First, Happy Fathers Day to me, my brother and all my friends! As for our hike, we knew it would be hot so we started out earlier than usual at 8:30 to beat the heat…good idea, nature countered with a hotter day than promised, or maybe it was just the road radiating heat back up through our shoes. Baked from top to bottom. In short, it was terrible- all road, little shade, and we overdid mileage out of a lack of good parking locations…we vowed never to roast ourselves again like that. Took many breaks in shade where we could find it, were rationing our water at end, etc. There were some highlights, however, that helped out tremendously, both physically and mentally. First, we lunched by the Nimisila reservoir and saw/heard lots of loud splashing among lily pads as some gigantic fish were feeding at the surface- was like every minute and quite entertaining! By halfway we were dragging and came upon an abandoned YMCA camp/lake, so we walked into shaded shallows, splashed around and rested…that refresher lasted about a mile. We then crossed paths with Kay, who had just finished the same sections we were hiking and was returning to her car by bike! Don’t know where she got the energy but we ALL appreciated the shady break to chat and share stories. Finally, nearing the last two miles, we ran across Vivian, who had just put out her sprinkler to water the front garden of her cute house. We asked if we could soak ourselves, and she went beyond by giving us bottles of ice-cold water- what a life saver! Cold water is MUCH more restorative and refreshing than hot water. She was a true trail angel and life saver! Even so, we only just managed to finish the hike and immediately sat in the car with full air-conditioning. Never again.
