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Voting is now open for the board of directors of The Grand Canyon Hikers and Backpackers Association. Nine positions are open on its Board of Directors. These positions are two-year terms, however in order to stagger the board seats, the five highest vote totals will serve two year terms and the next four highest will serve one year terms.
Members that wish to vote in the Board election must be GCHBA dues paying (“Backcountry”) members.
Voting is underway now through June 10th, electronically at the organization’s website gchba.org.
2 months ago ·
An excellent trip report! Thanks Gregory!Fantastic 4 day hike! Can now cross this off my bucket list. Day 1- 6:45 am Hermits Rest down Hermits Trail to Hermit Camp. Love Hermit trail. Found that the rock slide has been cleared somewhat where it is pretty easy to get through. Thanks to the trail maintenance team that accomplished the clearing. We found a site where we could chill out under a ledge during the heat of the day. Also the water pool was a good place to stay relative cool. On the way down, found the water source at Santa Maria Spring to be running and trough clear and free of algae. We did all start out with 3 liter of water plus a smart water bottle full of electrolyte. Day 2- packed up and hiked Tonto to Boucher Rapids. We left early. Found the trail easy to follow in most cases. Got hot quick. We encounter a single hiker who came down Boucher trail and told us that it was too dangerous, and said that there are sections that are class 5 climbs. He recommended we dropped everything before attempting to ascend the "crack" in the wall. I thanked him and he left stated he was getting out of the canyon. He had water, food, and a PLB. We arrived at Boucher Rapids, setup the tent and shortly after a rafting company with about 20 people landed at the beach where we were camping at. They asked us if they could camp out on the beach and offered us beer, soda, supper, breakfast, and would take all out trash. They sent a drop dead gorgeous crew member with this request. I couldn't say no (they were taking all our trash). We move down the beach and were treated great that night and morning. We ate our planned food for the day and some of what they had, especially the gingerbread cake which they made on their stove. The cowboy coffee in the morning was great too. Oh, their makeshift privy was good too. Day 3- back to the backcountry solitude. We took a short hike to Boucher Camp. We camped close to the remains of Boucher's Cabin and copper mines. We spent some time cooling off at Boucher Creek, for it was 95+ degrees and shade was not in abundance. We discussed the next day's hike which would take us up pass White Butte and up to Yuma Point. We decided to leave before the break of day and ended up leaving at 4:45 am. The frogs were awesome and loud. My wife hit the sack early and I stayed outside looking at the stars. Oh what a sight! I turned on my headlamp to check on the time and when I looked at the bush right in front of me I saw two large glowing eyes. It was then my record time to get into the tent. I did not get a good night sleep after that. I noticed the wind picking up and finally got a couple of hours sleep. Day 4- All packed, fueled up and started what would be the hardest day up to Yuma Point via Boucher Trail. Found the two near vertical climb up to be a piece of cake. I couldn't imagine going down Boucher with a pack. We all had 3 liters of water. Boucher Creek was our last water source up (unless we detoured at Dripping Springs trail to the spring or back to Santa Maria Spring when we reached Hermit). 3 days before this trip, we took a day trip and cached 7 liters of water at Yuma Point. By the time we got to Yuma Point, the wind was gusting 45+ miles per hour. We decided to proceed to the next area up on Boucher Trail that would be good for the night. The wind did not stop, but appeared to get worse. Temps were nearing 100 deg F. We decided to eat, hydrate, rest, and continue on the rim, when the temps got down. It was almost dark, when we restarted our hike up Boucher, Dripping Springs, Hermit and out. The wind continued. We arrived at Hermit's Rest at 9:00 pm. Made it for one great day. I was running on adrenaline and felt like I could of gone on for a couple more hours. Not bad for this 64 year old. This is one backpacking trip I will never forget. Our workup for this trip included 150 miles of hiking Tucson, AZ mountain ranges in 3 months and climbing the Flatiron in Lost Dutchman State park 3x in 4 days. Looking forward toward our next insane hike.
2 months ago ·