23 — Deep Creek

Miles 293.8 — 313.4 (19.6 miles)

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Rose: swimming at the hot springs & ending the night at a party at a bar with a whole bunch of hiker trash Thorn: anxiety about liability for a medical at the hot springs Bud: pretty flat elevation profile tomorrow

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In all my planning for the PCT, I never expected to end up at a dive bar on Saturday night of Memorial Day Weekend.

Leaving camp in the morning, I did not wait for the others. Angel and Mitch were complaining about the cool temperatures next to the creek and the early hour. They are both not early risers. Angel stays in her sleeping bag for at least half an hour while we get packed around her. Mitch likes to complain. I can tell he likes things a certain way at home; a way that is not a grungy, early morning trail life. Lucy wakes up and leaves early to try and keep up with the other’s fast pace. Shuffles is always the instigator of early rising and long miles, but she sticks close to Mitch and Angel since they hike at similar speedy rates.

I had a stomach full of Mitch and Angel’s belly aching, so I left. I hike best in the cool morning, and I knew they would pass me soon enough with how speedy they are.

I wove amongst the sage brush (we’re back to desert vegetation) for two hours. I passed Lucy. Five miles in, I stopped beneath a bridge at a beautiful desert oasis to collect water. The whole gang caught up with me there. I lingered longer than I should have because of the group. When we left, Mitch, Angel, and Rebekah quickly sped ahead. Lucy and I would leap frog for the rest of the day.

The trail followed Deep Creek, creating similar swimming holes at every turn. Sometimes I was down close, but most of the day I was a couple hundred yards uphill weaving on the side hills of its canyon. As the temperatures climbed, I looked lustily down at the beautiful swimming pools below. The locals and news talk about the cool temperatures right now. It still feels hot to this winter girl.

Our afternoon resting destination was a backwoods hot spring on the river 15 miles from our morning camp. The last 5 miles were a mental exercise. Lucy and I took refuge at many of the shade spots.

The hot springs were teeming with people for Memorial Day Weekend. The others enjoyed the hot springs the most while I loved the cool river swimming hole. I could have spent all day there, but we had miles to cover. I was also a little anxious, because the whole area was an incident waiting to happen: drunk people, trash, jumping off rocks into water, weed smoke, Coleman tents hastily set up in the small spaces between the rocks, dogs, no potable water.

And, of course, when we decided to leave at 4 PM, a man calmly approached us asking if we could call 911 for his friend who was ODing. Rebekah and Angel ran up the trail to get signal without waiting for any details. They hailed me over to look over the guy. See notes below:

“Early 20yo Male. Asian. Ingested Mushrooms. Friends report seizure. Friends also high. Pt found seated and alert to voice. Pupils constricted. Pulse 64. Treated with wet shirt around shoulders, moved to shade. Last oral intake sandwich at two. Water. No electrolytes. Loss of bowels. Follows commands when repeated. Noncombative. Ambulatory with aide. Tingling in extremities.”

His friends were way too high to take care of him. We attempted to find a sober-ish person to no avail. Some bros claimed some familiarity with people who take too many mushrooms. We introduced everyone, and Lucy and I hiked on to make contact with our group and emergency personnel. We ran into our tramily quickly. I passed on my notes, which they ran ahead to relay. We waited for the helicopter to land (they were eager to see it). When it didn’t appear in twenty minutes, we moved on. It appeared about five minutes later.

It was a pretty six miles out. We sidehilled the canyon, came upon a huge dike and spillway, crossed many beep roads (and keep drivers), and arrived at a trailhead. We called the owners of Joshua Inn Bar, who picked us up with a tiny trailer for our packs.

When we arrived at Joshua Inn (really just a dive bar), there must have been twenty other hikers camped in the dirt lot outside the bar. We quickly set up camp in the wind and fading light then joined the party inside the bar.

Beer only. Only some microwaveable food. $1.50 PBRs. Pool tables. Jukebox. It was a good time. I had a couple of beers. The others had about three. We tried to get Lucy to drink more (it was her 21st birthday!), but she was too conscious of the hiking for the next day. I thanked god that there were no shots to be ordered.

I faded and went to bed around eleven. The others played pool until midnight. It was a windy night.