HDT 2022 Day 19, April 19, Tuesday Start entrance to Navajo Canyon S7 mile 22.7 End along Last Chance Creek S7 mile 44.4 Miles walked: 21.7
Navajo Canyon tended to have steep earthen walls with purplish hues, and a flat walkable drainage of crusted sand.
Up close, the dirt seemed to include a mixture of fine small pieces of slate, stuck together like dried mud. This is beyond my ken. What is rock, what is soil, what is in-between?
After a few miles, the cliffs transition to tan-colored rock that comes down into the drainage as huge boulders, like Friday Canyon. The rock hopping is not too intense, just a few puzzles to keep hikers engaged.
More miles on, a jeep road and cross country leads us away from Navajo, to a side channel for Reese Canyon.
Reese is characterized as having fancy erosion patterns on its rock walls, and being easy to hike with no obstacle course at all.
Going southwest on Reese, we get to Last Chance Creek, and head northwest along a canyon with small creek that goes on for several miles. The creek is often pools, sometimes visibly flowing, with wet sand for five or ten feet on either side, so dried sediment is plentiful.
Plenty of signs of cattle activity are here, but I never see cows. Stealth cows? The water source is so long that cattle do not gather in one spot, so damage is minimal.
Another cowboy camp tonight, to avoid gusting winds trying to blow down my tent.