Such a great backpacking trip through the canyon. I have been wanting to do Boucher for some time now. We started down Hermit and the excitement started pretty early. About halfway down Hermit we came across three guys who were making their way out with not even close to enough water. They apparently only had about a half liter left between the three of them. We had more than enough to make it down to the Colorado so we gave them several liters of water so they could make it to Santa Maria. They were obviously inexperienced so we asked what was going on. I guess their buddy was stuck down at the Hermit Rapids with a dislocated knee. They were trying to hike out on their own. Unfortunately their guide left them to call for medical help for the injured hiker. Not a good situation for them.
We started our way down again and ended up getting buzzed by the medical helicopter. I still am trying to figure out where they landed to pick up that guy. So our first night we camped at Hermit Rapids and then in the morning headed up to Hermit Creek. We spent the second day just lounging around in the creek. Day three we hiked over to Boucher Creek via the Tonto Trail.
Day four we hiked out on Boucher. It was a tough hike out but I was happy that we decided to hike up this way. It would have been tough on the knees going down. All in all this was a great hike and I can't wait to go back.
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