Day in the Desert

Because we camped part way down the north side of Mica Mtn, it seemed we would have an easy, downhill sort of day. Our goal was to camp a few miles past Molino Basin campground for a 20 mile day. We hit the trail at 6:05. The weather and terrain gods would have none of it.

Rocky and treacherous, the north side of Mica was anything but fast and easy. As the morning wore on, the temp rose quickly into the 90’s. Shade was nonexistent. Every animal had crawled or slithered into some hidden pocket of agreeable conditions, except a few miserable hikers. Hey did I mention seeing a long (5-6 ft) green snake laying across the trail a few days ago? When it became aware of our presence, it launched off the trail and up into the branches of a palo verde tree in the blink of eye. It’s eyes showed total focus and I wondered what actions it might be considering.

There was no guaranteed water source, forcing us to carry a couple of gallons, which we replenished at one mudhole and one hiker box along the way. By 3:00 the final ascent began. It took over an hour to climb 3/4 mile. We stopped once so Deb could replace her spent caffeine. Five o’clock found us in the Molina campground parking lot, totally exhausted and super thirsty. What to do? We put out our thumbs and hitched a ride into town for a night in a hotel. We’ll return to the trail tomorrow….