Willow creek to Joshua inn - 8.4 miles

Total - 314.3 miles

Woke up with hot springs on our minds. A quick 2 miles got us to our destination. There were multiple warnings on FarOut stating that the squirrels were rabid and that there might be a lil nudity as clothes were optional at the hot springs. Still I was optimistic walking in at 7 am to the hot springs seeing a ton of hikers already basking in the warm water. I was sadly mistaken as I was met first thing with saggy balls on an older leathery looking man. This man would haunt us for the rest of the day. He was talking about how Reagan aided in the conspiracy of brain eating Amoebas were not in hot springs so dunk your heads all you want. He then got out and we headed over to the other pools where we were met with more naked women and men slack lining. Full nudity, tits, bush, penis, you name it I saw it. Traumatizing. I just met you. Why do you feel so comfortable in your own skin. Caleb was doing laps were he would go from one hot pool to the next pool, get a hit of vodka lemonade, then jump into the cool water. The man was drunk by 8:30am. One guy above our pool had hiked in at 1 am, boozed all night and was basically passed out in water just floating with head up. His friends said it’s okay as he was a marine so he knows how to sleep in water and not drown. We moved up to his pool and when he woke up, he praised us for being pct hikers. We met some cool new people, one was Scottish and the other British and I really liked their vibe so I pretty much stayed close to them the entire time. We met this one named woman who was definitely on something and her name was lowkey a stripper name but I can’t remember what it was called. She also haunted us for the rest of the time at the hot spring. Some LA dudes rolled up and started talking to us but they also were a lil weird. Caleb, the bard and some of them decided to do some cliff jumping which I would not do as I have seen too many cliff jumping horror stories so I stayed behind. Once they came back, Caleb was looking for his sit pad which he quickly realized was under the naked stripper girl’s ass. He asked for it back and she reluctantly gave it back which was crazy as it wasn’t hers. Caleb said he needed to burn it asap. After that whole fiasco, I knew I had to get outta there so I headed out the next 5ish miles to Joshua inn as we were promised free rides to the inn, cold beer and sandwiches. It was hot (75°) so the trek felt longer than it was. We left the canyon finally after two days in it traveling with the water. Truly spectacular but I’m ready for a new area. Joshua inn is exactly how you think it is in a small country town. Hella republican with stickers covering the walls in a subtle way indicating that they hated our last president and would suck off the new one if given the chance. Nothing like American pride. They were really sweet tho serving us large meat filled sandwiches and cold beer so I really can’t complain. Pretty standard night after that. Fed but not full. Don’t know that word anymore. I forgot to mention Caleb and the bard talked up all the Hispanics at the hot springs and they gave us a ton of snacks which was so kind. As I am writing this, the wind has picked up which means anxiety through the roof that my tent poles will snap like Caleb’s. I’ve gotten out of my tent three times to set up guy lines and mess with my pitch as I am writing this so I’m sorry if my journal entry doesn’t satisfy my fans needs. Too much anxiety up here that I’m going to have to cowboy camp again but this time with an audience. I’ve got three guy lines (again a stupid name, should be called guide lines) and my tent poles re-enforcing. I can tell it’s going to be a long night.

Lastly, I got so burnt at the hot springs. So many regrets. The day got away from me as we started hot springing at 7:30 and then BOOM it was 1 and now I look like a roasted pig at family Christmas. So so so so many regrets. But I put some lotion on it and then locked it in with chapstick lol. It’s like Vaseline so I gotta lock in the moisture.

Another part I forgot to mention is the old wizard, penis out guy has been coming to these hot springs for 30 years and just hangs around no shoes, no clothes and just chills. Everytime we looked around aka behind we just saw him spread eagle taking in his land. Truly so weird.