Desert Warriors

Day 10:

Today The Dusty Camel is undyingly, unequivocally, dusty. We woke from our campsite much later than we had intended to. It was quite warm compared to the other few mornings. We packed up, munched on a few bars, and were on our way. We had just over a 17-mile day today, and after about 8 miles we got to a road and took a little breather. As we were sitting there, on this dirt path called Chihuahua Road, a Prius rolls up. It was funny to see a car out in the middle of nowhere. The guy stopped to chat, and he and his friend were scoping out some turkey hunting. We talked a little about the trail, and he was off. The second half of the day was relatively uneventful. We did catch a glimpse of that snow-peaked mountain we saw last week, except this time it was much larger and closer. The sun was pounding hard, and while it wasn't unbearably hot, we just got toasted. Our skin's dry, we are exhausted, and just zoning out. We got to our first planned campsite, only to find the water source dried up, so we trekked another half mile up the trail to another spot. Unfortunately, this was a long quarter mile off the trail, and down a path. The water source is actually just a fire water tank with a bar on the hydrant to get water. Water is water, so we set up shop down there. It was still sunny, and there wasn't much shade down here, so we took our tarp and threw it in the bushes nearby to create a little shady cool cove. When lying down, we actually felt some moisture dripping from the branches above. It was weird that in all the heat, that a plant could have extra moisture dripping off. Hopefully it wasn't a skunk just misting us... but I'm sure we would notice that. After listening to our audio book (The Gunslinger by Stephen King), we set up our tent and took an hour long nap. It was much needed. After we woke up, we finished setting up camp, got everything together, ate, and listened to more of our book. The campsite is decent, but where we are set up is on a patch of dirt, which is now dust. Every time we take a step, a plume of dust rises from beneath our shoes. Not only that, but anything that touches the ground is instantly filthy. To say the least, we are especially dirty and grimy tonight -- and that's saying something. --Ian