We are up around 7:00 and have oatmeal for breakfast.  Our campsite is above Hermit Creek and is surrounded by acacia bushes.  One slipup here is a real ouchy!

     Hermit Creek is pretty, but at this time of year there are only a few flowers and some cattails here.

     We talk to a guy in the campsite next to us about our day hike down to Hermit Rapids.  He says he has done that before and it requires walking through quite a bit of water.  Beth is going to wear her Tevas while I wear my boots and carry some slip-on lake shoes to wade in the water.  We head for the rapids just before nine.  The first part of the trail below our campsite requires a little scrambling to proceed any farther down the creek bed.  Beth enjoys the high canyon walls, which are like a miniature version of the "Box" section on the North Kaibab Trail.

     We soon come upon some very unique mineral deposits on the side of the canyon wall.  These are similar to the deposits you see inside a cave.

     The trail alternates between the creek bed and a little ways up the west side of the creek.  We reach an area where a small climb is required that is covered with a silver, quartz-like material called mica.

     With all our minor scrambles, Beth has had a hard time wearing only her Tevas.  My boots have been perfect for this day hike as we did not come close to having to wade through any water.  We reach Hermit Rapids about 10:30 and relax a while.  The river is a clear, emerald green color.  The rapids are pretty and have none of the rocks I saw at Hance Rapids this spring.  It has been overcast today and we are wondering if it will rain.

     After a half hour at the rapids, we head back up the trail.  We meet another father and daughter from Oklahoma camped nearby.

The trip back to camp is uneventful and we take a little time to enjoy the scenery.

"Box" like canyon walls 10-4-2005 @ 12:05	"Box" like canyon walls 10-4-2005 @ 12:05	Small waterfall 10-4-2005 @ 12:10

     Like the trip to the rapids, the return trip takes about an hour and a half.  While Beth and I sit in the shade eating our lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, I glance over at the fanny pack part of my backpack that is laying on a rock by my tent.  A squirrel is sitting on top of it, ripping my zipper apart and eating cashew nuts I left inside it.  Darn it, that's the same thing that happened to me at Bright Angel Campground on my April, 2004, hike.  Well, I guess my wife is going to have to warm up her sewing machine and fix my pack when I get home.  While Beth is down at the creek soaking her feet, she meets a Park Ranger who is coordinating the helicopter rescue of the injured hiker we met yesterday afternoon.  We are a little concerned about exactly where the continuation of the Tonto Trail is for the hike tomorrow to Boucher Creek.  Fortunately a group of seven comes down that trail and shows us the way.  That trail actually heads up the hill by a campsite that is right at the creek.  That was not obvious when we visited the folks camped there earlier.  Our plan is to get up early tomorrow morning and leave before sunrise.  We go to bed again just after sunset.

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