Today's route stats: 

I drank a full liter of water before beginning the hike back to my car.  I started out carrying two liters.  Again, I walked at a really slow pace which took me about 4 hours to get back to my car.  My car was the only car at the trailhead, and Steve was nowhere to be found.  I yelled and honked the horn, waited a few minutes, then left. 

I took the faster, better road back to Jacob Lake.  I ate lunch at Jacob Lake Inn, then drove to Gallup, NM where I checked into a motel for the night.  The next day I drove the 5 hours back to Arroyo Seco (near Taos).  It rained on the drive home and I thought about Bert and his Sierra Club group.  I was glad to have missed the rain.