Today was a great, albeit strenuous day. We kicked the morning off with a 6,040 feet descent down to Snow Canyon Road. As the crow flies, it's 4.3 miles from the Fuller Ridge trail head where we had camped to this road but via the PCT, it's 15.2 miles. Snow Canyon Road (and I-10 which is just beyond) are visible for virtually the entire shadeless and scorching 15.2 miles. It seriously went on forever. I can say with certainty that I will never EVER complain again about the seemingly endless descent from Snow Creek Wall out to Icicle Canyon Road after today! It could be so much worse!
In spite of my complaining, we made good time and knocked out 10 miles before 10 AM, a highly desired but seldom achieved milestone. It was brutally hot and none of us carried enough water. I left camp with two liters and was quite dehydrated (though not completely empty) by the time we reached the fountain at the road. I would guess the temperature was well into the 90s.
Once at the road, Extra Credit and I took off for a trail angel's house in the nearby Snow Creek Village while Histo waited for Nugget who was a bit behind. The angel was listed on our water report as a place to get water and find shade. We were no longer in need of water, but we were desperate for a shady spot to have lunch and siesta. When we got to their home, we found a lovely yard with trees, a hummingbird feeder (and lots of birds), lawn furniture, and a cooler full of ice and oranges. To top it off, we had the whole place to ourselves. It couldn't have been more relaxing.
Extra Credit and I finally tore ourselves away from the oasis in order to tackle a few more miles of desert. While the terrain was flatter, it still wasn't easy going. We had deep sand, a massive headwind (lots of wind farms in the area), and the hot temperature to contend with. Since Histo and Nugget hadn't shown up at the angel's house, we figured we'd find them either seeking shelter at the I-10 underpass or at some other angel's house a couple of miles beyond the interstate where Extra Credit needed to pick up a package. Sure enough, we found Histo and Nugget at the house along with many other hikers and some totally awesome angels!! We'd been planning to just make a quick stop, but within minutes of arriving were whisked away to chairs, hot foot baths, and fresh fruit. It was completely unexpected. There were salads for everyone at dinner and heaps of ice cream for dessert. Extra Credit, Histo, Nugget and I had been planning to eek out a few more miles after dinner but the vortex sucked us in and we're all camped in the back yard. The miles can wait!
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