The Sonoran Desert has its own species of fly, and we have become a bit too well acquainted with it over the last couple of days. When you’re hiking, they’re following you around. When you’re resting in the shade, they won’t leave you alone. Basically, there is no respite until the sun goes down. And then hopefully there aren’t mosquitoes…

The heat wave is in full effect today. We hiked early through Las Colinas (Passage 5), some low-lying hills with progressively less and less shade, until we felt like things were getting a little dangerous. The siesta schedule is awkward on the trail, and we didn’t want to overdo it with the next few days of literal record-breaking heat, so we decided to get a ride into town and wait it out. Our feet are killing us anyway. A Lyft picked us up in the middle of nowhere at the nearest trailhead, funny enough.