During the days it gets hot at Hermit Rapids. July temperatures are over 100. But at night it cools down rapidly and you have a constant breeze as the air flows down out of Hermit Creek Canyon. You'll drift off to sleep to the sound of the rapids.

Between rafting groups during the day, you can watch the Ospreys spearing fish, Red Tailed Hawks riding the air currents looking for prey down on the ground, and Ravens lurking around the sandbar hoping they can snag morsels of food or shiny trinkets they can take back to their nests. As the sun goes down, watch for Fox sneaking down to the water for a drink. If you're the only campers on the bar, you may be visited by Desert Bighorn Sheep, but they avoid crowds. After dark, in the moonlight, sit quietly and watch the opposite (North) shore. Mountain Lion often descend the cliffs for a drink. But the real prize is to catch a glimpse of the Ring Tailed Cat, cousin to the Raccoon. A bunch of them live along Lower Hermit Creek and they come down to the river at night to drink, bathe, and fish. They'll definitely see you. Whether you see them is a matter of patience, sharp eyes and luck.

You'll be camping on sand. This makes for a soft bed no matter what kind of sleeping pad you're using, but you may want to think about what kind of tent stakes to bring. In other places in the Canyon, you need tough spikes and a sledgehammer to pound them in. Here, you need longer stakes but not as much force.

You can dangle your feet in the cold waters of the river to cool off. Along the sandy beach sections, you can even wade in and sit down. But you cannot swim here. The current is very strong and the rapids set up dangerous under currents. People drown in this river. Notice in the photo at left the life jackets hanging from the branch over the tent. Those are just for wading in and sitting down.

You can also fish here. Just below the rapids the water is highly oxygenated. Trout, bass, catfish and carp are plentiful, but the two trophy fish are the famous Colorado Squawfish and Humpback Chub. The Squawfish is the world's largest minnow, growing to six feet and 100 pounds. They eat other fish plus small game that ventures too close to water's edge. The Humpback is so called because of a prominent ridge above the head to help it maintain position in the fast moving water.

This is Vishnu Schist, the oldest rock in the park. There are no fossils in this rock because it was laid down before life existed on Earth. These rocks are 1.75 billion years old. They were originally composed of sand, mud, silt and volcanic ash. All the other layers later deposited above them compressed down the Vishnu Schist for millions of years to produce the rocks we see here. This is the rock you'll find at the bottom of the Hermit Creek drainage, as it opens out to the river. Backpacking down to Hermit Rapids is thus a trip back in time. Of course, every hike down into the Canyon is a hike back into time, but we think this one is the most dramatic. We also think that of all the Vishnu Schist in the Canyon, this is the best example.