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Today's Route Stats:

   Distance:  5.8 miles

   Elevation Gain:  400 feet

   Elevation Loss:  400 feet

Our goal for today was the head of the NE arm of Tuckup Canyon, sometimes referred to as the Hades arm because Hades Knoll is on the rim above this branch.  Today and tomorrow were expected to be our longest days, so we were hoping to find water and camp half way there.  We knew of a few possible locations from viewing Google Earth (not a reliable method).

This section of the hike was relatively easy.  We made pretty good time.  We passed a couple of nice potholes, but they were too close to our start to be useful.  When we were within a  mile or so from Hades, we decided to go for it:  We figured it would be better to split up tomorrow's hike instead of today's.

As we started down a side canyon near the head of Hades, we saw a couple of hikers at the bottom of the canyon, the first (and last) people we encountered.  We were not sure if they saw us, but we never saw them again.  Not sure where they went -- maybe they hiked up Hades to the Esplanade.

We found water in the bed of Hades, but camping was not great.  So we headed up a side canyon on the opposite side.  There was quite a bit of water there.  Near the top (a bit below the Esplanade), we found a nice camping spot and quit for the day. 

It started blowing hard in late afternoon, and it got pretty cold around dinner time.  It was our coldest night so far, but not below freezing.