Mile 266 to 314

Day 15, 5/31

I slept in at Kenny’s place, and Kenny made us some giant breakfast burritos. We drove into town for a resupply, where I proceeded to buy way too much food.

Tamir and I got back to the trail pretty late in the day at 1pm. The trail was still pretty easy and mostly downhill, so I managed to get in over 20 miles before dark and camp at Little Bear Stream Camp. I wanted to get as far as I could today, considering that there’s a hot spring about 40 miles from where I started today.

Day 16, 6/1

It’s already June, and I’m still less than halfway through the desert section. The risk of extreme heat waves is going to go up quite a bit from here. on the bright side, starting late means less snow in the Sierras… it also means more runoff and difficult river crossings. One step at a time.

I had some pop tarts for breakfast and tore down camp. It was a pretty easygoing day of hiking. There were clear views of Mt Baldy in the morning. I’ll be passing to the north of Mt Baldy in about 80 miles.

I ran into a lesbian couple I’d first met back at the PVC. They were hiking much slower, so I was surprised to see them again. They must have skipped ahead. I’ve been surprised just how many folks are yellow blazing, i.e. skipping miles by car (the yellow dashes in the road are like blazes). As they say, hike your own hike, but I don’t think you should call yourself a thru hiker if you’re intentionally skipping significant miles.

I passed the marker for mile 300 in the early afernoon. Supposedly, about 40% of hikers have quit by this point. Maybe I’m not doing so bad after all?

The hike to the hot spring continued along Holcomb Creek and then Deep Creek. I had to cross the creeks about half a dozen times, but I only had to get my feet wet twice thanks to some well-placed rocks and logs. I encountered what looked like some kind of offroading derby at one of the road crossings. In the last two miles before the hot spring, I happened upon a hive of very angry bees. I ran down trail while swatting them away with my hat, but still managed to get three stings on my forehead. Ouch.

I finally got to the Deep Creek Hot Spring around 4pm. The hot spring comes up out of the ground right next to the creek and flows into a little basin of piled up rocks in the creek to form a natural hot tub. I finished up my camp chores and ate some dinner before indulging.

I took care to hang my food from a tree, since I’d seen lots of reports of extremely aggressive squirrels nearby that will chew through your bag if you so much as look away. Sure enough, I spotted some very fat squirrels darting around the tents.

Understandably, the area is also very popular with the locals. One of the dayhikers who was about to head out offered me a few beers, which I gratefully accepted. I shared them with Caitlin, Tamir, and Stephen, and we made small talk while enjoying the soak.

I went to bed feeling warm and comfortable in my well-pitched tent. All was right with the world.

Day 17, 6/2

As soon as I woke up, I knew something was off. I dug an emergency cathole and proceeded to throw up last night’s dinner. Fantastic.

I had no idea what the problem was. Bad water? Dehydration? I forced myself to down a liter of water for good measure.

I was really dragging ass, but I didn’t want to be around people, so I packed up my things and got out of camp after all the other thru hikers had already left. I made it about two miles before giving up – for whatever reason, the heat and sun was really just more than I could handle today. I found a shady spot under a bridge and dozed off until the afternoon when it would hopefully be cooler.

Being sick in the backcountry felt pretty suboptimal, so I was set on getting somewhere I could relax a little easier. After studying the guide for a while, I found out I could get a ride to the Joshua Inn four miles down the trail. “Joshua Inn” is a bit of a misnomer, since it’s really just a dive bar where hikers can camp out back, but ready access to tap water and a flushing toilet still sounded awfully nice.

So, I forced myself to hike the last 4 miles to the road crossing. It was easier going than earlier. My siesta had put some wind back in my sails, and the sun wasn’t quite as intense anymore. It would have been a neat hike if I weren’t so miserable. The trail continued down the canyon to a giant dam where the Mojave River meets Deep Creek. I spotted what looked like the same group of offroaders as the day before hanging out by the dam.

Once I had a cell signal, I called the bar’s driver Alan and asked for a pickup. Once I was at the bar, I set up my tent and immediately fell asleep. Whoops, no bar food for me I guess.

Day 18, 6/3

I woke up feeling significantly better. Now with cell service, a few internet searches showed that my symptoms lined up perfectly with norovirus. Maybe a bad water source? I guess I’ll never know.

I took my time tearing down camp, and took advantage of the outdoor shower at the bar. I decided to hang around until noon when the bar opened back up so I could grab some food.