I'll admit I was a bit apprehensive about the hike up Hermit (8 miles long, 3600 feet up, unmaintained trail)
I started at sunrise (5:30 AM) and finished 8 hrs later. You start by backtracking on the Tonto until you get the Hermit Trail junction. Then it is up, and up, and up...


I spent half my time looking back (as the views are tremendous) and appreciating as things started to look smaller down below.
The other half of the time I was looking up, feeling depressed about how much more up there was. The trail goes up through these rocks. Do you see it? I couldn't.


The vistas became better, but the trail became rougher. There were numerous rock falls that left you no choice but to scramble and climb over rocks.


About 2/3 the way up you come to a rest house at Santa Maria Spring (the only water on the trail). I rested here for quite a while since I knew the last bit was a bear of a climb.
There was a park volunteer there. His job was to count hikers and look for people in…

Today's hike was the shortest - just a few miles from Monument to Hermit Creek. But once again, navigating Monument was a challenge.
Every time the trail crossed a drainage it was very hard to find where it exited the other side amidst the pile of boulders. I used to map to figure out
where it had to be and eventually found it. My only other course of action would be to return to IG! The Hermit (of the trail and creek) was Louis Boucher,
who built the trail to the rim and opened a lodge for guests (now this ruin).


Fortunately the drop into Hermit Creek was much easier. Hermit Creek had a lot more water than Monument.
My campsite was on a ledge directly above this swimming hole with waterfall. I set aside late afternoon for swimming.


I didn't see a lot of wildlife. There was a deer at Phantom Ranch, a few birds, and lots of lizards.


Since it was only mid morning, I took an excursion down Hermit Creek to the Colorado River. Hermit canyon had some of the craziest rock…

Day three takes me 10 miles west on the Tonto to Monument Creek. Long, but mostly level. But not straight. You have to hike north toward the river to go around a series of ridges
(the first is The Battleship), and then south to go around side canyons (the first is Horn Creek). You can't drink from Horn as the water is radioactive from a Unranium mine up on the ridge.


As I saw yesterday, the views on the Tonto are amazing. Plus (unlike the corridor) it's very quiet.
I saw only 12 people today, and 1/2 of those were on the campground, not on the trail. If I get in trouble, there won't be anyone around to help.


I continued looping around ridges and side canyons. I this is Dana Bute just before salt creek.
It's another creek you can't drink from, this time due to too much salt. The creek was barely a trickle anyway.


Then you get to Monument Creek (tonight's campsite). It's named for this giant (200 ft?) rock pillar right by the campground. The descent into Monument is a bitch.
…

I started with a full breakfast from Phantom RanchToday. Since today's hike was relatively short (from the bottom up to Indian Gardens) I planned a couple of short excursions.
The first was to walk about a mile north on the N. Kaibab Trail to see a bit of the narrow canyon upstream known as "The Box". I then started the ascent, up the Devils Corkscrew.


On the way up there was a very cool rock you could scramble up to see a waterfall down in a slot canyon. On the way down I saw the mule train of tourists en route to Phantom Ranch.
You know you are getting closer to Indian Gardens when you get back in the surreal sculped sandstone with trees.



The campsites at Indian Gradens are nice, with shelters. You could cowboy camp under a roof! The campground was quiet, but a few feet away the day use area was nuts.

There was a line of 30 day hikers waiting to fill their water container at the tap. I considered telling them there were taps in the campground, but I didn't want to start a…

Day 1 of the Hike


Here's a map of the hike, color coded by day. Not including the rim walks, the hike was 46 miles with a little over 10,000 ft or gain and loss.
Here is the start of the South Kaibab Tral. It goes down very fast.


Major viewpoints on the way down are Ooh Aah Point, Cedar Ridge, Skelleton Point, and the Tip Off.
A couple of these now have solar powered composting toilets. However there is no water.


It's time to stop and smell the roses. There actually was a large wild rose bush in full bloom. Here are some pics of the showier flowering cacti.


After the Tip Off you can look down into the inner canyon and see the trial winding its way down, the black bridge across the river, and your destination.
I camped at Bright Angel Campground, right next to the creek.


After setting up camp I soaked my feet in the Colorado river and washed my socks. But also, by putting my feet in the water I could now say I was all the way to the bottom.
I then went to Phantom…