Patrick has to go back tomorrow morning and today is his last chance to walk with us. His rash is still there but he decides to walk anyway. I commend him for his courage and kid him for his foolishness. The paved road is good for our cars but it does present a few problems for us. On the dirt road, we walked in our light hiking boots and they worked well. However, they are not suitable for hard, unyielding surfaces and as such, we are wearing our running/walking shoes. Our feet feel much hotter in these shoes, which seem to make them blister-prone. Joy, especially, does not like the increased traffic either. With all the water we are drinking, it is not unusual for us to take six or seven pee breaks. With no foliage to hide behind, this is annoying Joy. Warren and I are doing fine, but Joy is feeling quite hot. We are walking north and it has been uphill all day. Now, we just have a couple of miles to go but the road seems to get very steep. I am pouring water on Joy's head and neck to keep her from overheating and Warren is making sure that ever-suffering Patrick is still moving. In Death Valley, the day's high temperature usually occurs between three and five in the afternoon and by then we have been walking for several hours. So, the last leg was always the worst part of our walk. Today's seems to be a little worse than usual. Tonight and the next four nights we are camping at Furnace Creek Campground. The elevation here is 190 feet below sea level and the heat is just unbelievable. I check the temperature of the water coming out of the faucet and it is 112°F. The wind is not warm anymore; it is hot. I open my bag to look for some tape and I am horrified to see everything in the bag covered with something sticky. My Vaseline has liquefied and emptied out of the bottle. "Welcome to the real Death Valley", I pronounce, but my fellow sufferers just ignore me. |
Dinesh's caption: |
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