Today we hiked from one swim spot to another, only 9.5 miles, 15.2 km. It was too good to pass up an opportunity to swim at camp for a second night running. We also passed the 300 mile marker this morning.

We got on trail around 8:30 am, and as soon as we climbed out of the river valley it was hot. The trail stayed high above Deep Creek most of the time, but dipped down closer to the water every few miles.

Just after we left camp, another trail milestone surprised us, the 300 mile marker. It was a real shock to see this milestone, as it seemed like we only just passed the last one. The sections are already starting to pass faster.

We continued high above Deep Creek, the trail gave us plenty of opportunities to peer down to the river below. I stopped for breakfast on the trail, about an hour and a half after leaving camp.

Shortly after that I reached the woods bridge, which was where we initially hoped to camp last night. The spots don’t look that good and we were all glad to have camped at the swimming spot instead.

As the trail continued, the day got hotter. It was very exposed above the river, and the sun umbrella came in handy again. I also noticed that the sentinel flowers have reappeared, it’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve seen those on the trail.

We stopped for lunch at a water source, and not long afterwards we reached the Deep Creek hot springs. Here we swam in refreshing cold water, as well as soaking in the hot pools along the edges of the creek. We’d heard that camping wasn’t allowed here, so the plan was to eat dinner here before moving on to camp. Luckily for us though, Ninja had met a friend here who came in from the other side of the river which is private land. The landowner allows camping on their side of the river for people who have parked near the top access.