Day 16 (6/2) For Sparta!

Sure, the title is a weak reference to 300, but what else would you shout after hiking 300 miles? So how did this momentous occasion occur? Entirely without celebration, as we were never sure exactly when we hit that milestone.

Let me back up. We all left camp st different times this morning, Noah first, then Toby and Sprinkles, and finally me. I was moving by 8:00, so definitely late, but not my worst. I hiked through an old burn area for most of the morning, and was entirely alone with my thoughts. Finally around 10 I ran into Toby and  Sprinkles filtering water at the creek. I stopped to purify some as they went ahead. I wouldn't actually oss then until they broke for lunch along a creek, while I pushed on to the river. After eating my lunch I had to try three routers beurre finding a good one across. On the other side I lost the PCT, so instead I bushwhacked up to the nearest triad and followed it down to where the trail crossed. At this point the other two caught up to me, and we all carried on to catch Noah. As it turns out, he had been having a perfect day, and blasted through the 18  miles to deep creek well ahead of us. He took a several hour break, and then when we arrived we all made dinner admad discussed our plan for the evening.

15 miles of trail ahead had been closed due to rockslides, and the alternative was a 13 mile walk along dirt roads. Additionally, we would miss the famed Deep Creek Hot  Springs, which was a real draw. Locals said the 10 miles to the springs was fine and it only got bad after that. Plus, we had heard reports of multiple other thru-hikers carrying through this section just fine. On the counterpoint was the fact that someone had fallen to their death in this section, plus walking it could cause more damage. We chose to do the road walk, so therefore the 300th mile was not evident. We ended up going several miles before night fell, and all pitched camp along the side of one of the dirt roads. To be more visible I chose to set up my tent for the first time in nearly 2 weeks, and I have now slept the same number of nights in my tent as in a real bed. That is one thing I would have never imagined coming in to this trip, but I have grown very fond of  sleeping out under the stars and plan to continue doing so as long as it is reasonable.

Miles Today: 22
Trip Mileage: 301