Today we covered 17.1 miles, 27.5 km. We climbed out from the hot pools and finished our hike through Deep Creek. After exiting the valley, we continued toward Silverwood Lake around hot and exposed hillsides.

The climb out of Deep Creek was fairly gradual, but still gained us some height quite quickly. We got good views back into Deep Creek, and of the mountains surrounding the river. As the morning goes on, the temperature rises and we can tell it’s going to be a hot day.

The trail meanders along the true left of Deep Creek for a couple of hours. We can see campsites and a built up trail below us on the other side of the river. We’d heard from one of the locals at the hot pools yesterday that the valley used to be a hippie encampment. It’s interesting to think what these parts might have looked like a few decades ago.

The trail drops down to the river, and we cross to the other side over a bridge. Once on the other side, we join the built up trail and continue downstream. From this point, the trail is very flat, wide, and level. Soon we get a view of the valley exit, and out to the plains beyond.

We descend from the mountainside onto the Mojave Forks Dam spillway. From there we follow the ridge to the south of the West Fork Mojave River. This section is long, exposed, hot and winding. My sun umbrella helps make things much more comfortable.

We stop for a long lunch at a water crossing, filtering water from the stream and relaxing in the shade. While we’re here, a California king snake passes right through the middle of the water source and causes a stir among the two groups of hikers here. We enjoy lunch and a thrill at this spot.

The trail continues on the same hot ridge, winding in and out of valleys cut by seasonal streams, now dry. We get views to mountains ahead, and back to Deep Creek where we came from. We enjoy dinner, a sunset, and set up camp quite late in the day.