It was indeed Bradford Ridge Trail to the right of the bridge at the end of 173. We sighed a sense of relief. It was short lived as we attempted to conquer the 6 miles to Deep Creek. All in all, it took us 2 hours 10 minutes to get down with a few confusions about which trail to take at the barb wire fence. The directions said something about a Y and turning right, etc. it didn't make sense to a new (and somewhat lazy) hiker that I am. Suffice to say, there was a Bradford Ridge Trail version of MoFo. When we got there late afternoon, a few of what seemed like 30 people were leaving. Saw about 3 tents past the beach. A young guy carried a sack of trash with him on the way out. Brian and I picked up mosty cigarette butts by the womb, a few beer cans and a glass bottle (really people?!) The surroundig area was mostly free of trash, huge thanks to all who contribute to keep the place clean. It was a beautiful warm afternoon. There were mostly naturals in the under 30 years young category. Not too rowdy either. The large dogs running about were friendly. One slobbered over me begging for food.

As the sun was setting & it started to get a little cooler, we slithered quite a bit away from the hot springs. The morning chill pushed us back into the hot springs early that we were the only two in The Womb for awhile. As the sun started to creep on the beach, everyone else came out of the woodwork. A great many hikers came down the way of Bowen Ranch. There were teenagers and a few families with young kids. We hiked out by 9:30 am via PCT towards Bradford Ridge. We could see more people on the opposite side coming down (Bowen). It was a warm day, so we lathered up with sunblock and I paid half of the hike (versus free hiked). I scared a poor gentleman hiker coming down BRT when I squealed upon seeing him appear. Mind you, on the way up, I encountered a green caterpillar on my arm, the part of a brown/gray snake with yellow lining slithering thru a bush a foot away from me and a brown spider just a little bit smaller than my hand crawling on my pack. It took us 2 hours 20 minutes to get back to our car. It was long but partly easier than Bowen Ranch. And much gentler on my car. The steep parts were much shorter and gentler than MoFo. The rest of the way after the steep parts were pretty much a piece of cake. (Thanks to Brian who helped carried my pack down AND up along with his own.) I enjoyed BRT a lot that we may be going to DCHS thru this from now on. And the free parking is a big plus. It was a great workout!

We had a great time at Deep Creek. It is truly a magical place & one of our most favorite in the world! Brian & I met there. We hope to meet many of the contributors on this forum someday now that it's warmer & we're back!

Much love,
Dev & Brian