Day 16 – Swimmin’ Holes
Originally published on Mason Hikes the PCT 2017.
Mileage: 25 miles. Currently camped across the bridge at mile 310.
Lately, I haven’t really been looking at my maps or elevation plots to see what’s coming up. I know the general tend is down and I check the water report to make sure there are sources nearby, but I think it’s easier on morale if I don’t know what’s going to happen next. Today that resulted in some truly wonderful surprises that I had not been expecting.
I started the day at a campsite with Blaze and Frankie and went to grab some water nearby, but it was pretty shallow and hard to access, so I took a little and waited for the next source. As it turns out, the next source was one of two creeks that we would be following for the entire day. Holcomb Creek was fine and I soaked my feet for a bit, but the real fun came when I got to Deep Creek.
As its name suggests, Deep Creek is deeper than the other creeks we’ve seen and as such, has some fantastic swimming holes. In the many miles I followed the creek, I saw countless gorgeous swimming spots with waterfalls and giant granite boulders all around. Most were far below the trail, but a few were accessible, so today is the first time on trail that I’ve gone swimming more than once.
All of the swimming holes were nice, but the cherry on top of an amazing day of swimming was the Deep Creek Hot Springs.
Known throughout the hiker community as the “clothing optional” hot springs on trail, these pools of hot water had been on my mind for days now. What would it be like? How big are they? Is everyone naked? I really had no idea what to expect. What I found when I got there was paradise. A moderately cold river flowing through natural rock formations and semi-man-made pools of lukewarm to hot water. There were deep pools, shallow pools, warm pools, cold pools, a slackine over the water, and even a rope swing!
When I got there, everyone had their clothes on, so I decided to continue the trend. I did, however, accept a crazy guy named Jeff’s offer of shots and ended up hanging out with some locals taking tequila, mint, and lime shots on the rocks above the pools. Apparently they’re there every Monday, so if you want to hang out with some people who appreciate PCT hikers that stop in to say hi and hang out, hit them up. They’ve got some super cute dogs too. What more could you ask for?
Since you’re technically not supposed to camp at the hot springs (plenty of people were), I hiked a few more miles and set up my tent next to a huge bridge over the river. At this point I’m ready for bed and looking forward to many more swimming opportunities in the weeks to come!
