Near hells canyon spring to somewhere in the Gila

After lazing around and not getting out of camp until 8. I finally looked at my maps for today and realized I messed up. Messed up big. I had scheduled 3 days to hike the 50 miles to my next resupply and couldn't figure out why in town. That's why I got out so late and was lazy this morning.  The reason I was planning going so slow was there are HOT SPRINGS. Real natural relaxing rejuvenating hot springs. I had scheduled extra time so I could relax in them. My plan wasn't 3 15 mile days. It was 2 20 mile days with a hot spring before bed, a hot spring for breakfast, then a short hike to Doc Campbells where I'd resupply then soak in a hot spring again. Too late now. To make that work is have to hike 26+ miles with a late start over rough terrain. Ah well I'll just hike as close to the spring add I can then soak in it in the morning.

It wasn't that easy. I'm back up at 6000+ ft. and I felt it. I had a big climb to start the day almost 2000 ft. It was difficult. I made it but to took me the better part of 3 hours to cover 5 miles. To make matters worse I took a wrong turn and hiked an extra 500 ft. After that it was all down hill but my legs were shot. That extra bit of trail killed my legs. It was a long way down to the Gila River but believe it or not it rained on me. It was about as much rain as the last time but still it was different.

Down at the Gila the trail was a bit difficult to find. I guess there was a big flood a few years ago that took out the entire river valley and made the trail difficult to follow. Outside of that it was easier to ford the Gila than I expected. I had read on Facebook the reports of earlier hikers who described it as knee to mid thigh deep. At times it was but for the most part it was a joke compared to the crossings in Maine. I didn't feel the slightest danger. I've only done 13 crossings so far so that might change but I doubt it. I called it quits early on my last crossing my legs felt like they wanted to cramp up.  No matter how easy the crossings are they still require fully functional legs. It was a good thing I did cause as soon as I finished dinner it started to rain again. This time my entire rain fly got wet! Now I'm going to bed with a turkey gobbling just across the river. So far I'm loving the Gila.