At the Kelbaker Road curve, I pull out on a dirt road and suck back more of my warm water

On my first Mojave National Preserve trip back in 1999, I camped in front of the small hills here.

While I sweat and rest here in the heat, hoping to go unnoticed to any passing traffic on Kelbaker Road (there's hardly any), two guys in a pickup truck pull over. They ask if I know where the Lava Tube is.

I pull out my maps and show them the location of the unsigned Aiken Mine Road that they missed nine miles back.

Due to the hot weather, the remoteness of the Lava Tube and the roughness of the dirt road they'll have to drive slowly for several miles, I ask if they are carrying sufficient water.

It turns out that they are not your average unprepared tourists; they are former marathon runners and quite acquainted with exercising in the heat!