Re: What is to be done? Reaction to trip to springs 5-23-09

I also happened to be at the springs on Saturday, May 23rd. Two friends and I hiked from from Bowen's Ranch and arrived around 10:40 AM. There were a lot of people there, mostly clothed teens and twenty-somethings. A lot of the kids had been camping overnight and many were drinking and already getting rowdy. As far as I could see all of them were textile (clothed).

My companions were two women. One, Ms. S. was a tall, blond, long-time DCHS hiking friend who'd been coming to the creek and springs since 1992. The other lady, Ms. L, was a college friend from back in..., well, a long time ago, and she'd never been skinny dipping or anything like it. What she did have was an open mind. I am a sixty-whatever who first discovered Deep Creek Hot Springs on the Memorial Day weekend in 1970, 39 years ago. In that hippie-ish era probably 99% of the visitors were sans clothing. (look at the photos posted by "Viejo Bill," an old handle of mine, on this forum.... lots of long haired, buck naked, pretty people) We had planned to soak in one of the hot pools and then head upstream to a quiet beach and deep pools. What we found was that the crowds were already in the hot pools, many drinking from glass bottles, a dangerous situation. Ms. S suggested that we temporarily abandon the thermal pools and head for the upstream beach, which we did. Up to this point we kept our hiking clothes on, not wanting to be harassed by intolerant, textiled drunks.

After a short walk, I arrived at our favorite beach, dropped my pack, stripped to my birthday suit, and set out a blanket on the sand. I walked into the creek again, planning to guide the ladies in when I encountered a large group consisting of a few adults and many kids, from 7 or 8 years to young teens. Before I walked out of the waist-deep creek I warned them that I was naked and the younger kids were ordered to quickly turn away (from my evil condition, I guessed) while the 14 year-old girl just stared as I strolled past. I rounded up my companions and walked back upstream to “our beach.”

Ms S, a lovely lady raised in Germany, could not strip to her skin fast enough. To our surprise the church group also waded through the water, crossed in front and set up on the edge of the beach on the cold granite near the deep pools and gurgling little waterfall.

Soon, a large number of teen aged girls and boys hiked in with several young adult supervisors and joined the other group. They swam and played in the water for hours. The strict visual discipline (“Do Not Look at the Naked Heathens!) wavered as the kids, young and younger, checked out the fit, lovely Ms S and the two older-somethings. Ms L, a newbie at this kind of thing, was still hanging on to her top and bottoms. One of the group supervisors kept taking long glances at our pretty blond friend and then would quickly look away when we caught him. We enjoyed the spectacle. Soon, the group packed up and disappeared downstream as quickly as they had arrived, and, at last we had the beach and pools to ourselves. We dove in the pools and thoroughly enjoyed the cool refreshing stream and Ms. L. even doffed her top. Next trip, it'll all come off!

Hours later we returned to the hot pool area and soaked in the Anniversary Pool enjoying conversation with several of the long time naturist regulars. Late in the afternoon we packed up, crossed the creek and started the climb back up the trail. As we got closer to Bowen's Ranch large groups of young girls and guys passed us on the trail, heading for the creek. There would be a hell of a party that Saturday night and the Deep Creek Hot Springs would suffer for it with lots of abandoned trash, broken glass, and the ashes of many dangerous, illegal fires.