The day started off gloomy and I really expected it to rain before the day was over and was prepared for this. The clouds broke up and most of them drifted off, however, before I was more than an hour or so into the hike and after that it was sunny and warm for the remainer of the day. I should have known better but I did not bring any sunscreen and it's only pure luck that I didn't burn.

I left the Hermit Trailhead at 10:30 and reached the junction with the Waldron Trail at 11:30. This top section of the Hermit has its good parts and its bad parts, the good parts being really good and the bad parts being really bad. Luckily there are not too many bad sections and most of these are just places where rocks and rubble cover the trail and you have to be very careful, especially when descending. The good sections of trail and the view from along the trail make it all worth it as far as I am concerned.

Five minutes beyond the Waldron Trail junction I arrived at the eastern terminus of the Dripping Springs Trail. I was toying with the idea of taking the Dripping Springs Trail back out to rim on its western end and then coming back along the forest service roads to the Waldron Trail, descending that, and then going back out on the Hermit. I knew that I was starting very late and didn't know if I had the time for this and would just have to play it by ear and see what happened. The eastern part of the Dripping Springs Trail was in pretty good shape with only one major rockfall to climb around and a couple of sections where the trail has been pretty badly eroded. The views of the inner canyon and the cliffs up on the rim from this section of trail are magnificent.

At 12:25 I reached the junction with the Boucher Trail and was now on trail that I had never used before. The first part of this section of trail is a little difficult to follow and I lost it once and had to backtrack to find it again. After a little hunting around I located the correct route and did not have any problems after that. Just before reaching Dripping Springs I encountered some people who were on there way out and they asked me if I had seen the Desert Bighorn on the way in. I was very disappointed that I had not.

At 12:50 I arrived at Dripping Springs and settled down in the coolness and shade of the overhang, ate some lunch and watched and listened too the dripping waters. This is a very beautiful place and I was sorry that it had taken so long for me to finally decide to make the trip over here. There is not a lot of water flowing from the spring, hence the name of Dripping Springs, but the water that is flowing and dripping makes the location very picturesque. It is probably in shade for most of the day, except for a few hours in the early morning, and makes and excellent location for a picnic. A little catch basin has been constructed out of rocks beneath where the majority of the water drips and it is possible to take water from this to fill a canteen or water bottle. I had plenty of water with me and did not have my pump or any way of otherwise treating the water anyway.

After lunch I wandered around the area and took some photos and discovered the remains of a large water trough that I can only assume would have been used for watering horses or mules in days when the trail was more heavily used. There was a small pool next to this and all of the vegatation around this had been flattened by a considerable amount of running water. The basin that the pool was located in was about 3-4 feet deep and there was only about a foot of water in it now. A considerable amount of water must have been flowing here recently to create this effect which leads me to believe that Dripping Springs may be a very nice waterfall during a rain storm.

I also took a short walk up along the western end of the Dripping Springs Trail just to check it out. I had already decided that I was not going to attempt my original plan because of the heat and the fact that I did not have any sunscreen and did not want to be out in the sun any longer than necessary, but I was curious about the trail and just had to look. I was glad that I would not be attempting this route on this trip as it was in terrible shape, at least the lower portion that I traveled and there were rocks and debris everywhere. Signs of trail construction indicated that it must have been a very nice trail at one time but it has since fallen into disuse and has deteriorated considerably. After traveling maybe a quarter mile or so and finding a nice overlook to take some photos from I returned to Dripping Springs and prepared to start the hike back. If I was really lucky I would get another chance to see the Desert Bighorn on my way back.

At 1:55 I left Dripping Springs and at 2:15 I reached the junction with the Boucher Trail. This was where the sheep were supposed to be and I kept a lookout for them as I headed back towards Hermit Basin. I finally discovered them about midway along this strech of trail way up on a slope. I got out my binoculars and watched for a while and also tried to take some photos which came out a lot better than I expected considering how far away they were. I watched them for about 15-20 minutes before taking to the trail again. I arrived back at the Hermit Trail junction at 3:10 and the Waldron Trail junction at 3:20. The hike up and out on the Hermit was easy and I was back on the rim at 4:30. It was had been a very enjoyable day hike.