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| | | Hermit Boucher Topaz Grand Canyon Loop, AZ | | | |
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Hermit Boucher Topaz Grand Canyon Loop, AZ
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| no partners | | The GC is overdone in terms of write-ups, but I figure I'll write up something quick for Boucher trail conditions and some out of the way water sources.
Day 1 - Mid morning start and took our time getting down, poking around the old stonework outhouses below Santa Maria (one had it's lock unscrewed), going out to lookout and breezy points (and a bit past I guess), and then the old tourist tramway ruins. From the drop from Hermit Flats through the Grand Staircase this was neater than the rest of the drops I've done (Bright Angel, Kaibab, Grandview) between the long traverses sometimes under undercuts, the view into upper hermit creek narrows, and the view of the granite staircase section. The last bit down to the tonto and the tonto itself was a bit sloggy and after all the rock on the trail my feet were a bit tired. A section before Breezy Point had slid out, and the trail wasn't clear but there's limited options to scope out and it was quick to figure out. Had the hermit creek camp to ourselves, woot.
Day 2 - we dayhiked down to the rapids, taking down a lot of stupid cairns along the way. Chatted with a group we saw cutting across the tonto from lookout the day before and met with a few rafters heading up canyon with a guide. Wandered the beach a bit then went upstream, seeing some cairns rebuilt. Knocked down some of the non creek crossing ones again. Chatted with NPS after the hike giving conditions and all the low stuff gets ripped out by a flash every once in a while, so they don't really care about keeping people on a set path to save vegetation etc. Poked up the little lower side canyon and a bit above the camp, then left properly around 2:45. It was warm, but we were in shade a lot - Travertine canyon was really neat but fairly hard to access. Some nice low impact viewpoints off the tonto. Ended up just staying in the camp ghetto area near the stone cabin in Boucher but again had it to ourselves.
Day 3 - day hiked down to Boucher rapids after chatting with the thru-hiker group we met the day before. The canyon is a bit less interesting than hermit, but the rapids had a lot of cool rock. River was low so we were able to head upstream a bit on some driftwood beaches from the eddy of the rapids. Got warm heading up canyon, we were going to poke up Topaz until it cliffed out, never did. Instead of dry camping at whites buttes that night we decided to poke up. Mostly boulder filler, but some neat spots and easy obstacles. Had the first significant bypass around 3pm, could have backtracked a bit and bushwhacked past up climber left, but decided it was time to drop. Got to camp a bit before sunset which was unusual this trip.
Day 4 - The Boucher trail was the only thing I researched ahead of time based on the description via NPS site aside from confirming water sources, opinions varied but the one trip report with good photos and a level head made it look straightforward with indirect exposure and a short pitch of Class 3. Routefinding was never an issue, a few times you have to stop and look around. A fast packer heading down to Boucher beach for the night had the same impression. The first push up to whites butte was in shadow, yay. The top of it up the drainage is straightforward chunky class 2 that has been blasted for convenience. The top of the second push up to Yuma Point was a bit rough, some slanted less than proper single track bits and then a simple class 3 short pitch of a few moves and then some more loose but non-consequential class 2. From Yuma on it was simple, though again some slanted sections and some inconsequential slides. Definitely better going up than down, but it'd be fine with decent shoes and trekking poles (we were wearing some nearly shot TX4's). Had some decent shade heading over, dripping springs creek was dry at the trail but didn't need water so just went for the push out. Had clouds for the final ascent from Hermit Flat, though the old 1950s knee+ high stonework steps were my least favorite part of the ascent. The vert is nicely broken up with traverses and we exited a bit before 5pm.
Have more water reports I did immediately after, but they're not available to sync - I guess just compressing this triplog to one day keeps the later ones from showing as addable? |
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Hermit Creek |
Medium flow |
Medium flow |
| | | Good flow in creek, some nice cascades. E/W short side canyon had some pools, but no need to grab there. |
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Travertine Canyon |
Dry |
Dry |
| | | Dry at both trail crossings, some water in the lowest section connecting to the Colorado. | | | |
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Route Editor
Route Scout
Heading downstream the heavy winds of the night before the "tiger stripe cascade" truly striking! Slightly elevated radiation levels on the pretty pink/purple slabs, but nothing to set off alarms.
