Not a sign you normally see! 
Miles hiked: 19.8
Camped at: cowboy camping at the 1st Deep Creek Bridge with Hemlock, Blue Yonder, and many others
As I write this, it’s 9:30am and I’m “livin’ the dream”….taking a nap on the side of the trail before ever hiking at all today! Steve dropped us off via a road that intersects 0.8 miles from where we got on yesterday for our southbound slackpack. I don’t want to tax my recovering body and as no purist here, especially considering I decided to deliberately skip the miles I missed while being sick last week, I had no desire to do an out and back to get the small missing segment. However, both Hemlock and Blue Yonder wanted to do it so I’m waiting with the packs while they have a trail race. Oh, yea, I think I got the better end of this deal!
Fast forward to the end of the day. Somehow I did nearly 20 miles before 7pm even starting late at 10am….gosh, the PCT is a nicely graded trail! Except for mid afternoon when I had somewhat of a slump, I kept a great pace, and felt pretty strong, maybe 90-95% of normal. A little queasiness, but otherwise tummy is doing well halfway through the antibiotic regimen. I’m quite happy with how I’ve been feeling today :). I listened to music for the first time during hiking today, and it was just what I needed to end the day with a second wind.
Deep Creek is a great place to camp, as I came down into this oasis, I was bowled over with how stunning the scenery is. I feel like I say that everyday, but it’s true! Maybe it didn’t help that I was listening to a sappy song at the same time, but I even got a bit teary being so grateful to be out here again and feeling well. It’s so apparent in retrospect how crummy I was feeling all last week that really impacted my enjoyment of the trail.
Today’s hike went from soaring ponderosa pine forests at 8000 feet to a desolate burn area, to interesting boulder fields and desert climes again, mixed in with several crossings of Holcomb Creek. Rolling hills with a descending trend made for easy hiking, and I just had to remember to scan the footbed every so often amidst all the gawking. I’m about to sleep by a rushing stream, which makes for such nice ambiance. I just hope I don’t have to pee all night long.
Lingering snow made for a snow angel attempt by Hemlock – lots of fun but somewhat limited results! Followed by mellow beauty in the burn area.
Pathfinder Hikes 