Cameron needed to be in St. George to defend a deposition today and the rest of us were happy to tag along. While he was working, we decided to try a new hike from the Chuckwalla Trailhead. We knew it was going to be hot (the forecast I saw earlier in the week had said 100 degrees) but we underestimated just how hot (it was actually well over 100 degrees)...
To keep cool, we used squirt bottles to mist ourselves. They helped quite a bit, but the water evaporated so quickly that the relief they provided was very short term.
At one point along the trail, Austin discovered this lovely mountain formation and dubbed it "Butte Rock," only he pronounced Butte as if there were no 'e' on the end of it. Lovely.
The guidebook I had read referred to an elephant arch hidden along the way. I really hoped we would find it before we had to turn back. With a little help from an afternoon jogger who pointed us in the right direction (did I mention that it was well over 100 degrees? He must be crazy. Nice, and very helpful with directions... but crazy for sure.), we found it.
A few pictures and it was time to go. We had gone through half of our water, there was almost zero shade on the trail, and it made me nervous to be out there in such extreme heat with all my kiddos. Besides the helpful crazy jogger, we had not seen another person on the trail. We made it back fine and when I turned on my car, the temperature reading on the dash said it was 112 degrees.
112 degrees!@%!
We stopped at Orange Peel for smoothies and Five Guys for spicy fries and spent the rest of the afternoon at the Hurricane Outdoor Pool. The pool was a much better idea than the hike.
