The discussion started before 6 a.m., each of us still in our beds: Should Noah go ahead and hike the next, very dry, stretch of trail with full overnight gear, along with at least six liters (~12 pounds) of water, figuring on making it about 17 miles today, before camping, into the 24 miles he has to cover before reaching the next spring?

Or should he carry almost nothing but a lot of water, do the whole 24-mile stretch in a day, and stay again here at the motel in Borrego Springs?

Of such minutia backpacking is endlessly obsessed.

Noah took Door No. 1, and I dropped him back at the trailhead by Scissors Crossing at 7:30 a.m., then drove up to the trailhead at the other end of the dry stretch and worked my way back six miles along the trail with a couple quarts of Gatorade, which I hid in the brush for him at a pre-arranged spot. (He still hit the trail with six liters in his pack.)

On my way down, I ran into a young hiker named Brian coming north. I’d met him for the first time at Morena Lake, just after I dropped Noah off at Campo, and have either seen him or signs of him along the trail ever since. He’s a trim young guy from Chicago, also hiking alone, and exudes cheerful competence.

I asked him how he handled the dry stretch, which was mostly behind him when we met. No problem, he said. He carried 6 liters of water in his pack starting out, knew the Third Gate cache was probably out of water, and so when he got there he hiked down to a nearby ranch, filled up canteens and carried 10 liters back up to the cache. Some he used and the rest of the water he left for future hikers.

I hope Noah catches him soon and they get to know each other.

The weather turned slightly wild this morning: Grey cloudy skies, a hint of rain and a biting harsh wind. Much nicer to hike in than yesterday’s relentless sun.

I left the hidden Gatorade and meandered back to the car, noticing that someone had spelled out “100 miles” in small stones along the trail at just about the 100-mile mark. I got back to the motel and have been goofing off the rest of the afternoon. This is vacation, right?

Tomorrow we meet up again at Warner Springs.