We are up around 7:00, have breakfast, and prepare for our day hike to Boucher Rapids.  After the ill advice she got for the day hike to Hermit Rapids, Beth is going to wear her boots to these rapids.  My GPS shows there is a mine entrance nearby, so we set out to find it.  Sure enough, it is right where the GPS shows.  We will explore that when we come back from the rapids.  The walk to Boucher Rapids is a real joy.  It is 1.5 miles of the easiest walking possible - damp, small gravel on the creek bed with absolutely no wading, scrambling, or boulder hopping required.  The publisher of my map shows this to be a "Black Diamond" trail or one that is supposed to be pretty hard.  Boy, did they get that wrong!  This is definitely a "Green E" for easy.  About half way to the rapids, we hear the voices of men who seem to be just around the bend.  However, we never see or hear anyone after that.  Beth and I are completely puzzled by this.  We reach the rapids in just over one hour.  They are longer than Hermit Rapids, but not as turbulent.  We watch as a group of eight rafts and kayaks successfully run the rapids.  This has been a very pleasant morning.  There are some nice sand campsites near the rapids.

	Click either picture to view all sixteen pictures of Boucher Rapids.
Beth at Boucher Rapids 10-6-2005 @ 10:04		Richard at Boucher Rapids 10-6-2005 @ 10:05

     We return to camp just before noon.  While I am down at the creek filtering water, I meet three very experienced hikers my age from Aspen and Vail who have come all the way from South Bass.  We are the first people they have seen in five days.  They are going to wait a few hours for it to cool down a little before heading up the Boucher Trail for a dry camp at Yuma Point.  We discuss at length some tips and suggestions for lightweight hiking.  It turns out they were the voices we heard this morning going to Boucher Rapids.  Around 3:30 they depart heading up the trail.

	10-6-2005 @ 12:56 Hikers from South Bass

     Beth and I go over to explore Louis Boucher's copper mine.  We put on our headlights and start down the tunnel.  It is only about fifty feet long.  Apparently, Boucher found it more profitable to mine the tourists than the copper.

Boucher mine entrance 10-6-2005 @ 1:00	Richard by mine entrance 10-6-2005 @ 1:01	Inside Boucher copper mine 10-6-2005 @ 1:03

     I take Beth to see Louis Boucher's cabin.  The modesty of this one-room rock cabin is a stark example of the tenacity of these early day explorers.

	Click either picture to view additional pictures of Louis Boucher's rock cabin.
Boucher rock cabin 10-6-2005 @ 1:15		Boucher rock cabin 10-6-2005 @ 1:15

     We rest the remainder of the day.  While we are going to get an early start tomorrow, we decide that the difficulty of the initial switchbacks of the Boucher Trail dictate that we do those after sunrise.  Our plan tomorrow is to do a dry camp at Yuma Point, which is approximately the halfway point to the rim.  Again it's supper and off to bed for us. 

MAIN INDEX | HIKING INDEX | BACK TO DAY 3 | FORWARD TO DAY 5