hiker, it was good to see you and chat in the pools yesterday. I had my first trip out to the springs since November. I got to Bowen around 9:00. For those interested in road conditions, the Bowen Ranch road has been graded, but has some rough spots probably from the most recent storms and for the first time in the years I've been coming, you have to cross water in at least two spots (nothing deep, just water flowing across the road). I have a two-wheel drive low-slung vehicle, and was fine, though the road from the ranch house itself to the parking lot just gets harder and harder to do with such a car. It was around 65 degrees and windy when I arrived and when I hiked down, things were looking beautiful, and I passed three guys hiking back up already at that time in the morning. From the trail ridge, I could see and smell a campfire burning upstream of the pools--some people had camped since the night before. Hiker you mentioned seeing some tents pretty far upstream, and I didn't notice them until after we had spoken, on my hike out. I saw at least three tents upstream from the pools. People really should respect the no camping by the stream rules. I thought the pool area was really clean yesterday, not much trash at all, except for some stray towels and underwear people had left behind (!). When I arrived, the main group of people at the springs were a group of young men and women from Orange County and Long Beach--they were having fun, some first-timers, and I talked to them a lot during the morning hours until they left just after lunch. The crossing of the stream was the hardest I've ever had, and it was the sport of the day to watch others navigate the issue. I have no problem with cold water--without Jobe's special equipment I can only guess the water temp is around 50. But the creek was as hiker reported really fast moving and as high as I've seen it (I don't come in the winter). I looked for the shallow parts I remember from the past, but they seem no longer to be there, swept away, as almost was I! So for me it was my first time witnessing all the changes wrought by the winter floods. I couldn't believe the quantity of sand deposited on the beach, the hill of sand it has formed, but it was really nice to lay out on. It seems when the creek level goes down like there will be sandy beaches where the pools are, at least you can just walk out from the Serenity Pool into the creek, where in the past you were swimming in deep spots. I left earlier than hiker, around 5:30, and also passed no one on the way out, it was absolutely beautiful and quiet, in addition to all the lizards I saw quail and a roadrunner, blue jays and some monty-python sized giant rabbits. It was like a summer day at DCHS. Can't wait to come back when the creek is more swimmable.
