CDT mile 189.0 miles hiked 8.5
Breakfast in bed courtesy of Backpackers Pantry
Bandit, Buttercup and I slept in a wee bit this morning and awoke at 6 am. We all lounged in our bags, made coffee and oatmeal and waited for the sun to rise before we had to cross the river 28 more times before making it to Doc Campbell’s.
We set off and about 100 yards before being greeted to our first wade, it was cold but manageable. As we walked on each crossing numbed us just enough to make every little grass along the way feel like it was whipping your shins. We carried on and at one crossing found Zorro, a great guy from Spain who hiked the PCT in 2010, who had walked by us somehow last night.
my old nemesis poison ivy was found all along the trail
We all carried on and finally, the sun poked out from the canyon rim and we all stood to bask in the light. I think for all of us it was the first time we were wishing it would get sunny and warm on trail. We stopped, ate a snack and put on some sunblock.
We spent then rest of the morning marveling at the size of the cottonwood and sycamore trees in the canyon, one last crossing and we were at the bridge and highway 15 our road to Doc Campbell’s.
Giant Old Growth Sycamores and Cottonwoods can be found in the canyon
Ahhh Doc Campbell’s is everything I love about long distance hiking resupply and bit off the beaten path. The owners are friendly, their ice cream is home made and the inside is a slice of Americana. We inquired of our boxes and they showed us where they were at. 74 hiker boxes of various shapes and sizes awaited us. I quickly found mine and Big John’s thanks to our special duct tape corners. There staring me in the face was my gummy bears and 7 days of food I had packed.
I sat on the porch sorting my box and sharing chocolate with some fellow hikers, thanks again Salazon! We all enjoyed getting online for a bit, charging devices and sitting at a picnic table. Oh and the bathroom at Doc’s is awesome they use hot spring water so when you sit on the can you get a heated toilet seat, just brilliant.
A tin high five for another stop made
We loaded up our goods and walked a 1/4 mile back to where we came from to camp at Gila Hot Springs Campground. For $6 you get a camping spot and 24 hour access to 3 different soaking pools. We met the owner Alan who is a super cool guy, we dropped our packs at the reserved CDT hiker site and immediately got to soaking.
Maybe the best trail stop ever!
The water was hot and inviting I seeped myself for 3 hours until I was so pruned up I couldn’t take it anymore. We met a nice guy from Colorado who gave us trail magic in the form of a kielbasa and trail mix. We cooked up a tinfoil dinner of potatoes, onions sausage and hot dogs a true hobo treat.
It was a great day of easy hiking and well deserved rest.
