August 1954 - December 1957)
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Harvey Butchart’s Hiking Log DETAILED HIKING LOGS (August 1954 - December 1957) Floating on the Colorado River [August 27 and 28, 1954 and September 18, 1954] During this last weekend of August, Ellery Gibson and I took our packs down the Hermit Trail to sleep out a couple nights. I had been down here several times before, so we kept going at a steady pace and aimed for the bottom of Monument Creek. We knew that Purtymun's gear was cached there, and we wanted to see about the trip to the river here. As usual, there was a little water running in Monument Creek, and we saw the bed springs under the overhang which had been used in the old days when the loop from the Hermit Trail over to the Bright Angel Trail was an accepted and popular outing. Walking to the river down Monument Creek is a pretty simple task, which didn't surprise me since I knew that horses could make it. We timed ourselves back up from the river to the Tonto Trail at about 45 minutes. I don't think the Inner Gorge is as deep here as it is at the South Kaibab Trail. The river seemed very low and the rapids known as Granite Falls were concentrated over toward the right bank. The water was pretty wild, and I was not surprised that the Purtymun Party had given up here. What surprised me more was that they had come through Horn Creek Rapids with portaging. We found the pile of duffel. A life jacket was near the top and we tried it on for size. Georgie White had already pushed the rubber boats out in the current but they had soon been caught by eddies. The story is that they showed up at Lake Mead about four months later. Elmer finally brought some pack horses down Monument Creek and took the rest of the stuff away overland. The only approach by horse now is along the Tonto Trail from Indian Gardens, because the shorter route down the Hermit Trail is blocked by rock slides. I forgot where Ellery and I left our packs, but I know I brought my air mattress down to the river here. Somehow I had gotten the idea that it would be fun to paddle around on it in the river. I believe I had done this on a picnic in Oak Creek, and I wanted to see whether it might be possible to use a mattress as a means of going down river. It worked fine for me in the quiet pool. I could paddle upstream with the backwater along the edge and then cross over and return without getting too close to the rapids. Ellery tried it too, and right away he had the curiosity to see how hard it would be to get back up on the mattress if you had slipped off or been turned over for some reason. That maneuver is awkward at first, but with a bit of thought and patience, you can get the hang of it. The technique is to lie crosswise across the middle of the mattress and then to pivot your body until you're lying lengthwise. We didn't know this then, and it was comical how the mattress would pop up the wrong way. Ellery and I still had time to leave Granite Falls and go back over near Hermit Creek before it was time to make camp for the night. I had never been to Boucher Creek nor Boucher Camp, so I resolved to test out my theory that the mattress would furnish good transportation downstream and see that region too. Ellery went with me to see Hermit rapids and then while I was blowing up the mattress, he waited around to see me off. I hadn't at that time worked out a system to keep the contents of a knapsack dry as I floated along so all I took with me was shoes and socks. I figured I would get back to Hermit Camp where I had left the pack in time to eat lunch. Later I wished that I had brought my watch, because I would have liked knowing how long it took to float the 1.6 miles downstream from Hermit to Boucher Rapids. Ellery figured that it might take him a bit longer to go up the trail to Hermit Rest than it would take me, so we agreed that he should go on ahead at a leisurely pace while I was returning from Boucher Creek by the Tonto Trail. It seemed to me that I floated the 1.6 miles in less than 45 minutes. There were no rapids or riffles of any kind along this section of the river. I inspected the left bank to see whether I could walk upstream near the water without going up onto the Tonto Plateau, and I came to the conclusion that this would not be advisable. There would be too much rock climbing. However, my impression wasn't too firm because when I heard later from Dock that Russell and Monnette had done this going from Hermit to Boucher, I supposed that it would be feasible. Finally, in April, 1958, we tried doing just this. Don, Ivan, and Marshall Maynes gave up the long one-day loop hike. When I went on, I had to go up to the base of the Tapeats, but this trip is covered in another place in these logs. Going downriver was so simple along this stretch that I became enthusiastic about the method. At this time, I believe there was a little water in lower Boucher but none up by the camp. From my later trips, I learned to expect water during all seasons somewhat higher than the camp. I must have been in a hurry, because I went right past the rock cabin without seeing either it or the small structure I later called the rock chicken coop. It was easy to see the old trail leaving the bottom of the wash going up to the Tonto level. I also noted the branch which goes on up the Redwall to form the Boucher Trail. On the way back to Hermit Creek, I experimented with going higher and straighter than the regular trail. The experiment was not a success as the route was rougher and I probably lost time. When I crossed Hermit Creek, I noticed the old corral they used for the mules. One item of interest before you get to the creek is a high and well built fence from the base of the Redwall down to the edge of the Inner Gorge. I thought it probably had something to do with the limit of some mining property, but I learned later that it was put up by the Park Service to keep the wild burros out. They reasoned that the bighorn sheep would come back if there was no competition with burros, and that the sheep could climb around the fence while the burros could not. Actually, the burros could go up the Boucher Trail and come down the Hermit to restock this basin. We found burro bones along the trail down into this area where rangers had shot them. There were also some live burros somewhere around to judge by the manure. Hermit Camp used to be quite an elaborate affair with tents mounted above wood floors. There were even concrete bases for some sort of structures in regular rows. They had piping to bring water to the grounds from higher up the creek and with this irrigation, there were cottonwoods growing. There was a cable car to bring down supplies from Pima Point above and wagon roads for moving food and supplies around. The one thing that is most nearly in its original state is an underground storage cellar. After a late lunch on the path approaching Hermit Camp where we had spent the night, I left for the rim and got out in good time, a half hour after Ellery. I'm not sure whether the move away from Hermit Camp over to Phantom Ranch was a good one. You get a better view of the surrounding cliffs from Hermit. The walk down to the river at Hermit Rapids is interesting , and the rapid itself is much more spectacular than anything along the River Trail to Phantom Ranch. It must be that Phantom Ranch is more strategically located on the way to the North Rim. Also there are so many interesting places to go to from Phantom Ranch like Clear Creek, Ribbon Falls, and Phantom Creek. I believe you get a broader impression of the whole Grand Canyon from the South Kaibab Trail than you do from the Hermit Trail. In making this comparison, it is interesting to read James chapter on the Hermit Trail which was only in the planning stage when he wrote about it. He called it a trail to the scenic heart of the canyon. From Hance Rapids to the Kaibab Suspension Bridge [September 4, 1954] The mattress worked so well going from Hermit to Boucher that I was excited about using it for more ambitious projects. I knew that the part of the river from Sockdolager Rapids to Bright Angel Creek was noteworthy for the steepness of the banks and the impossibility of walking around the rapids, or at least two: Sockdolager and Grapevine. I figured that if I could do that part, I could do it all. I don't remember how I got Ben Surwill interested in going with me.