hotspringsguy

Back to the Basics

hotspringsguy — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 03:34:52 +0000

Week 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.

Skinnydipper 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.

The 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.

Hotsprings campground clean up this Sat 2/27, family friendly trip

amber — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 04:47:55 +0000

This saturday we plan to go up to Hot Springs Campground for a clean up. We do plan to bring some children, and encourage others to feel free to as well. With that we will have a bathig suits mandatory soak at the end and also discourage drinking after the clean up. We plan to meet at the Home Depot on State St. at 10am. To sign up visit www.riverhelpers.com

Post Author: Amber Hoid

Juntura Clean up results

amber — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 04:29:28 +0000

The clean up at Juntura went great! There was a ton of trash, including seemingly endless amounts of carpet buried into the dirt. The soak was great, likely would have been too hot on a summer day, but the cold air made it easy to get comforatable. The pool was a little crowded when we first got there, and several people did come and go, but all in all we were surrounded by good company! Check out the pictures at www.photobucket.com/riverhelpers

Post Author: Amber Hoid

Juntura Hot Springs in Oregon Clean-Up 2/7/10

amber — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 21:12:29 +0000

The Boise River Volunteers plan to go out and clean up Juntura Hot Springs located in SE Oregon this weekend. We also plan to cook dinner after we are done cleaning. Anyone who is interested in coming out with us can sign up right here – it’s free (we do like gas chip ins), and a ton of fun!

Post Author: Amber Hoid

Wild Rose (Milford Sweat) Clean Up SUCCESS!

hotspringsguy — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 02:16:00 +0000

We finally made it to Wild Rose- and worth every second of anticipation in getting there. Along the way we pit stopped for a little morning motivation at Outlaws and Angels in Bliss, to find the craziest local bar any of us had seen in a while! Upon arriving at the hotsrpings the place was trashed! Largely with the normal cans, bottles, clothing, and cigarette butts, but then even to our surprise a few hypodermic needles, and other undesirable debris! The soak was great, good deep tub, a little slimy in spots, but all together excellent. Not hot, but warm enough to enjoy our well earned soak!

Gold Fork Glory

hotspringsguy — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 09:28:00 +0000

Gold Fork Hot Springs Idaho Trip Report

I have been way overdue for a visit to one of my favorite commercial hot springs, and Gold Fork did not fail to deliver. Highway 55 was in pretty good shape, as was the road to Gold Fork on the way out. However, on the return drive the roads were an ice rink. There was a terrible wreck on 55 shortly before reaching Cascade that involved a pickup and Brundage Mountain transit bus.

Check Idaho road conditions and live webcams here

While enjoying Gold Fork, I actually witnessed people drinking massive amounts of water right out of the hot springs! I know Gold Fork has some of the best quality water around, but really?

The water always feels a little different here. Heavier, and softer. It might have something to do with the geothermal water that feeds the pools, which has an Alkaline Ph of +9, the highest in the state. Lithium is the most prominent mineral in the water followed by potassium, calcium, sodium, fluoride, chloride, arsenic and boron. Don’t expect a lithium trip. A ridiculous amount of water would have to be ingested in order to have any affect. Apologies to the dude that ’swore’ the ‘lith’ in the pool is what keeps bringing him back.

Gold Fork was thriving during my stay. The soak was sublime, and surrounding area and changing rooms clean. I was surprised to see people drinking alcohol in the pool. For some reason, I had thought this was not allowed here. The presence of a super drunk annoying guy that continuously made his way around the pool pestering anyone that didn’t look or move away was testament to this. His choice of discussion topics were offensive to say the least, and hearing about how he is a regular visitor didn’t help the matter. However, the majority of the other patrons were very respectful of the hot springs.

I was also surprised to see children running around, screaming, jumping into the pools and climbing up large rocks to jump in the upper pool. Unfortunately, the person staffing Gold Fork was very busy, and didn’t get to venture out of the yurt much due to the continuous flow of patrons coming and going. Quite a stark contrast to my last visit. Even though the soak was stellar and I overall enjoyed the visit immensely, it really increased my urge to visit a hard to reach, way-back, backcountry hot springs.

Rating B+

Gold Fork Directions

Gold Fork is approx. 15 minutes from Cascade and 90 minutes from Boise, Idaho.

From either Donnelly (north) or Cascade (south) head toward mile marker 128 on Highway 55, you are looking for Plant Road and a sign for Gold Fork. Head east on Plant road and follow the blue Gold Fork signs for 6.6 miles. The first 2.6 miles are paved, the rest is on a graded dirt road. The entire length of the road is maintained and plowed the year-round.

Gold Fork Hours and Rates

Hours
Sunday-Friday
Noon to 9 pm
Saturday:
Noon to 11 pm
Closed Tuesdays for cleaning

Rates
Admission
Adults: $8
Children (11 and under): $6
Swimsuit and towel rentals available along with some other items (hats, shirts, sunscreen etc.)
Please note: no credit/debit cards

View on Idaho Hot Springs (.com)

Gold Fork Hot Springs Underwater

hotspringsguy — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 08:52:00 +0000

Located near the quaint recreation towns of Cascade and Donnelly, deep within Central Idaho’s rugged mountains, lies Gold Fork Hot Springs. I actually saw people drinking massive amounts of water right out of the hot springs on this trip! I know Gold Fork has some of the best quality of water around, but really? The water feels a little different here, heavier, and softer.

Wild Rose Hot Springs Clean Up this Sunday, 1/24/10, 9:00am

hotspringsguy — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 22:01:00 +0000

We will be cleaning Wild Rose Hot Springs, located near Carey, Idaho this Sunday, 1/24/10- and nothing will get in the way this time! We will be meeting up at 9:00am, and would love some help if anyone is interested. If enough people sign up we may need some people to volunteer to drive too- let us know if you can. Sign up Here!

We will be soaking in the freshly cleaned pool upon completion!

Benefit Concert for Boise River Volunteers

hotspringsguy — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 20:27:00 +0000

Come join us at 9pm this Friday for a fun night of good people, and good music (Voice of Reason!) at Terrapin Station in Boise, Idaho. All door costs go to the Boise River Volunteers. There will be raffle items donated by local businesses, information about our organization, opportunities to get involved and then some! $5 at the door- click here to get a $1 off coupon!

RSVP and Event Information on Facebook

GOOD BEER IN CANS! 10% Off

hotspringsguy — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 20:16:00 +0000

In all of our clean up efforts one of the most menacing things we find is broken glass, not only does it hurt unsuspecting people; but it also hurts animals that do not have the ability to take care of their wounds and destroys our gear. The good news is we now have Brewforia! It is located on Milwakee by Ross and Target. They sell a wide array of good microbrews, at a good cost in the CAN! They have agreed to give customers 10% off for mentioning that Boise River Volunteers sent them. This is a great opportunity to enjoy a quality beverage without all the harmful side effects of broken glass in the outdoors!