Day 33 - Back on the Trail with Matt and Tanya
I'm back on the trail! After over a month of backpacking, it just feels right. Matt texted me around 8 am that they had a ride back to Splinters Cabin, which is only 3 miles south of where I was rescued. I didn't have much time to decide and I almost told then I wouldn't be ready. The temptation of an easy ride instead of a rough road walk made up my mind. I grabbed a quick breakfast at the hotel, threw my pack together and I was just done checking out when they pulled up. They had both gotten sick with the stomach flu also. Tanya had come down with it on the same day as me, but they were near Splinters Cabin at the time and managed to get a ride out with a nice man named Bill. He also gave them a ride to the grocery store and all of us a ride back to the trail. The bug hit Matt the night after me and Tanya fell ill.
We were all hiking pretty slowly since we were recovering, and with plenty of breaks. I am sorry they got sick too, but I'm do glad to have some company getting back on the trail. I saw a lot of hikers I haven't met before. We also saw Flower from Germany again, I had seen her last in Big Bear. She's going to get off the trail again tomorrow and try to heal her foot injury. We met two brothers from Australia, fun guys, I like their sense of humor. We also met Gary from Arizona and scared him into washing his hands right there with our stories of sickness. Yup, I'm that girl. The one that got a helicopter ride out of this valley. I guess I'm trail famous now?!
I got another shot at seeing the 300 mile marker. There were two, I don't know how I missed it them the first time. One was small and the other was large. I saw the scene of the rescue again, and went to where I camped that night to see if I left my trowel there. It had gone missing. It must have been badly packed and it fell out. I'm not too worried, there's a lot of sand around here that is easy to dig with a stick, I will order another.
I ate a bell pepper there at the water source. I buy lots of fresh fruit and vegetables when I'm in town, and if there's extra, I just pack it out and eat it first.
Trail, you tried, but you didn't kill me. Please don't take that as a challenge. I took some pictures of the place I got rescued. There is a new mile marker there, 301.3. I never want to get picked up by a rescue helicopter again. Ever.
We reached the Deep Creek Hot Springs today. It was what Daniel and I were aiming for the night I got sick. It was a little ambitious for that day, 22 miles it would have been. I've heard this place is crazy. As we walked up, we could see several naked people, but the thruhikers were in their underwear. There are at least 3 pools fed by two hot springs. One was stacked, a hotter pool at the top and slightly cooler ones below. The pools were obviously man-made, but nicely done with rocks and mortar. The creek it fed into was very cold. One of the Australian brothers jumped into the cold water after soaking in the hot pool. I tried with just my legs in and it made them tingly. No thanks! The water was hot enough that it was fine at first, but being in up to your neck was too much for a long period, so I kept getting in and out.
We had dinner there. I tried the two hotter pools. More thru-hikers came, none that I knew. Most people I know are probably 50-100 miles ahead, but that's ok, I'm good at making new friends. Hopefully I won't be avoided because of my stomach flu story.
We hiked on another mile and found a marginal campsite and a few cowboy camping spots. I cowboy camped and they left the rain fly off their tent.
We were all hiking pretty slowly since we were recovering, and with plenty of breaks. I am sorry they got sick too, but I'm do glad to have some company getting back on the trail. I saw a lot of hikers I haven't met before. We also saw Flower from Germany again, I had seen her last in Big Bear. She's going to get off the trail again tomorrow and try to heal her foot injury. We met two brothers from Australia, fun guys, I like their sense of humor. We also met Gary from Arizona and scared him into washing his hands right there with our stories of sickness. Yup, I'm that girl. The one that got a helicopter ride out of this valley. I guess I'm trail famous now?!
I got another shot at seeing the 300 mile marker. There were two, I don't know how I missed it them the first time. One was small and the other was large. I saw the scene of the rescue again, and went to where I camped that night to see if I left my trowel there. It had gone missing. It must have been badly packed and it fell out. I'm not too worried, there's a lot of sand around here that is easy to dig with a stick, I will order another.
I ate a bell pepper there at the water source. I buy lots of fresh fruit and vegetables when I'm in town, and if there's extra, I just pack it out and eat it first.
Trail, you tried, but you didn't kill me. Please don't take that as a challenge. I took some pictures of the place I got rescued. There is a new mile marker there, 301.3. I never want to get picked up by a rescue helicopter again. Ever.
We reached the Deep Creek Hot Springs today. It was what Daniel and I were aiming for the night I got sick. It was a little ambitious for that day, 22 miles it would have been. I've heard this place is crazy. As we walked up, we could see several naked people, but the thruhikers were in their underwear. There are at least 3 pools fed by two hot springs. One was stacked, a hotter pool at the top and slightly cooler ones below. The pools were obviously man-made, but nicely done with rocks and mortar. The creek it fed into was very cold. One of the Australian brothers jumped into the cold water after soaking in the hot pool. I tried with just my legs in and it made them tingly. No thanks! The water was hot enough that it was fine at first, but being in up to your neck was too much for a long period, so I kept getting in and out.
We had dinner there. I tried the two hotter pools. More thru-hikers came, none that I knew. Most people I know are probably 50-100 miles ahead, but that's ok, I'm good at making new friends. Hopefully I won't be avoided because of my stomach flu story.
We hiked on another mile and found a marginal campsite and a few cowboy camping spots. I cowboy camped and they left the rain fly off their tent.
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