Trip report 1-27-13

It was 1 pm when I drove down to the Hunter’s camp parking lot. This parking area requires a high clearance 4 by 4 which my Ford Explorer does have. While driving to this parking area there were 3 trucks and one new looking ATV was already there. At first I thought the Forest service may be at the springs because the trucks were new and white like the Forest service drives. But when I got to where I could see them better I could see they were for some hot spring regulars.
Before getting there, when I passed the Freedom trail head there was one white Chevy Blazer parked there. While there I could see the Bowen ranch parking area I saw 8 vehicles and 2 tents. With that many vehicles around I figured the springs may not be too crowded and I was right.
The sun was hiding behind some clouds which looked too high to make it rain but who knows. There was a steady and light wind blowing and the temp seemed to be in the 50’s.
The first thing I saw when I went down the path where it meets the Bowen ranch trail was 8 – 10 children and no parents. They were following a small distance behind so I waited for them. I asked them “if they had been to the springs before. ” They said yes they were from Victorville and had been there many times. So I jogged almost all the way to the springs. When I got there I met and talked to the hot spring regulars that were parked at the Hunters camp parking area. They were all loving life to the max it appeared.
But before I got to talk with them I spotted a broken whiskey bottle while crossing the creek. It was on the rocks just below the Crab cooker pool. It was in five big pieces so I picked them all up. Then when I was exploring the bottom of the womb pool I found more broken pieces of glass. I also found a LED flash light, a part of a broken shoe, 2 candles, a used feminine napkin, and some batteries. That must have been SOME party! So with all of that I took it upon myself to suck all of this trash out of this pool with my big hose. There was an almost hot spring regular named Joshua who helped me with all of this cleaning. Thank YOU Joshua!
There was not a lot of trash around the springs as my 40 gallon trash bag was only half full as I left. Mostly beer cans a few water bottles two glass wine bottles and two glass beer bottles.
After doing that those children from the trail appeared on the beach. After that a steady stream of hot spring lovers began descending down the trail. I would guess there were 50 – 60 persons around for the rest of the day. And everyone I spoke with were happy as Larks on a spring day. It seemed there were about 50/50 on the nudity.
Speaking of the weather again, it sprinkled for about 10 minutes while I was picking up the whiskey bottle. Then about one hour later it sprinkled for about 20 minutes. Of course, we all went there to get wet.
My last hour there I met and had good conversations with a nice couple. Their names are Madelyn and Paul. It was their second visit to the springs and they said they would like to become regulars too. At 4:50 we hiked out together as several others with large back packs headed down the trail. It always is nice to see the next generation enjoying my favorite hiking destination.
As we were leaving the clouds got larger and darker and it was sprinkling just a little when I got to my car. As I drove out I could not help but notice a large amount of rabbits trying to dodge my front bumper. Once I had to hit my brakes very hard to avoid hitting one. So, watch out for the hares out there and ENJOY!