Day 3 - Hike and Departure

Wednesday, September 22, 2021
Cameron, Arizona, United States
We slept in a bit and grabbed our last hotel breakfast- this time I got blue cornmeal pancakes, apparently a Navajo tradition :) they were awesome! After breakfast, we had some time before we would meet up with some folks for a hike. We wandered around the nearby trading post before loading up to head out. Cristian and I ran a bit late sending emails, but we made it to the junction to meet up with the people in charge of the potential rail conversion to active transportation path. We agreed to follow each other to the hiking site, about 40 minutes away. Cristian and I decided on the way there that we’d have to pretty much turn around and head home in order to make it back to SLC at a reasonable hour. We turned off the main highway to a resident-only access (we were with the Navajo Recreational Land Authority, it was ok)- it was SO beautiful. Absolutely no interruption of the beauty of nature. We drove the rugged road for a while, passing only two residences. The road output us at the Little Colorado River- a huge canyon for the waterway. We were so high up that we could see the Grand Canyon! We couldn’t join everyone on the longer, tougher hike, so we walked along the rim with Tatiana. She told us about her work, her experience during the pandemic, and a bit of her life story. After moving around a bit, she came back to the reservation for her family. She’s pretty frustrated with the president of Navajo Nation- a sentiment shared among most constituents- his most recent frustrating move was signing a deal with Tesla to install chargers and get a dealership on the reservation. She is frustrated by the fact that no resident can afford a Tesla, let alone drive it on most reservation roads. Apparently with this deal, the government fleet with be upgraded to Tesla’s... we’ll see how long these can actually last. Tatiana along with other residents are pretty frustrated and would like the money to be spent on more basic needs- maybe paved roads that Tesla’s can drive on?? 
The views were GORGEOUS and absolutely unimpeded. The silence was amazing- you could hear the tiny river flow beneath along with the flaps of wings from overhead birds. An absolutely beautiful moment. 
We unfortunately had to leave and start our trek back to SLC. We exchanged social media’s (I reinstalled Instagram for this trip lol) and headed on our way. We took a back road towards Paige (Utah border) which was gorgeous. After a long drive, we finally made it and I got home where I showered, did laundry, and repacked for my next week of travels.  

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2025-02-13

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