"I have a feeling that the end result would not have occurred if I had only gone to my boss about this issue. "

you say this but then you repeatedly state he is the best boss you have ever had & tell him so....my question is what exactly is he?

I think deep down you went to hr to get your point across. you could have waited one day for him to return and had a meeting..it sounds like this was a long term problem, not something that just popped up...you knew he was out....I think it's pretty common knowledge to not jump the chain of command

I was a supervisor in a large gov't operation....I t is stressed that folks run the chain...don't jump the steps....really if we can fix a problem at the lowest level then that is so much better..not everything needs to hit the top level to be remediated...not should it be. and a good top level manager will ask: have you addressed this issue with YOUR supervisor? it just makes everyone look bad. you telling your boss belatedly that he is the best thing since sliced bread really doesn't mean much at this point..if he was so great you would have waited to speak to him..& respected him on this point.