Christmas eve was unusual for many reasons. First of all it was not as crowded as I thought it would be. There was ice at the rock crossing. Which is up stream from where most people cross. I was the first person to the springs at 9 am. And the last to leave (legally) just before sunset.
I arrived at the Freedom trail head at 8 am to a perfect weather day. I spent 40 minuets picking up trash at my regular parking spot. Apparently some gun lovers thought it was O K to leave their bullet casings and shot gun shells all around the parking area. I picked up @ 5 lbs of them along with their camping trash too.
After this I made it to the springs by 9 am. When I attempted to cross at the rock crossing up stream I stepped on the first large boulder which had ice on it's left side. When I jumped over to the next boulder there was ice on it's right side. So I jumped where there was not any ice. The third boulder appeared to not have any ice. When I landed on it I found it was an illusion. There was ice all over it. I slipped and fell into the creek. I slid into the icy water up to my belly button. This is the first time in over a decade I have done this there. So now my pants were wet. I set them out to dry in the sunshine. As the sun set they were almost dry. I can only guess but it seemed the creek temperature was below 40 degrees.
This day was unusual because I had the springs to myself until just before noon. I picked up 1-40 gallon bag of trash to take out when I left. Mostly discarded cloths and beach towels.
Just before noon a group of 10 Koreans appeared coming from the spillway hike.
It is easy these days to talk about politics with Koreans, which we did. After a lively conversation I asked if they knew about shorter routes to the springs? They related this story about Mike Castro's temper tantrum :
They said they had arrived at the Bowen ranch at @ 9 am. They said they did not stop at the stop sign because they did not see it. Mike Castro chased them down and they could not tell if he was MAD at them or at the whole world. They said he cussed and used very mean and nasty words. They said they felt in great danger as he reached at his gun. They left quickly fearing for their safety. They said they did not want to give any money to such a person. They went to the spillway and hiked the 6 miles, because they were here for the healthy hike any way.
I found their story very interesting. They said they will never go to the Bowen ranch again because they will not feel safe going that route.
As we talked several others arrived to the springs.Never more than 25 persons at any one time during the day.
The Serenity pool had some broken glass in it again. So, I got my hose out and siphoned all the sand out to remove any danger from the glass. There was not a large amount of glass, but, it only takes one piece to get hurt. I found several small pieces as I siphoned it all out. I know some will be upset about that but I did NOT want any one to get hurt there. The water from the crab cooker pool was flowing into there and it felt like it was 105-108 degrees depending on where you sit there. A very nice soak. The Koreans loved it and occupied it continuously all day.
The Womb pool was very clean and marvelous. No one else has mentioned this here so I will remind everyone. This time of the year the Sun does not shine on the pools ever. This makes the pools slightly cooler than when the Sun does shine there. The womb pool was probably 100 degrees and lower.
The Anniversary pool was very clean and delightful too. Some one had left several pieces of clothes here which I carried out when I left. Mostly female clothes but a few pieces of male clothing too.
The Arizona pool was nice to soak in also. It is about the same temperature as the Anniversary pool. The difference is the sun shines here during the day so I tried to keep my all over sun tan going on there.
After soaking in the sun and eating more than I should have I fell asleep. For over 2 hours. I only woke up as the sun set on my body and I was feeling cold. So I woke up to herds of people heading out. I joined the herd. I figured it was better to wade across than to fall into the cold water and crossed at the beach crossing.
Every one I saw and talked too had a good day. The Koreans were for ever changed !