A creepy cabin & fresh fruits (D-13 & D-14)

Nothing spectacularly interesting happened these two days. So, here is a combined summary (darn! these corporate terminology is ingrained in us now):

- Entered San Giorgiono wilderness. If you don't know anything about it, no worries. I didn't know it existed till yesterday

- Banana cake and instant oatmeal for breakfast

- Saw clouds below mountaintops

- Came across an amazingly creepy cabin called Coon Creek Cabin This cabin is owned and managed by the CA Land Mgmt agency and they even rent it out for $115/night. The issue is there are no doors or windows and nothing inside the cabin at all. It is completely decrepit with broken floors and who knows what lives in there. You definitely don't need any reservation to stay there overnight...if you dare to! I had lunch outside the cabin.

- This was & is a private zoo that is next to PCT. It used to house bears, big cats and other animals used in movies & TV. Now there are only dogs left.

- This morning came across this amazingly full and fresh trail magic. There were even fresh fruit there and I took a banana that was consumed right away and an apple for later

- Lots of sign boards along the trail have been used as target practice and you can see the bullet holes. Why...I don't know.

- A Tootsie Roll Pop lasts about 2 miles. This was my first and last Tootsie Roll in my life

- Saw a deer next to tonight's campsite. It ran away as I was taking out my phone - so, not a good pic

Finally data:

D-13: 36.5k, 10:18 hrs, 1700 m elevation gain (once again stopped my watch in the middle for 45 mins and had to reconcile with "official" data

D-14:

Comments

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Heading out from the cowboy camping experience last night, I was looking forward to Deer Creek Hot Springs that is apparently very popular among the locals too & tended to get crowded during the weekends, even though one has to hike in a mile or so from the trailhead parking (or hike 308 miles on PCT 🙂). Reached it early enough, but still it was chock full of people - locals & thru-hikers both - most of whom had camped there overnight in spite of it being a No Camping zone. People were lazing around in some of the pools in various states of undress, as it was a clothing optional area. It was way too crowded for me and I decided to head out. But, as I was heading out, I saw a small pool of water with nobody in it and the water was pleasantly hot (not just warm). Pool I "discovered" away from the crowds Close-up of the pool Me in the pool 😋 What a lovely feeling to be in a hot pool, especially after not having had a hot ...

A thru-hike attempt

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