Quoted By:
I had an experience with this last weekend
>On vacation with gf and her dog
>In Moab, UT
>Already did a few easy day hikes and Arches NP
>Decide to head out on Saturday morning after breakfast and a little shopping
>Going south on 191 out of town
>Start feeling this overpowering urge to turn the car around and do one more hike
>Decide to do it, drive 15 miles back to town, turn onto the street that leads to the Moab Rim Trail
>It's 7.7 miles out and back, we're aclamated to the heat and being from the south the lower humidity is not bad
>The hike starts out immediately uphill at a steep grade, only a few switchbacks
>We started at 1:15PM, 30 minutes into a slow pace my girlfriend throws in the towel, she and the dog are too tired to go on
>Fine by me, we're all tried, the sun was coming out from the cloud cover it had been behind all day, now the hottest part of the day
>Gf knows I like to push the limits, and we've been attached at the hip for two weeks straight
>Encourages me to go on, gives me the dogs water, an extra 64oz to add to mine giving me 1gal
>Gave her the keys to our shade parked vehicle with a full tank, AC, and a cooler of cold drinks
>Start marching up the rest of the incline
>Soon realize this will be one of the toughest uphills I've ever done, it's near 95F at this point, the sun is out and the steepness of this uphill is insane
>Pass one couple who are on their way down
>The guidebook listed this trail as 3.5-4 hrs round trip, its about 1:45 so these folks sensibly started it early
>Say howdy and continue climbing
>Get to the top where I had assumed things flattened out and stayed flat
>There's about a 1/4 mile of flat before it turns into downhill on the other side of the mountain I had just climbed
>Unsure at this point if I actually intended to complete the hike solo, all this new downhill would be uphill on the return trip
>Decide to keep walking
>Should also note at this point I'm seeing lots of helicopters