Had a great night. Got up early to walk the 3 miles to get to the only water supply for the day. From the water supply in 3 miles it is 15 miles to the next one.

Wish I would have taken a picture of the water supply. It was a drip of about 1 liter per minute. There were about 5 of us at the site trying to fill up our bottles for the next 15 mile section and patiently waiting for our turn to capture some water. Not too bad because after capturing you have to filter the water and so it takes some time to capture and filter, capture some more and filter. So the general rule to this point has been a liter of water for every 5 miles. At least that is what I hear as I have not actually been paying attention. I generally carry much more water than I need. But this time I get what everyone is saying is necessary and get 3 liters for the next 15 miles. BIG BIG mistake. My gut told me I should have taken more water. My GUT was right. This section is up and down, up and down, and it was hot. Everyone was looking for a little shade to rest in and most were taking long rest periods. I took about a 2 hour nap in the shade at one point. At about the mid point we cross a paved road which would have been a perfect spot for a trail angel and a water cache. There was a water cache, but it was dry. Too many hikers this year for the small cache that was there. I’m thinking next year perhaps Lenora and I will set up at this road and be trail angels as it is needed. Later on when we about 3 miles from the next water source, there was another dry water cache. Good intentions by the angels but the need this year is just greater than they expected. Before this 3 mile mark I knew I was in trouble. Well…. trouble really?? I mean in only 3 or so miles I will have water. How bad can it be? It felt bad and I was rationing my sips and ran out of water at about this point. I asked a couple hikers going by if they had any extra water and they were all rationing as well. Everyone on this day underestimated how much water was needed for 15 miles. The heat and terrain were not taken into account by anyone. It was a bad day for everyone I talked to. Finally make it to the water source at a ranger station which was also a perfect place to camp. While I am getting water a number of other desperate people show up and get water and decide to camp there as well. The first thing everyone does is go get water, drink about 2 liters without hardly taking a breath, and then take time to chat.

Just Keep Walking
Night Walker
Stubbs and SingleMalt
Rock City
Mossy
Shaggy and Paige

We had a good night talking about the trail and how hard the day was and how the miles coming up in the desert were going to be harder, hotter, and dryer. Must admit, I was anxious about the future days. Decided it was time to start walking at night to conserve on the need for water.