8:00 pm - Kanab Canyon

We did not make our goal for today and are still a couple of miles south of the junction with Jumpup Canyon. We started out at 7:30 this morning, after a 6 am wake up call from Chuck, and we chiseled away at it all day but we just didn't make it. Mike called it a day around 4 pm and we started looking for a place to camp. So... here we are, in camp again.

The route along the creek today was rough and slow-going. There are numerous creek crossings and it seems like we were crossing it every few minutes; first one side, then the other side, then back again... There are also several places were crossing is not possible due to some large, deep pools so we had to climb, up, around and/or over to get past these obstacles. We took a couple of smaller breaks and then a longer one for lunch just above Scotty's Castle but we did a lot of walking today.

Camp is nice but there is no water flowing here and the only sound is from the crickets and other night creatures.

After dinner Dave, Bolek and I all pooled our desserts together and Dave whipped up an amazing concoction by combining them. Bolek and I both had a Dark Chocolate Cheesecake mix from Backpackers Pantry and Dave also had a Jell-O Instant Vanilla Cheesecake mix and some canned pineapple. He made a fantastic layered cheesecake using them all together: chocolate on the bottom, pineapple in the middle and vanilla on top. It was awesome. Jasek also contributed some coconut rum to the recipe.

There has been a fair amount of drinking going on here on this trip which is unusual for me. Bolek's Captain Morgan is gone now and yesterday Jasek broke out his coconut rum. Mike was passing around some Wild Turkey while we were chatting after dinner tonight. It's not like there is enough drinking going on for anyone to get truly drunk but it is different than what I am used to. I've been tempted on occasion to brink along some kind of alcoholic beverage and I may give this more though in the future and it makes the evenings in camp a little more enjoyable. Tonight was a great deal of fun even if we are a little behind schedule.

We need to really push ourselves tomorrow, we need to get to Indian Hollow Canyon and start up into it.