I woke up early this morning and hit the hot spring one more time with Ben before setting off again. Pan hadn't gotten up yet. I hung around longer than I had originally planned, but I eventually packed up everything and said "Goodbye" to Ben. I had Ben relay my "Goodbye" to Pan for me because I really needed to get going.
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| Headed back along the Sespe River. |
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| Morning hike through the meadow. |
I made my way out of the hot springs, through the meadow, pausing to get my wildflower pictures. The water crossings took a little bit more work than yesterday since I no longer had my guides, but I was able to eventually find the cairns through the detritus that was created by the flash flood.
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| Flash flood damage. |
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| River crossing. |
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| Cairns to help you find your way. If you can find them through the downed trees. |
The scenery was still beautiful, but the miles dragged a bit since I didn't have anyone to chat with besides the typical pleasantries from passing backpackers.
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| Wildflowers. |
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| Wildflowers lining the trail. |
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| Fiddlenecks for dayyys. |
Eventually, after about 9 miles, I bumped into two young guys who first asked me about how far it was to Sespe Hot Springs and then asked how much water I had. That set off some alarm bells in my head. I told them there was tons of places along the way to refill their water but then immediately followed that statement by asking if they had a filter. They did not.
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| Sespe River. |
Luckily we were near a small stream that was running down the mountain towards the river. I used my water filter to refill their hydration bladders. One thing I love about the backpacking community is that you look out for your fellow hiker. My cheap thermometer on my shoulder showed it was about 90 degrees (F) and water is really important. While topping off their water supply I learned they didn't come fully unprepared for water, they were just going to filter through a t-shirt and then boil the water. It is way easier just to get a water filter. They aren't that expensive.
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| Hillside wildflowers along the Sespe River. |
I kept hiking and eventually bumped into another group of hikers, two of which were hiking the John Muir Trail this summer. The JMT and the PCT join up near Yosemite, so I may actually see them later this year, depending on how successful I am moving through the Sierra.
Eventually I got to the first major river crossing with the weird zig zag in the trail. The way back was pretty monotonous after that. My feet were starting to swell and my pack was getting annoyingly heavy. I got excited when I saw the white rock formations and even more excited when I saw the parking area. It pretty much had a halo around it. I was relieved to finally finish my hike for the day. However, there was no hot springs or shooting stars in my future, just rush hour traffic.
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