It was 123°F yesterday, and the forecast is for even higher temperatures during the next few days. I am a little apprehensive because we will be back on a dirt road with almost no traffic and I won't have Warren to help me if either Melissa or Joy should have some problem.

We are getting ready and I see Joy struggling to move even a few feet. Her feet are totally blistered and I cringe just looking at them. We look at each other. She has tears in her eyes. She wanted to finish this walk so badly but she has realized that there is no way to do that now. I tell Warren that since Joy will not be walking, I won't need him to set up the cars. Joy will drop Melissa and me at the starting point and drive five miles further and wait for us. After we take our break there, she will drive another five miles and wait again.

Melissa and I start off on the paved road, but in a few minutes we come to the junction where we will follow Harry Wade Road, a dirt road that will take us to the southern boundary of the park. I knew that this road was almost 32 miles long. We had started our walk on day 8 a mile and a half further back than where Warren and I had finished the day before. This was to give Melissa and Joy a chance to walk the distance they had missed. As such, we now have to cover 32 miles in the last two days. Normally, an extra couple of miles is just no big deal, but here in Death Valley in summer, it is a slightly different story.

Even though Joy is not walking, in some ways, she has a pretty tough job. The inside of the car is too hot, and even with the lift-gate open there is not much shade. Running the air conditioner all day without moving the car is out of the question. In the morning, she tried looking for some small rocks for her rock tumbler, but soon found them too hot to handle. She then tried to amuse herself by doing some experiments. She found that, indeed, M&Ms don't melt even when it is 120°F-plus. We realized that our stomachs must work overtime on these impervious candy shells. Interestingly, our favorite concoction of peanuts, raisins and M&Ms was just not appealing to us in this hot weather. Our bodies craved salt, not sweets.

Melissa is doing fine but, for whatever reason, I feel like a superman. I seem to have enough energy to tackle anything. At the second break, after we have covered 10 miles, I ask Melissa if she wants to walk seven miles on this last leg. She looks tired but I know that she is one tough woman. She does not answer me. She looks in disbelief at the thermometer hanging under the car. It shows 125°F. She is not at all thrilled with the idea; but, she has a flight to catch tomorrow evening and she would rather not be too tired tomorrow for her drive to Las Vegas.

We finish the walk at 4:45 PM. Melissa tells me that she has done some really long hikes and climbed many tough mountains, but this was the toughest she can remember. I congratulate her on her persistence. Even though Warren and I look like the tough guys who can handle anything, the real honors must go to Patrick, Joy and Melissa for their determination in face of adversity.

Dinesh's caption:
It is 121°F in the shade and 5 percent humidity on the 11th day of our walk. The temperature later rose to 127°F.

Car Talk's caption:
"This is Joy's 'Dinesh-is-a-Moron' confirmation instrument. Every time it registers over 90, it confirms that her husband is a wacko."