Getting packed on the 22nd it was apparent that Caleb wanted to go along.
Beautiful Monument Valley on the way to the put-in at Mexican Hat, Utah.
I met the rest of the group on Saturday, April 23rd in Mexican Hat, Utah. Here's Earl Hall and Dan Coffey at the "Boatman's Meeting" before we get too serious rigging the boats.
The river patriarchs: Dan Coffey and Kim Kelsey
Dan's lovely wife, Lanie Coffey, taking care of the paperwork.
Rigging the boats (at least some of us).
Al Scholes and his freight barge. It's sure great to have a guy (and boat) that's willing to carry anything and everything.
It's Sunday April 24th and Earl's underway.
Dan and "the river princesses" off for a leisurely float down the San Juan.
Captain Al enlightening the camp audience with some tidbit of river prowess.
Earl looks like he's ready to host his own camp cooking show (he could too).
The San Juan flows fairly fast (5-6 mph) so we had plenty of camp and hiking time. Here we are tied up at the Honaker trailhead at river mile 44.
The Honaker trail leads up the steep canyon wall to the north rim. It is a 2 1/2 mile, one way hike with 1,230 feet of elevation gain. This is a view looking downstream to the west.
This is another view to the west near the canyon rim.
Looking north across the Mesa at the top of the Honaker trail.
A welcome, late lunch at the Honaker trailhead after our hike.
April 26. Today was one of our longer days on the river with the most whitewater the San Juan has to offer in the 55 miles from Mexican Hat to Clay Hills. I'm not a whitewater kayaker so Government Rapid, a class 3, was exciting. Perhaps one day I'll have to ramp it up. At mile 67 we made camp at Slickhorn Canyon which we plan to hike tomorrow. Here Earl and Lanie are enjoying a side hike just before our arrival at Slickhorn Canyon.
A little Whiptail lizard enjoying the great, sunny weather.
With an exceptionally wet spring the desert bloom was great.
A view of our camp from my "terrace" campsite at Slickhorn Canyon (mile 67).
April 27. The upstream, sunrise view from Slickhorn Canyon.
My under-the-stars terrace campsite.
This morning started with a warm-up campfire, fresh pineapple, pancakes, and sausage. Today is another hiking day. First up Slickhorn Canyon and then, 4 miles downstream, Grand Gulch.