Traveling to Unique Natural Hot Springs Throughout Idaho and The Northwest
Saturday, April 3rd, 2010
One of my good YouTube hot springs friends recently posted the below video of a backpacking trip in the Sespe Wilderness of California to Willett Hot Springs. Enjoy!
Tags: sespe wilderness california, willett hot springs california | Posted in california, sespe wilderness, video, willett | 1 Comment »
Saturday, April 3rd, 2010
Sadly, the log-dammed pool at mighty Vulcan is no-more due to a wildfire that rampaged the area. In fact, the entire surrounding area has been closed for the last 3 seasons due to wildfire restoration efforts. Basically, the wildfire super-heated the earth around Vulcan… flattening the area where the old log-dammed pool used to snugly fit. New pool designs will have to be creative to say the least.
The video below shows Vulcan in all of its former glory, in addition to the surrounding area – which has since mostly burned.
More Vulcan Hot Springs
Tags: vulcan hot springs video | Posted in boise national forest, environment, flashback, idaho, video, vulcan, wildfires | No Comments »
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 »
Monday, March 29th, 2010
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 »
Monday, March 22nd, 2010
The snow was hard enough to walk on, making an icy sidewalk that reached all the way to the geothermal complex. I am sad to report that the king soaking pool is somewhat dismembered. There’s hope, but serious work will be needed to patch up the rock walls. The soak shack was in good repair, as was the round-the-bend pool.
Read the complete trip report with pictures on IHS
Tags: bonneville hot springs video | Posted in bonneville, idaho, video | No Comments »
Monday, March 22nd, 2010
The gate to the campground was still closed despite the lack of snow. A walk through the campground and surrounding area revealed minimal trash, very nice. Usually, this time of year, it’s bad news. I ran into a couple young ladies that were setting up camp for the night after hiking the interpretive trail. Best time of the year for that. No campground host + No other campers = No competition for the soak.
Read the complete trip report with pictures on IHS
Tags: kirkham hot springs video | Posted in idaho, kirkham, video | No Comments »
Monday, March 22nd, 2010
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.
Read the complete trip report with pictures on IHS
Tags: pine flats hot springs video | Posted in idaho, pine flats, video | No Comments »
Monday, March 22nd, 2010
Daniel Claar is true hot springs brethren. He’s also a published author – and has graciously offered to contribute his work titled “Naked, Wet, and Wild in Idaho” to Idahohotsprings.com.
Daniel’s article features a bevy of tips, tricks and tactics all aimed at helping ease oneself into Idaho’s pristine public hot springs. Learn how to deal with ‘jackholes’, take care of a hot spring pool and if it’s ok to soak au naturel.
Read “Naked, Wet, and Wild in Idaho”
Tags: daniel claar, idaho hot springs guide, jackholes | Posted in guides, idaho | 1 Comment »
Monday, March 1st, 2010
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.
| Posted in boise national forest, garden valley, hot springs campground, idaho, little anderson, pine flats, rocky canyon, skinnydipper | 1 Comment »
Thursday, February 25th, 2010
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
Tags: Boise River Volunteers, clean up, hot springs campground, kid, volunteer | Posted in Boise River Volunteers, clean up, environment, events, hot springs campground, volunteer | 3 Comments »
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