Outdoor Adventures with Ancient Brit
PCT 2002 - June 16th
Day 61: Sunday 16th June Cascade Valley – Cold Creek
Today’s ford, the “Second Crossing” was the deepest so far and the water was fairly
fast moving. I stripped off and found the water coming up to my waist, but with the help
of walking poles I managed to get across safely. Fortunately the riverbed was gravel
rather than boulders. It took me 3 hours to get to the hot springs. The springs weren’t
all that easy to locate and I overshot them and had to be directed back up the hill by a
group of weekend hikers who were camped below the springs. Later I heard of groups of
thru-hikers who failed to find the springs at all. The fact that they are shown on the
wrong side of the river on my map, and not signed, could have a lot too do with this.
Quite a lot of trees, some up to 6ft diameter, had fallen across the trail. Fortunately
the trail workers had cleared the path.
There are two small hot pools in a damp meadow with flat rocks ideal for sunbathing.
It is rumoured that there is a bigger pool higher up but I hadn’t got any information on
how to find it, if it exists. I stripped off and washed all of my clothing before taking a
long soak. The springs weren’t as hot as the ones I had visited before, but they were a
nice temperature. I spent the afternoon at the deserted springs and had an early dinner.
“Jaybird” and Naomi turned up as I was packing up, followed by 3 girls on a short
backpack. I left at 5.30pm and walked for 3 hours before camping at Cold Creek, as it
was getting dark. It was the first day without snowfields since I hit the High Sierra.
Day 61: 12.4 miles 6.26 hours Camp: Cold Creek
Today’s ford, the “Second Crossing” was the deepest so far and the water was fairly
fast moving. I stripped off and found the water coming up to my waist, but with the help
of walking poles I managed to get across safely. Fortunately the riverbed was gravel
rather than boulders. It took me 3 hours to get to the hot springs. The springs weren’t
all that easy to locate and I overshot them and had to be directed back up the hill by a
group of weekend hikers who were camped below the springs. Later I heard of groups of
thru-hikers who failed to find the springs at all. The fact that they are shown on the
wrong side of the river on my map, and not signed, could have a lot too do with this.
Quite a lot of trees, some up to 6ft diameter, had fallen across the trail. Fortunately
the trail workers had cleared the path.
There are two small hot pools in a damp meadow with flat rocks ideal for sunbathing.
It is rumoured that there is a bigger pool higher up but I hadn’t got any information on
how to find it, if it exists. I stripped off and washed all of my clothing before taking a
long soak. The springs weren’t as hot as the ones I had visited before, but they were a
nice temperature. I spent the afternoon at the deserted springs and had an early dinner.
“Jaybird” and Naomi turned up as I was packing up, followed by 3 girls on a short
backpack. I left at 5.30pm and walked for 3 hours before camping at Cold Creek, as it
was getting dark. It was the first day without snowfields since I hit the High Sierra.
Day 61: 12.4 miles 6.26 hours Camp: Cold Creek
Fish Creek
Fish Creek
5 ft diameter log
cleared by trail workers
cleared by trail workers
 |  |
| |
Ancient Brit at Ira
Bell Hot Springs
Bell Hot Springs
Ancient Brit at Ira
Bell Hot Springs
Bell Hot Springs
Crags above
Fish Creek
Fish Creek
Crags above
Fish Creek
Fish Creek