Sunday, September 23rd, 2007
09.17.07 Rocky Canyon Hot Springs Trip Report
There’s not much more to say that wasn’t said in the 06.16.07 trip report – meaning Rocky Canyon Hot Springs was indeed a sweet soak. Since it was a Monday, forest service road traffic seemed light compared to last time. There was still a steady stream of vehicles, mostly hunters.
It was a beautiful day, the river ford was freezing (see video) and the soak stellar. Light trash (no dirty diapers this time) around and in the hot springs, and the road in was in much better condition. Which can be accredited to all of the firefighter traffic from throughout the summer.
Rating: A
View the complete listing for Rocky Canyon Hot Springs in Idaho
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Monday, July 9th, 2007
Pine Burl Hot Springs in Idaho is a two mile hike from the trailhead near Boiling Springs and features a single rock walled pool with mortar reinforcement. The sole pool has a sandy bottom with a slight amount of slit in the corners. There’s no avoiding it, just before Pine Burl you will pass Moondipper and Lil Dipper hot springs.
Seasonal Notes
The Forest Service Road that provides access is snow covered all winter until approximately May. During the summer this is ORV country, expect legions kicking up dirt and dust all over the road. Possible snowmobile access during winter months.
Camping Notes
There is a flat, sizeable campsite just a bit further past the springs as well as another further up the main trail before you depart up the creek to Moondipper. There are also many primitive and official camping opportunities accessible from the forest road.
06.16.07 Trip Report
I camped near more people than ever before on this trip verses all previous backpacking trips made in Idaho. After about an hour I found the last primitive near the hot springs, which turned out to be pretty lame. Blasts of searing hot 118 degree water mixed with blasts of staggering 96 degree water plagued the pool and made way for a fairly strenuous soak. Meaning tired arms from non-stop stirring. It was obvious someone had been tinkering.
Aside from all the people, lack-luster hot springs and insane forest road traffic – it’s always nice to be out here; my primitive site was perched near a mountain top coupled with a scenic view of the river valley below.
Rating: D
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Friday, June 29th, 2007
Moondipper Hot Springs, Pine Burl’s lesser sibling, features a single rock walled pool with a sandy/silty bottom large enough for several soakers. Moondipper is an easy 2 mile hike along the Middle Fork of the Payette River from the Boiling Springs Guard Station, and is best suited for spring and early summer soaking – when there is enough cold creek water to mix with the hot spring outflow.
Seasonal Notes
The Forest Service Road that provides access is snow covered all winter until approximately late May.
Camping Notes
There is a flat, sizeable campsite just a bit further past Pine Burl as well as another further up the main trail before you depart up the creek to Moondipper. There are also many primitive and official camping opportunities near the forest road.
06.16.07 Trip Report
Weak spring runoff due to low winter snowpack in the mountains means that Moondipper’s soaking window is a bit smaller this year. Meaning, it’s already over. The cold creek water that is desperately needed to bring down the temps of the hot waters of Moondipper was already too low. Although, a couple siphon hoses might do the trick.
Rating: C
View the complete listing for Moondipper Hot Springs on IdahoHotSprings.com
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