The morning’s gravel started pretty washboardy, which turned out to be a theme for the day. The terrain was lovely though- sparse forests with cliffbands peeking out. When we had told people we were heading to the Gila, they warned us to be careful and carry lots of water so I think we were all imagining something a little more desert-y. I think it is technically high desert, but in monsoon season it was blooming with grasses and wildflowers. The gravel was intermittently good and often pretty terribly washboarded, but the scenery helped take our minds off of it. We were very worried about some big storms in the distance, but instead of crossing our path they just paralleled us on either side. Miraculous! We had a really cool descent down into the Black Canyon and decided to make camp early because we’d covered our miles for the day. It was very relaxing to have a leisurely camp evening. We took river baths and made a campfire- a contrast to our usual style of setting up camp, stuffing food into our faces, and passing out right away.