Sunrise visible from the tent as we’re getting up and ready to go.

Goal - BIG miles today and Slack Packing to meetup with Steven for dinner and cold drinks.

Walked up the road hoping to rendezvous with Cricket, Una & Amelia (they camped nearby) - we didn’t see them and didn’t have Internet to connect. After waiting we decided to move ahead - assuming that they would catch us if they weren’t already ahead of us.

We hiked through a corner of the Sequoia National Forest - rolling trails with chunky rocks amidst the pines and creeks flowing every few miles.

The trees gave way to big boulders piled on top of one another - clumped up on hills. Little flowers dot the sandy ground.

Glimpses of vast desert sandy dry mountains ahead.

We weave our way down the boulder strewn mountain and the sandy hills ahead get larger. Big clouds cast shadows on the sandy desert hills.

Before we head into the midday heat and hot desert climb ahead, we stop at a large roadside water cache. The trail Angel has left over 50+ jugs of water basking in the hot sun = hot water (but hot is better than none)…

We fill up on water and soak our shirts - they are dry in less than 20 minutes, the sun sucks the moisture right out!

Vast hot hills in every direction - shrubs and some Joshua trees poking around. As we climb desert sage and small flowers line the trail.

Devon has busted out the sun umbrella again!

We wind our way along the top edge of a mountain, slowly working forward and down to the road and trailhead below.

Longest mileage so far: 20.57 miles hiked

Steven is parked and has been giving trail magic to hikers for most of the afternoon. He has a BIG cooler full of Gatorade and soda - the BEST thing on a hot sunny day.

We sit and drink cold drinks and chat with Steven and other hikers as they come through.

We eventually get the leftover pasta heated up and eat quite a lot but not all (the last bits are saved in a Ziploc bag).

Devon and Paul set-up their tent near the truck - truck will act as a windbreaker as the wind is starting to gust and blow.

Steven and I slept in the windblown rooftop tent - not great sleep but it was nice and cool with stars and Joshua Trees out the window.

@ 5289 ft. Elevation