The heat is picking up again. We left Acton early in the morning, being kept up at night by the constant traffic and intermittently honking trains passing next to the campground. It was a race to get to Agua Dulce, the next small town before the heat got too bad. By 8am, I was already drenched in sweat. The trail weaved through Vasquez Rocks, impressive formations of slabs of rocks that looked almost volcanic. The rocks are a frequent backdrop for Hollywood movies, such as Star Trek.
Agua Dulce itself was quite unimpressive, but had a fine, airconditioned, mexican restaurant, to which hikers flocked like moths to light. Spices group gathered there about half an hour after us, along with Jive Turkey, Machine and Lost and Found. It was great.
We rested there, waiting for the heat to die down. Half of Spices group hitched to a bigger town to get a hotel. The other half, consisting of Lucky Charm, Mash, Half ‘n Half, Merlin and Marble continued with us to camp a couple miles further. During the roadwalk out of town, we spotted a snake on the road. Without hesitation, Merlin jumped towards it, grabbed it just behind its head and threw it off to the side. She kept on walking as if nothing happened. We were in awe.
Tomorrow, we’ll wake up at 4h45. The heat is getting real.