developed in the early 1900s as a camp by the Santa Fe Railroad while a toll was still being charged to use the Bright Angel Trail. According to Thybony, the camp was served by a tram line from Pima Point.
There were four groups in the campsite, including one late arrival. That was enough to make the site seem crowded, but we had enjoyed the luxury of quiet and solitude at Boucher. We didn’t use our fly (fat chance of rain!) to allow for some stargazing before we fell asleep.
3-21-2001
This was our hike out day with the long, arduous climb back to the canyon rim. We awoke at 6AM and were on the trail by 730. We walked another mile on the Tonto, before turning onto the Hermit Trail. From there it was an hour to the top of the switchbacks in the Redwall that make up the Golden Staircase (Cathedral Stairs), one of the most daunting climbs a backpacker can face. The long switchback heled to ease the grade and we could admire the intricate construction, which included hauling in some concrete. But we made one sustained 3:40 minute push to Santa Maria Spring for our first break. From the Spring it was another 1:20 to the top of the rim, but our fast pace kept us mostly in the shade. The brevity of my notes for the climb reflects our determination to climb out of the canyon bottom before the heat of the day; several thousand feet of climbing go by in a few sentences.
Cathedral Staircase on the Hermit Trail.
We felt the Hermit Trail had better footing, fewer washouts, and less near vertical climbing that Boucher. But though it was not as tough, it still was tough. The last 1,400’ of climbing was brutal-steep, sunny, and rocky. But the trail builders had made a long lasting trail, it was a pleasure to observe and use their rockwork. At the trailhead we finished off our second role of film and quickly ate an entire bag of Fritos. Usually we’re not salty snack fans, but that day we couldn’t get enough. We drove to Grand Canyon Village, walked through the El Tovar, and ate a late lunch. Next we stopped by the Backcountry Office, hoping to squeeze in one more overnight trip. We got some great tips for our next trip, but it turned out all their permits for the next night were taken. Much to our surprise they also told us that the tops of all the other open trails on the south rim were snowy and icy. We ended up getting a motel in Tusayan, which we found to be a pleasant gateway town.
Near the top of the Hermit Trail.
Hermit Trail 7.5 miles
Climbing the Hermit Trail.
3-22-2001
After several tough days in the canyon this was a day to enjoy some sightseeing. We stated off with a visit to the Watch Tower near the park’s east entrance. It’s a remarkable structure done in a Kiva motif with lots of Hopi artwork. The view into the canyon above the Tanner area is fantastic. On the East Rim Drive east of Grandview Road we saw a junction with the Arizona Trail.
View into Grand Canyon from the Watchtower.
Next we hiked an hour down the Tanner Trail. The top 30-40 minutes had a lot of snow with some icy spots and a lot of hard packed areas. Luckily we had our hiking poles and that helped our stability. Jean had also brought instep crampons, but we did not need them. We stopped short of the Supai, and had a snack in the shade of a pinyon pine. Next was a stop at the pueblo ruin and museum at Tusayan (not in the gateway town of the same name). The ruin wasn’t the caliber of what we’d seen at Wupatki, but still interesting. There aren’t many archaeological sites on the canyon rim, but it is easy to imagine there were people living there. We never saw Puebloan sights deep in the canyon either, but we suspected there would be many to be found.
Finally, we drove back to the general store and hiked along the rim to the new Visitors Center. The VC is incomplete with only a few panoramas on display. Also in the works is a greenway system into Tusayan. From the VC we walked the Rim Trail back about two miles from Mather Point. This section had good views of the region around the South Kaibab and Bright Angel trails. We could see Phantom Ranch and the trail bridge over the Colorado River. By late afternoon the weather turned cold and windy, while we were used to the Tonto temperatures and dressed in shorts.
Our plan for the next day was to visit Sedona, so we left the canyon and drove to the Super 8 in Flagstaff.
Our Grand Canyon Map.
Tanner and Rim trails, 4 miles
3-23-2001
We drove from Flagstaff into Sedona and parked at Midgely Bridge where we had done a short hike on our last visit in 1989. We’d found the trailhead confusing then and had hiked up bit up the Wilson Canyon Trail. This time things were better signed and despite the crowded TH, we hiked up the Wilson Mountain Trail in the Redrock Secret Mountain Wilderness, into an area covered mostly in basalt. We had no destination in mind, so just went 30 minutes out and returned. Both our trips to Sedona ended up being add-ons to backpacking trips, and both times we choose short walks at the easiest access trailhead. Sedona has enough hiking and enough gorgeous red rock terrain to make it a worthwhile destination on its own. It’s a shame we didn’t devote more time to the area, but then what else could we have cut out of the busy trips we made?
Next we stopped at the Forest Service Office in Sedona and got maps for the Palatki Ruin-Red Cliffs Rock Art Site. The rental car easily handled 7-8 miles of dirt road where we found another crowded trailhead. Here several pueblos are clustered in a small area and there are multiple rock art panels in another area (Red Cliffs). Some of the rock art goes back to the basket weavers period. I decided the paintings were not as interesting as the pictographs, but that’s the geologist in me coming out.
Palatki
This would be the last full day of the trip, so we next drove back to Phoenix via Cottonwood. We had planned to stay with some of Jean’s friends from her sabbatical year, but a death in their family had taken them unexpectedly out of town.
Palatki.
Wilson Mountain Trail and Palatki, 2.5 miles
3-24-01
With a little bit of spare time before catching our flight back to Knoxville we hiked a bit at Papago Buttes and then visited the Pueblo Grande Museum. We arrived back in Knoxville at midnight.
Papago Buttes and Pueblo Grande, 3 miles
