Relaxing at the springs

May 7 - day 6

8:30 AM - I've already put an hour in at the hot springs, so I'm feeling pretty good. My feet have been bothersome, but I added a 2nd pair of insoles to my shoes, at it feels a lot better. The arch support on my new shoes had already collapsed so badly, the a hiker behind could see that my feet were pronating.

It turns out that Katie (who's trail name is Wingit) was still here recovering from an infected toes. I'll be leaving with her sometime this afternoon when her friend's new tent arrives via UPS.

The day before yesterday I ended up night hiking another 6 miles before I finally stopped, putting my total for the day at 20 miles! I camped in a little nook of a dry river bed up on a high ridge. The wind was gusting extremely hard, but I was almost too warm in my bivy sack. At about 3:00 AM, it started to rain! I know it can rain in the desert, but I wasn't expecting it this soon. Of course since I'm from the Northwest I was prepared for rain. All of my gear was in my pack, and my electronics were in the dry sack. I wedged my pack against a rock and leaned up against it with my umbrella covering the pack and my upper body. Luckily it was only about a 5 minute cloud burst, so the bivy kept my sleeping bag nice and dry. I actually ended up being so comfortable the I slept the rest of the night propped up in a half sitting position.

The next morning I got a nice early start to ensure that I'd be able to get to Warner Springs by lunch time. Up to this point I had seen very few PCT hikers on the trail, but I saw 13 in that morning alone! It looks like I might have finally caught up with the tail end of the main group of hikers. The trail into Warner Springs was through flowing grass fields. Smooth mostly even trails made for a quick 17 miles into town.

Don't Panic