Today's Route Stats:

Although we only had 4 miles to cover today, we also had a difficult (at least for us) climb through the Coconino Sandstone.  And the route from where we camped to the Coconino is brushy with big boulders to contend with.  When we got to the Coconino, there was water dripping from the spring there, and although we didn't need any, it is always a welcome sight. 

The climb starts out in a steep cleft on creek right.  The first 20 feet or so is easy.  After that we decided to use webbing to haul up packs, and even to belay most of us.  This was time consuming.  We still had some more obstacles to deal with before we all finally reached the top of the Coconino.  From here it is just a matter of following the creek bed as it winds its way through thick brush, mostly sagebrush.  But we eventually got back to our cars, at around noon.

I began driving home but stopped for the night at a motel in Gallup.  The next morning I headed home to Arroyo Seco, stopping at REI in Santa Fe to return my hiking sticks that were new when I started these two hikes, but were now trashed.