Miles: 1356.9 to 1381.8

Mileage: 24.9, plus 1 mile to water

Day: 71

After camping with ants, we spent the morning hiking to Lower Twin Lake. It would be our next water source and, to our pleasant surprise, it was beautiful. 

We got water and then stripped off our gross, salty clothes and went swimming. The shallow part of the lake where we’d collected water was warm, but even at 3 feet deep, the water was chilly but so refreshing. 

We lounged around for an hour. It was wonderful. The temperature was perfect for relaxing by a lake. 

 

 
When we got moving, the day really heated up. We passed a crew doing trail work and they were covered in dry, dusty dirt. I guess, so were we. The dirt has been so fine the last few days. It’s the consistency of powdered sugar. It goes right through my shoes and socks collecting on my toes. 

By the end of the day, I was beat. The heat had shriveled me. We got to the turn off for the Subway Cave just before 7 p.m. The cave is really an old lava tube and the side trail to water goes right through it. It was cool and dark and it seemed all the hotter above ground once we reemerged.

We got water, hiked back to the trail and stopped at the first flat spot we could find. 

 

 
Our dinner time entertainment was watching a thunderstorm roll over the ridge from the east and then curve north just before us. The sunset on the thunderstorm was beautiful, if a little scary. The lightning could have easily started a wildfire and whole the storm front was covering the area we would be hiking through the next day.