Trip Report May 19-20 2019

I made my way to the Freedom trail head at 3:00 pm sharp. The weather was very windy but beautiful in it"s own way as the cotton ball clouds sped by. I saw 1 car at the Bowen ranch and there were 5 cars and 4 motorcycles at the Freedom trail head. Perhaps a reflection of the new increased fee at the "ranch?"' When I got to the bottom of the first big hill I saw a very large hawk grab what appeared to be a chip monk from below a bush. This seemed to be a good sign for this trip. As I approached the mofo hill a group of at least a dozen teenagers appeared, mostly females. As I walked past the teens A cute little man spoke up. He said " I know who you are and he wanted to thank me for what I do for the springs." This resulted in a complex conversation lasting too long. They had several trash bags full they had gathered at the springs. Seeing them warmed my heart I told them.
At the creek The water temp was 57 degrees. The water height was just less than 3 feet.
On the beach were 7 tents there were 3 more upstream. Most were Pacific Crest.trail through hikers. About 20 when I arrived and double that by sun down.
The Phoenix pool was full of beautiful water aquamarine in color.I did NOT take the water temps this trip.
The Anniversary pool was extremely clean thanks to a D.C.H.S. regular who was cleaning it with a 2 inch hose. THANK YOU again. Also I could not find any trash for my trash bag anywhere.
The Womb pool is 7 feet deep now. What a surprise !
The Serenity pool and the Crab Cooker pool were clean, fine and a delight.
The Contemplation pool had a couple in it who were obviously in LOVE so I kind of skipped it.
It was still windy when I camped at the trail head. Just before sunset it sprinkled for @ one hour. Just enough to get everything wet but not soaked. Also it was about 40 degrees. The wind made it feel much colder.
Monday was unusually not crowded. Mostly through hikers until the afternoon and then almost all females from the Bradford trail head or " RANCH " ???.
The wind was gone and the weather was @ perfect only a little on the chilly side. NO complaints.
Except, When I got to the springs the sun was almost over the hill. I soaked in the Phoenix pool and talked to a south bound hiker. The creek water level was about 4 inches below the level of the pool. As time went the water level increased to almost a foot above the pool. Perhaps the people at Lake Arrowhead decided to lower the lake level. Releasing the water there to protect the homes there. Was all we could come up with.
The road to the Freedom trail head is as bad as it has been. I saw a loud and colorful guy at the springs that drove his prius there how ever. Go figure !
When I left the area I almost had a head on crash with Mike Castro as he and I crested a very steep hill. He looked me in the eye and waved. As soon as he saw it was me he looked away at his seat. I wandered what he was looking for ???
All in ALL another EPIC adventure to my favorite hot spring !



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/24/2019 12:25PM by jobe.