For more than 40 years I've been making the hike from Bowen's Ranch, Moss Mill (now gone, thanks to Mike Castro) and other approaches, including the PCT from the Mojave Dam. Like most people, the first thing I do is strip to the birthday suit and soak in the hot pools, but as the crowd grows my friends and I move upstream to one or more of the prettiest beaches and swimming pools one can imagine. I believe that most visitors have rarely, if ever, wandered from the area of the crossing and hot pools, and because they stay there are often subjected to boom box music and the disrespectful antics of drunks and others seemingly raised without knowledge of mannerly behavior.

Take a chance, hike upstream and enjoy Mother Nature's many surprises.