When we drove past the lower trailhead for the Shingle Mill Trail yesterday, the temperature was 98F. EDO likes the trail and wanted to show it off. I was not completely unwilling to walk on it (uphill) for a few minutes, but I didn't think we'd get far. (I had just finished reading an article about a guy who went hiking in Death Valley yesterday and died of heat stroke.) We continued up the Chalk Creek Road for a while and EDO pointed out that the upper trailhead wasn't too far away and that—if we had a shuttle—we could do a one-way hike—all downhill.
Well. We did have a shuttle. We had VSO. So, we got out of GC2 at the top. The thermometer on the truck said 88F. Frosty! It was about three and a half miles from top to bottom. The upper elevation was around 9,300 feet and the lower trailhead was at 6,900 feet. (2,400 hundred feet of vert.) We made it in 90 minutes. It was steep. It was hot. I don't know about EDO, but I was happy to see VSO and GC2.
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