Feels good to be 39! Although I feel much younger. It may be that hiking keeps you young. I’ve always loved having a summer birthday, and it often means a trail birthday!

I had a slow morning over coffee, granola and some more of my book. The first few miles were quite marshy…no shortage of water in the Hart Mountain area.

The terrain started to dry out some, and by the time I got to the edge of the refuge it felt like I was back in the desert. I did spy a pronghorn family…two little babies with their folks ran away from me right before I dropped down to the base of Hart Mountain.

There was a possibility of hotsprings at the base…it is on private land, but the springs are open to soakers. The thing was I had heard it was getting trashed, and the soaking tub might have been removed. I had my fingers crossed.

And there it was!! Some kind of tub was lined with a few tarps, and the water was clear. A pipe was spilling hot water off the side, I moved it into the tank and jumped in.

Bliss.

I got out, had lunch, and got back in. All to myself with a stunning view of Crump Lake.

After I walked a few minutes down to some trees and had a little nap in the shade. This day was going to happen on its own with no need to rush.

I hiked on a few more miles and took a minute to call Kirk. My section hike is finishing tomorrow, and he’s driving down to spend the weekend with me at the beautiful Hart Mountain Cabin. Happy birthday to me!

I put in my order of steak and cake for him to bring from Bend tomorrow. I’m excited to see him. Two weeks apart is much better than the 5 months last year!

I passed some petroglyphs, saw 2 arrow heads, and there should be more petroglyphs tomorrow. I’ve got an awesome view at camp, 15 miles to hike tomorrow, lasagna for dinner, and a Twix for desert. Getting older is awesome!