Re: A good man from Minnesota at DCHS

hey wizard I was at DCHS on Thursday, yesterday. My one long conversation was with this kind fellow from Minnesota. He was there again - and doing much of this again. I haven't been posting many trip reports lately, but I have been going down to the springs regular like, here is the deal with Thursday. I got to DCHS by 10 am. There was NO ONE THERE. I could see from up above that there were absolutely no campers. No noise. Amazing. At Bowen, one car was parked. Saw no one on the way down. When I arrived creekside, there was no one. I eventually noticed two women, a couple, in the Anniversary pool. I apologized to them at one point for invading their private springs. They laughed but hiked out about 30 minutes after I arrived. Leaving me alone at DCHS - from around 10:30 until 11:30. I keep mentioning this: for it has never happened to me in my years of visiting. I've been there in summer, fall, winter, spring, I've been there on every day of the week, I've been there on rainy days and cloudy days and cold days, but I've never been there on a Thursday with a full moon late in the summer on a gorgeous day full of sun and blue sky and had all of DCHS to myself. My private spring!

At 11:30 the visitor from Minnesota hiked in. He apologized in turn now to me for invading my private springs. He was a really nice guy. But serious hiker! And yes, collecting trash and hiking it back up. I took the liberty of telling him of other ahem places upstream he could explore and he hiked down stream, and then he hiked up stream, and found the ahem places, and then he hiked back to Bowen. And he wasn't the only one. Like I said I was alone in the morning with the whole place to myself. But even after 11:30, most of the 4 or 5 folks - total - that arrived on Thursday were more into hiking than swimming and springing/soaking. Minnesota guy was not the only one hiking up and down to Bowen multiple times during the day - for the exercise. I talked to another guy who was doing the same. But from 1-3 pm, it was just me and a young Asian couple, as all the other hikers were on their hikes. Then the young couple left and again, from around 3 until 4:30 - I had the whole of DCHS to myself. It was really incredible, I was amazed.

At 4:30 my friend from Minnesota returned from Bowen, and we talked on the beach and then he soaked in some pools. Great guy, I enjoyed talking to him a lot - I left around 5:30 just as another young female couple arrived, bookending my day in a Sapphic way. They were my only companions later that night at Bowen where I camped. I waved goodbye while eating dinner that night at my campsite to Minnesota guy, he hiked out just at sundown and made his way along his travels.

Friday was a very different day down at the springs today, as they all are. I passed about 8 people hiking down Thursday night - the full moon crew. I passed a lot of them hiking up at 7:30 or 8 am when I hiked back down. But upon arrival there were great people there today. Much more social, mostly all nude, men and women and newcomers and regulars, just a perfect day. Minnesota guy was outdone by another young guy I spent my time talking to today, he came to the springs all the way from Frankfurt, Germany (he is an airline pilot, but it was his first time at DCHS). I did find it exhilarating to have the springs to myself Thurday, but also strange - I like the social aspect of DCHS. It was stark. Friday/today was a classic DCHS day, fragrant air, and beautiful weather, and swimming and morning soaks, and watching nature. I packed out a big bag of trash at days end, but others there - a regular with a small chihuahua type dog and a woman from lake arrowhead area - these others were also bagging a lot of trash to hike out. People were really into bagging other peoples trash and another guy from Manhattan Beach spent the day "gardening" by the Contemplation Pool, pulling weeds and cleaning up the whole area.

Great two day visit to the springs. Sorry to miss you by a day W.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 09/20/2013 10:19PM by neogeo.