Shortly after that we slung on our packs and headed back up the creek to Boucher Camp. About 1½ hours later we were there. We made camp, ate lunch, went and sat in the creek for a while and just had a very leisurely day. Later in the afternoon I went out to do a little scouting and left Robin to rest at camp. I was a little concerned about hiking out on the Boucher as one party we met on the Hermit, that was doing the trip the other way, said that they had encountered numerous problems coming down it. At one point they said that they even had to rope some of their packs down.

It is amazing how fast you can travel with just a canteen and no backpack. In about 15-20 minutes I was back at the Tonto-Boucher trail junction and began my ascent up to the saddle behind Whites Butte. I made it maybe halfway there, when I encountered a party of three guys coming down. I asked them about the trail and they said that it was difficult further up but was passable and that they didn't have any trouble with it. I continued on a little further after that until a drizzle broke out and I decided to head back to camp.

It took less than an hour to get back to Boucher Camp. All-in-all I had spent maybe 2½ hours and had probably gotten about 3/4 of the way to the saddle. The next day called for us to make camp up there so I figured it would be an easy day.

It rained most of the night, heavy at times with thunder and lightening. Experiencing a violent storm in some of the remote regions of the Canyon can be, let's say, interesting. My only real fear was that the creek wouldn't rise too much and that we would be far enough away from it.