midday
After the contents of the boats had been made up into rough packs , both crews attacked the trail-making . It was mid-morning before pick-ax , shovel and crowbar had opened up a way which Jonas claimed was fit only for kangaroos or elephants . Rough as it was , when Milton declared it fit for their purposes , the rest without protest heaved the packs to their shoulders . It was hot at midday in the Canyon . The thermometer registered 98 degrees in the shade . Enoch , following Milton , dropped his third pack at the end of the quarter mile portage and sat down beside it . `` Old man ! ''