Day 12: Mile 193 to 210   (17 miles)

I had 17 miles to go in order to get to Ziggy and the Bear which are two trail angels who have been in the area for the past four years helping hikers. My destination only looked five miles away and felt like it could be a easy not counting the heat. I proceeded downhill as the sun rose and the teampature continued to rise rapidly. All of the hikers knew and were expecting temps into the triple digits for the next couple of days and there would be almost no shade the whole way down. I managed to climb under a huge boulder around 1:00pm and hide from the sun for an hour or so.

I continued the slow march down the mountain which took a lot longer then most of us thought it would. We finally reached the bottom where there was some water coming out of a pipe and only five miles across the flat hot sand to reach Ziggy and the Bear. I pulled out my chapstick only to see it had been reduced only to liquid. We all checked our thermometers and they all said 120 in direct sunlight which was believable being the house readings that day were 102 in the shade.

I was recently above 10,000 feet walking in snow and freezing temperatures and now I was at 1,000 feet and walking through some of the hottest temps I have ever been in myself. The five mile march through the sand was brutal. As I got near the end I found a group of people huddled up under a tree waiting for the sun to go down so they could continue.  I arrived at Ziggy and the Bear around 5:00pm and got checked in for some cowboy camping outside with everyone else. After some dinner, we crawled into our sleeping bags and got some much needed sleep under the stars.

(Signing a trail register just before Ziggy and the Bear)

Day 13: Mile 210 to 218   (8 miles)

Bunch of hikers left at 3:00am in the morning to try and beat the heat. I needed to wait to get my resupply box today and decided I would leave tonight once it cooled off as temps were going to be triple digits in the shade once again. After a long relaxing day, I set off just before 8:00pm to hike into the dark for a bit.

(Ziggy and the Bear’s place)

(Where we do our laundry)

Not even a quarter mile into my hike I nearly stepped on my first rattlesnake! Sure surprised me and made me jump back. We had a short standoff before he decided to leave the trail and let me pass.

(Find the snake)

About 30 yards later, I ran into another snake! This time it looked like a Rosy Boa and was nothing to be concerned about. I turned my headlamp on for a while to keep an eye on the trail as I waited for the moon to fully rise. After about an hour and half of hiking, I ran into a Canadian mother and daughter who left a little bit before me. I hiked with them only using the moonlight to see our way down the trail. We stopped at midnight to get some sleep and after only a eight mile hike. My shortest mileage day thus far. Cowboy camping once again.