The trip started out with a drive to Hermits Rest. This was before the days of the shuttle bus system, when the West Rim Drive (Hermits Rest Drive) was open to automobiles all year long. I knew I would have to take a taxi back to Hermits Rest at the end of the hike to retrieve my car.

I remember it being a beautiful morning, clear and crisp, perfect hiking weather. It was early but the sun had been up for a little while before I reached the trailhead. I had ready all of the information I could get my hands on regarding the Hermit Trail in the months before the hike but being before the days of the Internet there really was not much to go on in printed form. I did have a couple of different trail descriptions and also a guide published by the Grand Canyon Natural History Association.

I remember taking to the trail with a considerable amount of enthusiasm and anticipation along with a little touch fear. Since this was my first solo overnight trip I had to go through the missing hiker routine with Robin. I would call her when I finished the hike and if she did not hear from me within a reasonable amount of time after I was supposed to call she would have to call the Backcountry Office and report me as overdue. She was not pleased with this notion in the least. I forget why she did not want to do this trip with me but this was the start of the split in our hiking abilities, a split that has now grown into a very large chasm. She can't go the places that I want to go these days because they are simply beyond her abilities.

I guess there might be some bad times to be hiking in the Canyon but this was definitely not one of them. The morning was delightfully cool and the low sun was creating the most brilliant effects with the shadows. A good portion of the Hermit Trail was in shadow because it descends along the east side of Hermit Canyon and sun was not yet high enough in the sky to penetrate these depths. I could not have imagined a more perfect day.

I remember being truly amazed at some of the more magnificently constructed sections of the trail, especially the cobbled sections. I had just hiked the Grandview Trail earlier in the year and these sections of the Hermit reminded me a lot of similar sections of that trail. I could not imagine the amount of work required to set all of the cobbles in place and to secure them so well as to still be in such perfect condition. It was a very nice trail.

I had read about the fossil reptile tracks in the guidebooks but seeing them for myself, with my own eyes, was a rare treat. I had seen fossils in museums and rock shops in the past, but this was the first time I was seeing them still set in place, where they had been created, buried for countless millennia and then finally re-exposed. I thought about the little creatures that left this record for me to read, from millions of years in the past. What must their lives have been like? There was no Grand Canyon here when they lived and the area was only a sea of sand dunes that would eventually become the rock I was now gazing upon.

The trail really was very nice. It had some steep sections but these were well moderated with several long "flat" sections that simply contoured along the cliffs and offered some magnificent views. I thought that this would be a very nice trail for hiking out of the Canyon on but I knew I would not be doing that. The trail that I would be taking about of the Canyon, the Bright Angel Trail, was still some 20 miles and 2 days away.

Reaching the bottom of the initial descent into Hermit Basin and the junction with the Waldron Trail was my first major goal and I felt a sense of accomplishment at having reached it. Today this would mean nothing to me but back then it was a big deal. It was all new and unknown and exciting.

The next goal would be the junction with the Dripping Springs Trail and then Santa Maria Spring. I remember looking at the Dripping Spring Trail and wondering how long it would be until I would be able to venture along its course. I had done some reading about this trail as well and it sounded like it offered some very nice views into Hermit Canyon and Dripping Springs itself was supposed to be quite lush and beautiful.

After Santa Maria spring the trail began a long contour above some cliffs in the Hermit shale and the end of this section, the descent through the Supai Formation to Lookout Point, was the next major goal. I remember going across one rock fall towards the end of this section that was very different from anything I had yet seen in the Canyon and was a little rough.

Another long contour, with another rock fall to cross, brought me first the Cathedral Stairs and then finally to the descent to the Tonto Platform. I remember stopping at Breezy Point for a while for a short rest and just to take in the view. It was almost noon before I reached the Tonto Platform and the day had warmed up quite a bit. The vest and sweatshirt that I had started the morning with were gone and all I was left with was a T-shirt. I spotted one lone Grand Canyon Bighorn on the way to the junction with the Tonto Trail and this pleased me immensely. It just felt sort of good to know that there was something else alive down here. I had not seen a single person or other animal on the trail all morning and it was starting to feel a little weird. I was just not used to this kind of solitude. I was enjoying it but I was just not used to it.

Shortly after the junction with the Tonto Trail I reached an awesome overlook of the Inner Gorge and Ninety-four Mile Rapids below and Ninety-four Mile Canyon on the other side of the river. Everything just seemed perfect so I decided to stay there and have my lunch. I was making good time more than half of the trail was already behind me for the day. I sat and ate my lunch, soaked up the sun and absorbed the magnificent vistas that had been set before me. Life was truly good today.

After lunch I continued on, following the Tonto Trail towards the east, and Monument Canyon. The Tonto Trail really is one of my favorites, mostly because of the views that it affords: the buttes and temples, the rim above, the Inner Gorge, the side canyons... there is always something to look at and it is never disappointing. Even when I have walked on this trail all day long, and several days straight, I never get tired of these views. This section of the Tonto contoured around the base of Cope Butte and up into the head of Monument Canyon. On the other side of the river the most notable feature was the Tower of Set. I walked for a little less than an hour before I reached the head of Monument Canyon and the start of the descent to Granite Rapid.

Following the bed of Monument Creek to the Colorado River was a lot of fun. There were several twists and turns in the canyon that would always leave me wondering what lay beyond them, only to discover more twists and more turns. Monument Creek was a lot more confined than Tanner had been and the canyon walls were very close in comparison. Tanner was so wide by the time you were walking in the bed that it did not even feel like a side canyon.

I was happy to finally reach Granite Rapid and my feet were starting to get a little tired. I remember hearing the roar of the rapids getting louder and louder through those last couple of turns, coming down Monument Creek. At the beach itself the roar was so loud I was wondering if I would be able to sleep. Again, in comparison, this was a lot different from Tanner as we were camped fair distance above the actual rapid there and the rapid was nowhere near as violent at Granite Rapid was.

I was also very happy that I still had some daylight left when I finally got to the rapids to be able to take some photos. Daylight hours are short in December and that was the only drawback of the trip. Hiking in the Canyon during the winter months can be very nice but the nights are very long and there is not much to do.