party at Deep Creek

Day 18 ~ miles 285 to 309ish

Our morning hike was pretty easy and pretty vista-less.  We put in the usual 10-12ish pre-lunch miles, until we arrived at the Deep Creek foot bridge.  The same 15 or so hikers that we had lunch with yesterday were there as well (lunch is usually planned at a water source if possible....this spot even had lots of shade, a real rarity!).

Apparently, there was a parking lot close to the foot bridge, and our lunch break was filled with excellent entertainment by way of people-watching.  We saw a large group of people all with red shirts and backpacks that we believed to be on hallucinogenic drugs (one was screaming in Spanish at the top of her lungs, repeating the same thing over and over, some looked to be playing hide and seek, one doing balancing excercises, and one tree hugger).  There were lots of people carrying various things into the woods (a smoker, stereo, duffel bags, huge full and heavy coolers, babies, dogs, other party supplies).  We ate and relaxed and rinsed some clothing items and body parts in the stream, and headed up the trail.

We walked along the inside of the canyon wall for the rest of the day.  As we hiked along, we could peer down into the canyon and see and hear several groups of people partying.  Guess that's where they were carrying all of that stuff, and it is a Saturday, after all.

We planned to camp at or near the Deep Creek Hot Spring, a natural hot spring right on the trail.  On the way, we passed by our 3rd rattlesnake, which was a few feet off of the trail; it rattled aggressively and seriously startled me. We arrived to the hot spring to lots of naked people (and a handful of clothed hikers) hanging out in and out of the water.  As much as I wanted to get in, it was late and we decided that it wasn't really our scene and thought it may get a little rowdy.  We hiked a short distance up onto a ridge to a [barely] campsite, where Joker and Kelsey joined us.  An entertaining day, for sure.

Oh, and how could I forget....we hit the 300 mile mark today!