Archive for the ‘skinnydipper’ Category

Idaho Hot Springs Access and Condition Updates

Sunday, July 25th, 2010

Many thanks to my fellow soak-seekers for sending in the following updates!

  1. Bonneville Hot Springs in IdahoThe super-soaker at Bonneville Hot Springs near Lowman, Idaho is back in action after being repaired by multiple volunteer groups.
  2. The surrounding landscape at Willow Creek Hot Springs near Pine, Idaho was severely damaged by wildfire in 2008; I recently received word that no soaking pools have resurfaced, and that not much potential remains.
  3. Deadwood Hot Springs has been cleaned and tinkered with a few times. Despite the attempted improvements, a thorough cleaning and adjustment of the source hoses will most likely be required pre-soak. Spend the night or make sure you have ample time if you make the hike out.
  4. Multiple reports of Jackhole sightings have surfaced in regard to Skinnydipper AKA Mile Marker 4 Hot Springs near Banks, Idaho.  Reports included alleged sightings of public urination/defecation in the parking area and next to the pools.
    Side note: Skinny was officially closed at night for 2 years ending in 2009. However, Jackholes either defaced or removed signs and the closure was never really enforced. Very sad because the surrounding area has been abused so much that it was classified as ‘critically endangered’ years ago. This subsequently resulted in management/jurisdiction of MM4 changing hands from the Forest Service to the BLM.
  5. This season brought about a sizable fee-hike to $25/night for campgrounds in the Atlanta, Idaho area near Atlanta, Power Plant and Chattanooga Hot Springs.
  6. A little reworking has taken place at Secesh Hot Springs, northeast of McCall, Idaho. Smaller pools have been disassembled in favor of a larger primary pool. Initial qualifications have been favorable.

Please Remember

Pack it In Pack it Out – No Trash or Glass at the Hot Springs!

Travel Tools

| Posted in atlanta, bonneville, chattanooga, deadwood, idaho, jackholes, lowman, secesh, skinnydipper, trail creek, wildfires, willow creek id | No Comments »

Skinnydipper Clean Up Tuesday 4/6/10

Tuesday, March 30th, 2010

After reading the hotspringsguy’s post on Skinnydipper it is hard to not want to go clean it up! Boise River Volunteers will be having a clean up on Tuesday 4/6/10- we will meet at 10am and clean then soak- plan for this to be an all day event. Tons of trash along with tons of fun, bring food, warm enough clothes for the weather, and money to chip in on gas if you can. Sign up at riverhelpers or comment for assistance in getting signed up. We are always glad to accept new volunteers!

- Amber

| Posted in activism, clean up, environment, idaho, skinnydipper, volunteer | No Comments »

Jackhole Haven at Skinnydipper

Monday, March 29th, 2010

Jackhole Keys Found at Skinnydipper

Keys from female jackhole found at Skinnydipper

Cig butts, cig packs, beer cans, more beer cans, food packaging, underwear, a dress, a shirt with human feces on it … and on. This was some of the awesomeness I found at Skinnydipper hot springs this morning. A bad feeling crept into my stomach as I was hiking up the trail towards the soaking pools once I realized that I was entering jackhole territory.

There was one car in Skinny’s pullout about an hour before dawn. Partiers from Emmett, Idaho that seemingly spent the night. About half-way up I passed two drunken 20 something jerks on their way down. After the last one walked by he said “them pools is fu**ing packed!”. Whatever, I thought.

Two more jackholes; male and female, were in the lowest soaking pool nestled amongst their jackhole trash heap. I continued up to the two upper pools. Cesspools of human waste. Unbelievable!! While I was discovering the mess and crunching beer cans the jackholes below abandoned their home away from home. They must have sensed I was coming for them.

I finished stuffing the only garbage bag I brought up with trash quickly before taking off down the trail after the jackhole horde. I was furious!! My soaking partner was close behind. As I was cruising down the trail the faint light of the rising sun gave me a glimpse of the pullout. Jackholes were trying to bust into my truck! Frak! I was still maybe 10 minutes from being all the way down.

Once my compadre witnessed the scene below a loud bellow was released that startled myself and the jackholes. They looked up, saw me – and scattered! Invigorated, I increased my pace and missed a switchback and fell a few feet before landing on my chest. I didn’t skip a beat, the jackholes messing with my ride and trash rage gave me the adrenalin I needed. I wasn’t even down a second before popping right back up and renewing my downhill charge.

My feet hit the pavement as the jackholes sped away. To be honest, it worked out for the better. No vehicle damage, and I can’t help but wonder what would have happened if I had caught them. My backup was still a few minutes away and the jackholes had me outnumbered.

Defeated, we left without soaking. The jackholes took this round. When this happens, we all lose.

This is a good time to remember that taking care of public hot springs means addressing jackholes besides just cleaning up their trash. Try to be nice, snap a pic of their license plate and email it to the Boise National Forest and BLM (and here, I’ll gladly post it).

| Posted in boise national forest, jackholes, skinnydipper | 12 Comments »

Back to the Basics

Monday, March 1st, 2010

CrushedWeek after week slipped past, until finally, a Tuesday afternoon stepped out of the void and presented itself. It only took a second for me to realize just what exactly this meant. No time for dogs, but I needed an accomplice. Easy. I knew of a geothermal fiend that didn’t have BSU class on Tuesdays. So, I nabbed my soak-pack (a small sling-style backpack pre-loaded with day hiking and hot springing gear) and was out the door. Destination – Boise National Forest.

Afternoons like this are why Boise is such a great place to live. Forest to the north, high desert to the south. Open space. The great outdoors. Only 1 hour in either direction. Within 30 minutes I broke free of crowded roads and the vast expanse of the bustling valley. Another 30 minutes on highway 55 brought me into the thick of the forest, and Mile Marker 4 Hot Springs.

HS CGSkinnydipper was slammed, and I wasn’t in a mood to banter. A more subtle commune with nature was on my agenda. On down the highway. Thoughts of checking on Rocky Canyon and Little Anderson came and went. Then, I arrived at Hot Springs Campground. Took a look around, checked temps (100-101) and left. It looked good, but I needed more hiking.

Pine Flats was awesome. Not the soak, but everything else. All of the pools except one tiny soaker up top were too cool (upper 90s) for school. It was just nice to hike around and look for signs of spring. Oh, and no trash to pick up is always a treat. After all of that hiking, it was time to return to Hot Springs Campground.

HS CG QualifiedThe soak at HS CG was marginal. We cleared the area of trash and hopped right in. Well, turns out that 101 degrees during the day wasn’t too bad, but that 101 had turned into 99 after sunset and the ambient air temps had dropped right along with it. Add to that Red Spider Mites (RSMs), and the suck factor increased a bit. I’ve heard stories, but after many visits to HS CG with no RSM encounters I didn’t think much of it – until now. I have a theory that hot springers are inadvertently infecting the non-afflicted hot springs with RSMs. Ugh, another one to add to the list.

| Posted in boise national forest, garden valley, hot springs campground, idaho, little anderson, pine flats, rocky canyon, skinnydipper | 1 Comment »

Hot Vids – Miracle and Skinnydipper Hot Springs in Idaho

Sunday, March 15th, 2009

Skinnydipper Hot Springs in Central Idaho

View the complete listing for Skinnydipper Hot Springs in Idaho

View Skinnydipper Hot Springs pictures on Flickr

View all other Skinnydipper Hot Springs blog posts

Miracle Hot Springs in Southern Idaho

View the complete listing for Miracle Hot Springs in Idaho

View Miracle Hot Springs pictures on Flickr

View all other Miracle Hot Springs blog posts

| Posted in boise national forest, idaho, miracle, skinnydipper, video | 2 Comments »

Skinnydipper Hot Springs Feat. The Crappy Old String Band!

Thursday, October 23rd, 2008


Skinnydipper Hot Springs Featuring The Crappy Old String BandFor more funny videos, click here

The hike and hot pools of famed Skinnydipper Hot Springs located in south-central Idaho. Featuring Bluegrass from ‘The Crappy Old String Band’ with Bart Rayne on Banjo and Vocals.

Other video formats

Visit The Crappy Old String Band on Myspace!

View the complete listing for Skinnydipper Hot Springs

View all Hot Springs video clips

| Posted in garden valley, idaho, skinnydipper, video | 4 Comments »

Skinnydipper Hot Springs Pics

Tuesday, October 7th, 2008

Think Green

From Slightly Above

View from the Pool

True That - Keepers Needed

The Party Pool

Short trip report this time: In a nutshell – a badass trip because of low trash, clean pools and friendly soakers. Usually, a trip to Skinny means hauling down at least a couple bags of trash.

Rating A+

| Posted in idaho, photography, skinnydipper | No Comments »

Lost Photos

Sunday, September 7th, 2008

Here’s a few pictures of Skinnydipper Hot Springs, located in the Boise National Forest, that were taken from an unpublished spring trip during May of this year.

MM4 Hot Springs in Idaho

MM4 Hot Springs in Idaho

MM4 Hot Springs in Idaho

MM4 Hot Springs in Idaho

Boise National Forest Sunrise

Hike to Skinnydipper

| Posted in banks, garden valley, idaho, photography, skinnydipper | No Comments »

Rocky Canyon, Hot Springs Campground and Skinnydipper Updates

Saturday, November 17th, 2007

Rocky Canyon Hot Springs in Idaho

Less trash, lower temperatures (just barley hot enough to soak) and a freezing river ford… in a nutshell. All in all a great soak. Although my friend experienced a couple bites that he thought to be red spider mites. Hmmm. Maybe, maybe not.
Rating: B+

View 11.12.07 Rocky Canyon Hot springs Video Clip

View Rocky Canyon Hot Springs in Idaho Complete Listing

Hot Springs Campground in Idaho

Dang. This place was the most thrashed and trashed I’ve ever witnessed. My gut feeling was that the parking lot and campground directly across the highway that was full of hunters had something to do with that. I really hope not, but why the crap won’t they clean it up? The temperature clocked in at 101, but I didn’t stick around to soak more than my appendages. Hot Springs Campground is a decent soak, but with so many other stellar soaks in the neighborhood, why?
Rating D

Watch the video clip

View the complete listing

Skinnydipper Hot Springs in Idaho

We tried to sneak a soak at Skinny in the am, but the 6 cars in the pullout drove us on to nearby hot springs. However, on the way back, a huge rainstorm hit. Our hopes that the storm had chased off all of Mile Marker 4′s soakers was confirmed when we rounded the bend on the Banks-Lowman highway. Soaking in Skinnydipper during any kind of storm is a personal favorite. The icing on the cake was almost non-existent trash.
Rating: A+

View the complete listing for Skinnydipper

| Posted in hot springs campground, idaho, rocky canyon, skinnydipper | No Comments »

Skinnydipper Hot Springs Federal Closure Order – No Joke!

Saturday, October 27th, 2007

Here’s the link to the federal nighttime closure order for Skinnydipper Hot Springs AKA Mile Marker 4. The nighttime closure order remains in effect until May 24, 2009, and cites public safety as the reason for the closure.

The 2004 order was enacted in response to a surge in disorderly activity; gang fights in the pullout, tires slashed, windows broken… etc. However, signs posting the sunrise to sunset closure are continuously defaced and/or removed; making it difficult for officers to write tickets. To my knowledge, all posted closure signs have been either removed or have been defaced, and the hot springs/pullout has been in full swing. So, I don’t know. It’s been awhile since I’ve been up at night, but I’ve seen the aftermath in the a.m. many, many times.

This particular hot springs is actually administered by the BLM, despite being located in the Boise National Forest.

Why? Because the land around Skinnydipper is considered to be in critical condition. Did you catch that? CRITICAL CONDITION. This means pick up your trash, don’t deface federal signs, don’t even bring glass, don’t take switchbacks (stay on the main, most-used, marked trail), pick up trash (even trash that isn’t yours!!) and maybe, just maybe Skinnydipper Hot Springs can be saved.

Give them one more reason and they’ll take it away.

Peace, HSG

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| Posted in banks, commentary, garden valley, idaho, skinnydipper | No Comments »