Today ended up being a bit longer – 27 miles down the river. Our first waypoint was the settlement of Mexican Hat which Ross rode through on his RAAM Race. The day was a bit smoky as there was a lightning-caused forest fire at Navajo Mountain and we were treated to a day of sort of orangish skies.

As we passed under the bridge at Mexican Hat, we were happy to be on the water as the temperature was 107degrees up top.

We were ready for lunch and stopped at a nice “beach.” As the food was being prepared by Eliza, most of the group took a hike up to a late 1800s gold prospector’s cabin. The views were amazing as we could see both sides of the river meandering below from the saddle where the cabin was perched.

One of the main hikes we wanted to do on this trip was to hike up the Honaker Trail. Once on top, it was reported that you could see Monument Valley and incredible views of the river and canyon. The plan was to secure one of the three campsites by the trailhead and then hike up before dinner. Unfortunately, as the three campgrounds near the Honaker Trail are first come, first served, we were out of luck by the time we rolled by. We kept going for a few more miles and camped at Slickhorn Gulch for the evening.