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| Hermit Monument Tonto & BA, AZ | |
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| | Hermit Monument Tonto & BA, AZ | | | |
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Hermit Monument Tonto & BA, AZ
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| Backpack | 27.88 Miles |
7,398 AEG |
| | Backpack | 27.88 Miles | 1 Day 6 Hrs 18 Mns | | |
| 7,398 ft AEG | | | | |
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| Partners |
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none
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| no partners | | Work has been really busy these past few months and I can't take time off right now. This limits my backpacking options to weekends. So I was very content to fit this trip to the Canyon in to a weekend window. And perfect weather for an early-winter Canyon hike!
We stayed with friends in Flag on Friday night, then left for the South Rim at 5a.m. We started hiking from Hermit's Rest at 7. After a little less than two miles east, along the Tonto, we headed down Monument creek to the Colorado, and then back up to spend some time in the narrows section. Monument Creek was definitely the highlight of this trip! We left Monument at 3:15pm and continued along the Tonto until we arrived at our campsite in Salt Creek backcountry area. It was about 5p.m. and the sun was setting in the Canyon. This left about 12+ miles for Sunday's hike out: east on the Tonto, and then up Bright Angel.
Snow conditions: scattered drifts on the rim. About 0.5 inch or so for the first mile on the Hermit, but no significant ice. BA has snow and scattered ice for the highest 1.5 miles. This was actually quite slippery, but trekking poles were enough. We all had microspikes, but no one wanted to stop and put them on when we were so close to the end of our hike.
Temps: 24 degrees on the rim when we departed down the Hermit, 28 degrees at our campsite on Salt Creek, 60 at Indian Gardens at noon, and 43 back on the rim at 2:15p.m. -- Not too bad, if you're prepared for it! |
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Cedar Spring |
Dripping |
Dripping |
| | | several small, dispersed pools near the spring creating a trickle of flow through the wash north of where the Tonto Trail crosses it. |
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Granite Rapids |
Heavy flow |
Heavy flow |
| | | No visible silt in the river - flowing at 40,000CFS plus. This type of flow event is thunderous and you can hear it over a mile away. |
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Hermit Creek |
Medium flow |
Medium flow |
| | | Good visible flow, as seen from the Hermit Trail |
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Monument Creek |
Medium flow |
Medium flow |
| | | Great flow in the narrows below the designated camping area. Subsurface flows persist until 1/3 mile south of the Colorado River confluence. There was also light flow above south of where the tonto trail crosses the creek bed. |
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Salt Creek |
Light flow |
Light flow |
| | | Subsurface flow where trail crosses creek. trickle upstream and light flow about 150 meters downstream. | | _____________________
| - there's nothing like finding Water in the Desert - |
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