Up at 4:30, topped off water and headed out at 6:15. Oh boy were the packs heavy! A bat was flying around this morning as we were packing up. Seems like a nice place to live. We hiked along Kwagunt Creek for about 20 minutes and started up a steep incline. Saw lots of deer prints along the creek bed. After the steep incline, there are grassy slopes with scrubs to the first ledge, blocky boulders to the second ledge. Then there is a large bowl and up to a 3rd ledge with more boulders and another bowl and finally a short stretch to the top. We arrived on the Malgosa crest at 9:30. We each used 1 litre of water on the way up. Scrubs on the way tangle the feet and suck up every ounce of momentum. We saw lots of deer prints. Coming off the crest we went left a bit and worked down loose, rocky soil. Once in the drainage I heard a familiar rattle, but could not see it. Finally, I caught some motion out of the corner of my eye and saw the beautiful pink rattler coiled up. It was pretty agitated, and I hated to make it angrier, but really wanted a picture of it. I snapped a quick picture and we went on our way. We exited the drainage and crossed over into the drainage that would lead us to the top of Awatubi. We fought our way up the drainage – again clogged with big boulders, lots of prickly shrubs and trees. We were in and out of the drainage trying to find the path of least resistance. Made it to Awatubi crest at 1:30. Took a break and left the top at 2:00. Followed the gully down through more scrubs, trees and boulders. Made it to the bottom by 2:45. Worked our way up another gully to Sixty Mile Crest. More boulders, trees and scrub. Very slow going. Arrived at Sixty Mile Crest at 4:00. Traveled down gully of rocks and scrubs. At some point there is a big cairn to the right marking where to exit to avoid a big pour off. Arrived at Sixty Mile Canyon at 5:45. Found a flat place to make camp and quickly set up camp and had dinner. This was a very long day, but makes tomorrow’s trip to Lava doable. We used 5 litres of water today.