Friday August 15, 17.1mi/27.5km
Decker Creek (186.5/7120ft) to Willow Creek CG (169.4/4810ft) (ID)
I slept in a little and didn’t get moving until 7am, and even then it was surprisingly cold when I started hiking.
The valley stayed in shade for a long time, and I loved watching the sunlight creep down the opposite hillside as I slowly made my way up the climb.
The 1800-ft climb took me a few hours, and near the top of the pass I finally warmed up in the sunlight.
Once I was at the top of the pass, I was immediately bathed in warm sunlight, which felt quite warm even at this high elevation of 8900 feet. This might be the highest point on the entire trail in Idaho, but the guidebook doesn’t say for sure. From the top of the pass, I spied a couple very large tents stealthily hidden way off trail under some trees.
The way they were set up seemed very suspicious, but I thought it safer not to go investigating strange tents. Instead, I enjoyed the view looking down the Willow Creek Valley, where I would be hiking all afternoon.
The little bushes in the meadow had started turning red, I guess that means Autumn is coming.
Yep, lots of descending to do.
At a trail junction, I even spied a rare Idaho Centennial Trail marker.
Alpine Meadows are always such a treat to walk through when there is a nice trail.
The initial descent was a little steep.
But soon I was down hiking near the creek, and the occasional forested section provided relief from the heat.
It’s amazing how quickly it went from 45° this morning to 85° in the afternoon. I hiked right by the Willow Creek Hot Springs, so of course I had to go check them out.
The water was insanely hot, so I did some light masonry work and rearranged some stones to bring in some cold creek water to mix in. That helped but since there was no shade, I didn’t stay long. I continued on another mile to the trailhead, where I met a nice couple from Boise, Cassie and Ryan. They gave me a nice cold Coors light while they went and watered their horses.
After they came back we chatted for quite awhile, I love talking about Idaho and hiking the trail, hopefully I didn’t scare them off, it’s not often I get to have an in-depth conversation with people. I continued on, and a quick mile and a half later I was at Willow Creek Campground.
Usually I don’t like to pay to sleep on the ground when I usually do that for free, but it had picnic tables and toilets, and it was only $3.
I spread out all my food on the table and organized it for the remaining 3.5 days until town, and then I continued with my book about the first woman to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail. A nice relaxing evening!