Willet Hot Springs

Did an overnight to Willet this past Mon/Tues. Got to piedra blanca trailhead around 9am. We had cloud cover and light rain in the morning. Hike was pretty easy for the first half got a little more tricky going up and down the ridges before the final ascent to the tub.Almost all of the creek was flowing but shallow that all but one crossing could be done by rock hopping. As you will see in the pictures it looks like the tub sustained some damage during a large rock slide and the pipes feeding it could use some repairs/replacement. The main damage is that the tub is bent inward on one side and not pictured is a shallow crack that is starting to form from the pressure of that weight. I tried shifting some rocks away from the side that is bent in. Thermometer read between 101 and 104, depending on what sources you directed into the pipes. We liked having the main source pipe high so that you could shower under it. The sulfur content in the water is somewhere between the amount in Sespe Hot Springs(somewhat sulfurous at source but not so much down stream) and Vickers/Ecotopia(extremely sulfurous). We drained and scrubbed down the tub with a brush that was at the site. Only encountered one group of 5 women who rode horses in for the day, took a dip for 10 minutes and then left. We camped at the sight right by the springs and a group got in late and camped further down the trail from us, they soaked in the morning the next day. We left around 10a, and got back to the trailhead around 4pm, definitely harder going out especially with full sun.


view from campsite by the springs

the tub after a cleaning

view of depression in tub from rockslide

view of back of tub standing on rocks

another view of depression in tub from rockslide