Chasing Hot Springs across the desert: Full report (long + lots of pics...)

[Martinjmpr]

All right, sorry it took so long for me to get to this, but here's the "long version" of my trip report.

Summary: After hearing about the trip to the Black Rock Desert and other hot springs back around Christmas, I made it out to join 3 other ExPoer's on a great trip chasing hot springs across the Great Basin!

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Day 1:

I had found out about the planned Desert Hot Springs trip right around Christmas time and it seemed like a cool idea. I'd been trying to figure a way to get back to the Black Rock Desert for years (I went there in 1998, after dreaming about it for years) and this seemed to be a good way to get back there, plus to meet up with some cool ExPo folks as well since I was getting a little tired of solo trips.

Originally I'd been planning on meeting Jan (Canuckmariner) in Central Utah on the morning of 05/23 and then driving all the way to Spencer Hot Springs near Austin, but Jan emailed me a few days before I left saying that he was running ahead of schedule and would meet me at Spencer on the evening of the 23rd, along with the rest of the folks that would be there.

My original plan had been to leave Denver early on the 22nd and make it to around Salina, UT by nightfall, camp out, and then meet Jan the next day. Since that plan was out the window, I looked back at the map and decided to do something I'd wanted to do for years, which was follow the historic Lincoln Highway.

The Lincoln Highway was the first "coast to coast" highway in the US. Back before the US government decided to try and knit the myriad of state roads together into some kind of coherent pattern, private companies would work with communities and businesses to put road markers up along loosely constructed highways for the purpose of encouraging and supporting automobile travel. Many of these highways had distinctive logos or color patterns painted onto telephone poles or other markings to separate them from the competing routes.

The Lincoln Highway followed a number of historic trails through the American West, most notably the route of the Transcontinental railway through Nebraska and Wyoming, and the Pony Express through Utah and Nevada.

Although most of the Lincoln Highway is now paved, there is a significant section that was bypassed and never paved, and that was my goal.

Since I was only interested in making time coming out of Denver, I decided to bypass the scenic I-70 route and took the less scenic (but much faster) I-80 route through Wyoming. I left the house late and so I had only made it a little past Green River, WY, when it started to get dark. Scanning my DeLorme atlas/Gazeteer, I selected a likely area on BLM land just North of the interstate near Fort Bridger.

Windfarms everywhere in Southern Wyoming!

Only a few miles of rough dirt road travel led me to my first campsite at the base of a steep hill. I actually tried to climb the hill but the rocks under my tires kept me from gaining traction. Finally realizing how silly I'd feel if I rolled my truck on the first day of my trip I excercised the better part of valor and backed down to set up camp.

The hill that defeated me.

While I was there I was "checked out" by a couple of the "local residents."

After cooking dinner under a darkening sky, I set up the truck tent and went to sleep.

Day 2:

Early the next morning I was up, and anxious to hit the road, I skipped breakfast, figuring I'd grab something the next time I stopped for gas.

I-80 is very boring across most of Wyoming but shortly before it gets to Evanston, it starts to get very scenic. By the time you cross into Utah, you're back in the mountains.

Staying on 80, I continued on into Salt Lake City. I drove through the wide valley until I got to the interstate West of town. Here I stopped for some photos at the Saltair Resort.

The Saltair Resort is either one of the luckiest, or unluckiest, resorts ever built, depending, I guess, on whether you are a glass-half-full or a glass-half-empty type. The resort has opened, closed, gone out of business, burned, gone bankrupt, been resurrected, been flooded, been cleaned, and reopened many times over the last century plus.

The first time I saw it was in January of 1986 when I was in SLC for business. The lake was in the throes of one of its more dramatic increases in size which had caused the water level to rise alarmingly, at some points, threatening to cut I-80, a vital commercial link. At that time, Saltair was closed and partially flooded. It was extremely cold and the sky was filled with frosty clouds. While there I took a snapshot that is one of my absolute favorite pictures:

I've always loved this picture because it has an end-of-the-world look to it. If you didn't know better you'd think it could be in the Sahara desert, or somewhere deep in Arabia, or even somewhere on another planet.

Today it's a commercial concert venue and open for business. I took a much more mundane photo of the site as it sits now.

From there I took a wasteful 2 1/2 hour detour to the North of SLC to try and get to Antelope Island. When I went to SLC in 1986 I wanted to go out to Antelope Island (one of the biggest islands in the lake) but the causeway was flooded. By the time I got to Antelope Island state park, which is on the extreme north end of Sald Lake City, almost in Ogden, I saw a long line of cars and a $9.00 entrance fee. Knowing that I wouldn't have more than 15-20 minutes to spend there anyway if I was to make my 6pm rendezvous with Jan and the other folks, I turned around and headed South, though by now it was nearly noon.

I did take a few photos of the lake, though, which is still pretty spectacular:

I finally passed the Saltair again and continued West. The old Lincoln Highway route followed I-80 to a point West of Stansbury Island, and then turned straight South along State Highway 196, better known as Skull Valley road, which runs parallell to the gorgeous Stansbury Mountains to the East and the Cedar Mountains to the West.

In the Deserts of America you see some very odd road signs and this was certainly one of them!

I wonder what that permit looks like?

The road also ran through the Skull Valley Indian Reservation. Apparently they must be on hard times because the little convenience store seemed to be out of business.

To be continued....

 

[Martinjmpr]

Day 2, Continued:

The paved road runs right up to the gate of the Dugway Proving Grounds, a US military reservation used primarily for artillery practice. After furiously checking the map I discovered a sign pointing to the dirt road that continued South. Although this was the route of the Lincoln Highway, it was also the route of the Pony Express and is marked as such.

When the Lincoln Highway was laid out, there was not yet an automobile road that ran directly across the Salt flats from Salt Lake City to Wendover (where I-80 now runs.) A couple of attempts to take motor vehicles across the salt flats ended in disaster when they either ran into sudden rain or into wet salt ground that mired vehicles down to the frame. For that reason, the road skirts the Southern edge of the Great Salt Lake Desert.

The Lincoln Highway/Pony Express Route winds up and down through several low mountain ranges, with the salt flats always visible to the north. In several places, a restored or re-created pony express station is still standing, usually as a BLM park site. There were quite a few motorcycles and ATVs on this portion of the road.

Restored Pony Express Station, looking North towards the Great Salt Desert

In skirting the Southern edge of the salt desert, the road crosses a few low passes like this one.

The road goes through a couple of nondescript former towns called Callao and Ibapah. At Ibapah, I picked up a paved road, just in time, because there the threatening skies dumped rain on me.

Although I had hoped I was done with dirt roads, it was not to be. After the paved road ended in the Reservation town of Goshute, I turned backa around, consulted the map and GPS and headed Southwest along the old Lincoln Highway/Pony Express Route, which quickly turned back to dirt. Fortunately, this rainstorm was short lived (as is typical of the desert.)

Abandoned settlement somewhere along the old Lincoln Highway

Somewhere in Nevada the road goes over a final pass, which I think may be called Tippett pass. Oddly, it was on this nondescript BLM road that I saw the first Lincoln Highway marker of the day. The road rounds a low mountain and then intersects with US Highway 93.

One of the cool things about the desert is the way old things are preserved. I don't know how old this truck is but there it sits, a museum relic, under the harsh desert weather.

Unfortunately for my travel plans, I had grossly underestimated the amount of time it would take me to traverse the dirt of the Lincoln Highway. I left I-80 around 1:15 pm or so, figuring it would take me 2-3 hours to make it to Ely, still 37 miles to the south of where I was on Highway 93. Instead, it was nearly 6pm and I still had over a hundred miles to go to my rendezvous.

After calling the wife to assure her that I was OK, I drove to Ely, filled up with gas and grabbed a quick sandwich, knowing that I wouldn't have time to cook once I got to the campsite.

Outside of Ely I saw another Lincoln Highway sign, this one put up by the State of Nevada, in a picturesque canyon.

By the time I got out of Ely, it was just about 6pm, the time I was supposed to meet the rest of the group at Spencer Hot Springs, so I knew I was going to be late. Spencer Hot Springs was just a few miles short of Austin, still nearly 100 miles away.

As the sun was setting, I drove further west across the characteristic basin-and-range terrain of Nevada. Those who have driven East-West across Nevada are familiar with it: You go through 8 or 10 miles up a twisty mountain canyon, reach an apex, then a similar distance downhill until the road then drops into the basin, as flat as a pool table, for another 10 to 15 miles until you reach the next mountain range and start the whole process again.

The "Range" part of Basin-and-Range

The last town of any significance was the small town of Eureka, and it was getting dark already. Rolling out of Eureka and down into the basin again, I looked to the West for any sign of an encampment. By the time I got within 5 miles of Spencer, I could see a lot of activity about 6 miles South of Highway 50, about where my GPS was showing me that the hot springs was located. Several vehicles were there and then I saw a number of large fireworks shoot into the air! Turning off of US 50 onto NV 326, I then quickly jumped onto the dirt road that lead to the hot springs.

When I got there, I saw a frenzy of activity with a number of RVs and trucks, and more fireworks. Pulling up to the group I saw, I asked "is this the Expedition Portals group?" The adults there looked at me like I was from Mars. Looking at the vehicles, I figured this could not possibly be the right group of people and asked if there were any other groups out there. A boy about 10 years old pointed back to the Northeast and said "there are a bunch of Jeeps over there." I thanked them for the directions and headed where the boy had pointed into the pitch black night, all the time trying to think about what I'd do if I wasn't able to hook up with the ExPo group tonight, since it appeared that there were a lot of people camped at Spencer Hot Springs that night, at a bunch of different campsites.

I passed one or two solitary vehicles, then saw a small grouping of vehicles to my left. Turning towards them, I saw a lifted FJ60 with a rooftop tent. As soon as I saw that RTT I knew I had met the right group!

I rolled up to the place where the other vehicles were, and saw, through the reflected light of my headlights, that there was a stock tank with several people in it. I shut off my engine and stepped out and as soon as I did I heard a voice call out "Would you be Martin?" I replied that I was and walked up to the tank to find 4 other people there. I was introduced to Jan, Bob, and Sue, who were part of the ExPo group, and Dana, who was just on her way to Austin to pick up a family heirloom and decided to camp out at the Springs.

I apologized for my tardiness and Jan said they were relieved that I'd finally found my way there. After getting my truck settled in I grabbed a beer out of the cooler, doffed my dusty clothes and jumped into the hot pool. This was my first time camping out at a hot springs, and I have to say there isn't much of a better way to end a long, dusty, tiring day than by relaxing in a hot spring with a cold beer and new friends!

To be continued....

 

[Martinjmpr]

Day 3:

Next morning I woke up with the sunrise, only to find everyone else in the group still asleep. I walked around the springs a little to orient myself, since this was the first I'd seen of it in daylight. I also admired the other vehicles in the group - it was clear that my stock Tacoma was the only unmodified vehicle that was there.

Slowly, everyone else started getting up and we repeated our introductions from the night before. After breakfast, we took another soak in the tub and I decided to have an impromptu field shower. Showering off with hot water, soap and shampoo on the 3rd day of a camping trip just seemed like the height of luxury! I even changed into clean clothes so I wouldn't feel grungy.

After we got cleaned up and packed up, we got together with Bob to discuss the route. He had a complete collection of topo maps as well as a computer display that showed our route. We would head into Austin to top off our gas and ice supplies, then go one more "range" to the West before jumping off US 50 at an old Pony Express station.

US 50 well lived up to its reputation as the "loneliest road in America" as we headed out of Austin and down towards the turnoff. Once there, we went through a wire gate and stopped for a short break and communications check at the Pony Express station.

Above: The "basin" part of Basin-and-Range

Continuing West, we headed towards a large dry lake bed. The road we were following crosses the lake bed, but without any particular "track", meaning we were free to disperse laterally so as to avoid eating too much dust. Looking at Google Earth, the playa we crossed is identified as "Stillwater Point Reservoir" but it was bone dry when we crossed it.

We stopped for a group photo on the Playa:

Driver's view:

On the West side we entered a narrow but picturesque canyon. A few miles into the canyon, we decided to stop for lunch. We continued on through the canyon to the Northwest until it dropped into the next basin, this one called the Dixie Valley.

The Dixie Valley wasn't quite a playa (although there was a playa to the North of us) and we crossed it quickly. Up ahead of us was a strange facility that we couldn't quite recognize. We speculated a bit on the CB as we got closer and closer until we finally got close enough to see that it was the Dixie Valley Geothermal Plant (http://geothermal.marin.org/GEOpresentation/sld058.htm)

After looking around a bit, we continued Northeast, the road parallelling the Dixie Mountains. Along the way, we spotted our next hot springs, which was high on a hill. Going through a couple of gates and past a few ominous warning signs, we came to the springs and their weird caves, carved out of mud.

After another mid-afternoon water break and a check of the map, we followed the power line road up into a low pass and then eventually hooked up with the main dirt road heading North towards Winnemucca, still about 50 miles away.

After assisting a broken-down motorist and giving him a ride back to his truck (which mysteriously fired right up when Bob cranked it) we got into Winnemucca at about 5pm. In need of gas, ice (for Sue and I who didn't have refrigerators) and other sundries, we did a little shopping, topped off our tanks and then headed West along the Jungo Road. Our original goal was to try and make it to Double Hot Springs in the Northwest arm of the Black Rock Desert for our next camp. As late as we were running, though, that was now off the table. Instead we hoped to get out to the Black Rock, or at least in sight of it, to make our camp.

The Jungo road is a wide, flat, dirt road that parallells the railroad track. Near the namesake junction, about 30 miles out of Winnemucca, the road crosses the track and then ascends into the low hills just East of the Black Rock desert. As we got closer and closer I got more excited: I had last driven this very road in 1998 and had wanted to come back ever since. With the sun sinking lower, Bob, who was in front, took a sudden left turn off the main road and headed up into the hills. We went past an abandoned mining camp and then up a short but steep, rocky road. From there, we got our first glimpse of the Black Rock Desert, shimmering in the setting sun.

We also stopped and took a picture at the top of a steep hill:

After looking around and discussing it for a moment, we all came to the conclusion that the mining camp was probably the most sheltered place to stay, so we descended the hill and set up our makeshift camp. A nice fire, good food, libations and conversation ended the day, the only one where we did't get a soak in the hot spring at the end.

To be continued...

 

[Rexsname]

I'm enjoying this...keep it up!

REX

 

[Applejack]

:sombrero:I'm loving this so far. Can't wait for the next episode.:sombrero:

 

[Martinjmpr]

Sorry for the delay. This was a "work on the house/yard" weekend and I didn't get much computer time. Will post the rest of this up later in the week.

 

[Funrover]

That looks like a fun little jaunt, thanks for sharing

 

[jeepmedic46]

Very nice write up and pics, Can't wait for the continuation, Thank you for sharing.

 

[Cabrito]

Great stuff. Wish I could have been there..:drool:

 

[Martinjmpr]

Day 4: The saga continues...

Day 4:

Again I seemed to be the first one up, although Jan was up shortly afterwards. We were anxious to get out to the Black Rock desert and the next big destination of our trip. The road out was uneventful, pretty much as I remembered until I got past the no-longer-existing town of Sulphur on the Eastern edge of the playa. Just past the town site the road took an unexpected jog to the West, and it was apparent that this was to accomodate a new and very large surface mine that has been put up in the 11 years since I was here last. We followed the "new"road (closer to the Playa than the old one) until we hit Trego Hot Springs, near Trego Siding. We stopped at Trego Hot Springs, where several other visitors were enjoying the hot water, and then crossed the railroad tracks onto the playa.

The Black Rock Desert has one of the largest, flattest playas (dry lake beds) in the world. It's actually kind of surreal to be on something so absolutely flat and smooth, although the playa was in fact covered with a layer of loose material on top of the hard surface and this loose material was everywhere except on the "roads" that had been carved out by previous drivers.

We spread waay out to minimize the dust-eating, leaving the Trego siding at about 5 minute intervals. Because of the flat, smooth surface, we were able to keep pretty good speeds, which made our crossing even more remarkable: It took us 15-20 minutes to cross this lower portion of the Playa - at speeds of 60-70mph!

I finally ascended out of the playa just Northwest of the town of Gerlach and stopped to take pictures of the others as they arrived.

Once we had reassmbled, we took the short drive into Gerlach to top off the fuel tanks and, for Sue and I, our ice.

Note to others who may be headed this way: Fuel is available in Gerlach but for ice or any other groceries, you have to go about 7 miles South to the even smaller town of Empire.

After topping off in Empire we chatted briefly with a couple of guys on heavily loaded up KTM Adventurer motorcycles. They'd come out of the Bay Area of California and were exploring the back country of the Great Basin as well. One look at their dust and dirt covered bikes made me grateful for the likes of air conditioning and roll-up windows!

After passing the point where we exited the Playa, we continued along the high road that skirts the Western edge of the Playa. Bob had been looking for a fun little detour that would take us down to the Western arm of Playa, but after a couple of wrong turns, we decided to just head down to one of the major access points and be on our way.

Jan out on the Playa. This is just a [/I]small portion of the Black Rock Desert.

Once out onto the Playa again, we played around for a bit just zigzagging across the flat terrain. We were at least 15 miles North of Gerlach and the GPS still showed us that our destination, Double Hot Springs, was over 20 miles away to the Northeast.

This was Monday, Memorial Day, and about 6 miles into the desert we encountered the remnants of an assembly that had taken place that weekend, the Black Rock Rendezvous. Apparently a mountain-man style rendezvous that takes place on the Playa every year. We made a slight course correction at this point, but otherwise headed arrow-straight towards Double Hot Springs, now about 15 miles away.

Again the unreal drive across the flat, featureless desert felt almost like being in a boat on the ocean. There was very little sense of speed as there were no nearby cues by which to judge it. At a road junction (the "roads" being merely paths formed by recently traveled vehicles, which would be washed away by the next rain) I conferred briefly with Bob. We thought that Jan might have gotten onto the wrong pathway so Bob offered to stay at the crossroad while Sue and I headed towards Double Hot Springs.

Finally, after more than 20 miles of featureless playa, the road curved slightly and ascended into a scrub desert. Here, also, we picked up the first sign pointing us to the Springs. After following the road, we got to the springs and a very nice, very large parking area. I was disappointed to see that the springs themselves were not suitable for bathing, with fences around them and signs warning of the scalding temperatures. We swung around to the North side of the springs and there found a bigger parking area with a small (very small!) stock tank that would have to serve as our "hot tub" for the evening.

As it was only about 2pm, we had plenty of time to make our camp. It was hot out on this edge of the playa, but not excessively hot. we set up our camp and then spent a few minutes trying to figure out how to get the primitive "plumbing" system from sending hot water into the tub, so it could cool. Bob got out his cooking thermometer (which he had been using to monitor the temps under his hood) and dropped it in the water: The little creek coming out of the Springs was an impressive 146 degrees (f), while the stock tank was at about 120. Figuring that was too hot to safely get in, we diverted the water out of the tank, thinking that it would then cool off somewhat, while we set up our camp and enjoyed some cold drinks.

After an hour and a half or so, we measured the temp at a balmy 109 degrees and decided it was "cool" enough to try. The water was hot, but not uncomfortable, and I decided it was perfect for an impromptu shower, aided by my handy collapsible canvas bucket. So I "showered" while the others enjoyed the tub, two at a time.

With such an early encampment, we had plenty of time to pull out our kitchens have have a leisurely dinner, with drinks and conversation that lasted well into the night. The sun set over the desert, followed in just a few hours by the crescent moon. We went over the next day's route, swapped travel stories and discussed world events. At one point a cloud passed overhead and dribbled a few teasing raindrops, but nothing came of it. Another soak in the hot tub and then we were ready to call it a night, looking forward to our next day of travel and our last one in the Black Rock.

To be continued...

 

[Martinjmpr]

Day 5....

Day 5:

Morning came early again, and I was the first one up so I spent some time taking photos of our camp.

Once the rest of the people were up and we had breakfast, we started packing to get on the road. But looking at Bob's truck I told him I thought his left rear tire looked a bit low. He thought it was all right but just to be safe he checked it with his gauge and sure enough, he was way down. A quick inspection revealed the culprit: A portion of a file sticking into the tire, probably from one of our drives through the old mining camp the day before, which was littered with tools, nails, and other debris.

We dismounted the tire and Bob got his plug kit. The first plug went all the way through, but after working with it for a few minutes, Bob and Jan were able to get a second plug in. After that we aired it back up and put it back on. But while we were waiting for the glue to dry, Bob found this little fellow on the ground!

From our campsite we took off to the Northwest, following a road that parallelled the edge of the Playa. We went past the remains of the old ghost town of Hardin City (really nothing left, not even foundations.) Hardin City flourished for a few years in the late 19th century and then withered away to nothing.

Bob had promised us all that we'd see wild horses out here, and about 4 miles past Hardin City, we finally saw our first grouping.

It looked like a "family" group, one very aggressive stallion, two or three submissive mares and a colt, all with distinctive white faces. We watched them and they watched us until we finally got a little too close and they bolted away.

We saw several more groups of wild horses before we finally got to the Soldier Meadows Ranch, a resort on the Northwestern edge of the Black Rock. Here we stopped at Soldier Meadow Hot springs, a very large and verdant spot in the desert. The downside of it was that it was also popular with visitors, as evidenced by the 5 or 6 campsites we could see on this Tuesday morning (it must have been full over the holiday weekend.)

From Soldier Meadows, Bob took us on a little detour (Chukar Gulch?) that climbed into the mountains Southwest of Soldier Meadows. The road was a narrow shelf road, that reminded me of a lot of the trails in Colorado. The view from the top, looking back at the Black Rock, was incredible.

We saw several more groups of wild horses as we took another detour into a large lupine-filled meadow where we broke for lunch. After that, we turned around and headed back down towards High Rock Canyon.

At High Rock Canyon, we decided to separate ourselves somewhat, due to the dusty, silty road. Rather than have the three trailing vehicles sucking dust all the way through the canyon, we took off, going at about 5 minute intervals.

East entrance to High Rock Canyon

High Rock Canyon starts off pretty easy, just a dirt road, but before too long it gets narrower, rougher, and with some notable whoop-de-doos. About 5 miles in, the road goes up over some very rough rock ledges, and then drops steeply a meadow where the road is guarded by a rock "gate" that leads to a deep (well, deep for me, maybe 12") water crossing. I was 2nd (after Jan) and I could see him ahead of me, so I paused a few minutes to let him get ahead of me.

After that the road plowed on, getting rougher by the mile. There was another, deeper, water crossing and a couple of crazy mountain bikers who didn't seem to mind either the hot weather or the water crossings. Towards the end, we encountered another group of vehicles heading the opposite direction and chatted with them for a few minutes. A mile or two after that, we came out of High Rock and stopped to regroup.

Given the time (it was about 4pm) we decided we could make it to Bog Hot Springs, which was close to Denio Junction on the Nevada/Oregon state line. We took off on the well graded gravel road to the Northeast and stayed on it for another 25 miles or so until we hit the pavement. Once we got onto Nevada Highway 140, it was another high speed run to the turn off to Bog Hot Springs.

We stopped at the junction to confer, and Bob and I were pleasantly surprised to find we had cell coverage for the first time since we left Winnemucca two days before. We all stopped and made phone calls home and then headed up the road a couple of miles to Bog Hot Springs.

Bog Hot Springs was everything that Double Hot Springs was not. Where Double Hot was small and extremely hot, Bog was very large and very mild. We quickly set up camp and then stripped down and jumped in the water, refreshed at the moderately warm spring that was actually big enough to swim in!

One of the larger "pools" at Bog Hot Springs

We all cooked a nice dinner and then sat around the fire to watch the dying sun fall into the West.

 

[adventureduo]

Spectacular report so far Martyn, thanks for sharing.

 

[Martinjmpr]

Day 6...

Day 6:

I had gotten to bed late enough on Tuesday night that I slept in a bit on Wednesday morning, and Jan was the first one up. It was warm and still in the open flat next to the biggest pool in Bog Hot Springs. I busied myself with packing up and cooking hot water for breakfast while Jan and Sue swam in the spring. Once I had eaten and got most of my gear put away, I took my canvas bucket to the warm water for a 'field shower.'

We went over the route with Bob. We would be heading straight North, in the valley to the West of the Pueblo mountains. Several miles into Oregon we turned sharply to the East and the road started ascending up the mountainside. The road wound and switched back and forth, leading to some really spectacular vistas. Finally we crested a pass and stopped for photos.

The ground was ablaze with wildflowers of seemingly infinite varieties. We could look back to the west at the Bog Hot valley, and got our first glimpse of the Alvord Desert to the East.

Down the East side of the pass we went, until Bob suggested a side trip, off to the South. The side trip proved to be a very mellow trail through a grassy valley (although with some disconcerting sidehills!) that ended up at an old miner's cabin, still remarkably intact. After a short water break, we headed down the mountain where we picked up the paved road just South of the tiny town of Fields.

Since Fields was the first actual town we encountered since leaving Gerlach on Monday afternoon, we all stopped for fuel, and Sue and I needed ice as well (Jan and Bob both had refrigerators.) We also took the time to chat up the locals a bit.

I also got to do something I thought impossible: I pumped my own gas in Oregon! (For those that don't know: Self-service gas is actually illegal in Oregon, but the Fields Station was so understaffed I got away with pumping my own fuel.)

After our break in Fields, we split up for the afternoon: Sue and Bob headed off to the Northwest to see a friend of theirs, while Jan and I headed Northeast to the Alvord desert. We agreed to meet back at a campsite near Alvord Hot Springs later that day.

Since we weren't in a hurry (and we were both hungry), Jan and I headed back the little general store/cafe in Fields for a big, greasy burger and the best milkshakes in South-central Oregon (so we'd heard!) After 5 days of eating dust, we both enjoyed the opportunity to sit on the bench and soak up the air conditioning while someone else cooked for us.

From Fields we headed North and then East towards our first destination of the day: Borax Lake. The name implied a pretty hostile and desolate site, but in fact it appeared quite lush. Of course, there was a warning sign that would be enough to keep any sane person away from the water.

Note the smaller sign underneath the main one: Arsenic levels are 25 times the maximum safe level!

But apparently the ducks and other wildlife that were abundant at Borax Lake either couldn't read or just didn't care because there were a lot of them. From Borax Lake we took a more direct route out to the paved road and headed North towards the Alvord Hot Springs and the Alvord Desert proper.

More shots of Borax Lake. If you look to the center of the bottom picture you can see the concentric circles where the spring bubbles up from underneath the lake.

The Alvord Desert was another large dry lake, a classic Playa. Had we not spent Monday and Tuesday crossing the much, much larger Black Rock Desert, it might have been more impressive, but after the Black Rock, the Alvord seemed a bit - puny.

We stopped briefly at Alvord Hot Springs, enough to snap a picture or two, and then had to hurry to make our rendezvous at the campsite.

Alvord Hot Springs, being so close to a main road, has a wooden "Privacy screen"


At the campsite, just north of the Alvord Hot Springs, we hooked back up with Bob and Sue and discussed our plans for the day. Although the campsite where we met was OK, it had two major drawbacks: It was very crowded (apparently a poupular spot) and there was no hot spring (we'd become a bit spoiled.) After looking at the map, Bob assured us we could make it to Willow Creek Hot Springs before nightfall, so we followed him back to the South. We passed through Fields again and continued South. About 15 miles South of Fields, we turned off on a dirt road that went straight East.

This valley was green and lush, but also a bit eerie as it seemed to be filled with well constructed, but abandoned, houses, some of them quite lavish, made out of brick and stone rather than the typical lumber you see in most Western boomtowns. Talking to Bob later, it seemed that this area was built up during a mineral rush sometime in the past century, and when the minerals played out, the area was abandoned, leaving only the shells behind.

Finally at about 6pm we rolled into Willow Creek Hot Springs, pristine and empty. We had the place to ourselves until a couple in a truck showed up an hour or so later, but they stayed a good distance from us. Jan and Sue headed for the two springs immediately while Bob and I set up our campsites and put our computers together so we could swap photos.

After I got done with dinner and had both Bob's and Jan's photos, I strolled over to the spring myself. Willow creek was an interesting spring - it was actually divided into two pools, one of them "hot" and the other just "warm." Both were large and deep and except for the slippery, mossy bottoms, they were great places to hang out. The other couple was there (I forget their names now) and we chatted for a while. They were "natives", from Bend, just a few hours away, and were a little surprised that there were people from out of state who knew where their "secret" spring was (although we told them that the only reason we knew was that we had, in Bob, our own "native" guide.)

We all stayed up a bit too late on Wednesday, knowing it was our last night together as a group. I had to be back in Denver by Friday so I would be leaving the rest of them on Thursday morning after breakfast.

To be continued...

 

[Martinjmpr]

Days 7 and 8: Conclusion

Day 7:

Both Bob and Jan were up before me, and we didn't converse much that morning, each of us busy in our own thoughts. After breakfast and packing the tent, I wandered over to the spring with the canvas bucket for my "morning shower" and then returned to the group. Fortunately, Sue had gotten up by this time, so we exchanged contact information, shook hands, and said our goodbyes.

I headed back to the main road and then turned Northeast towards Idaho. The well graded dirt road undulated and rolled across the arid ground. At one point, the road made a sharp jog around a ridge and I got a spectacular shot of the Alvord desert fading in the West, with the intimidating Steens Mountains in the background.

I passed through the tiny settlement of Burns Junction, where I saw this.

I had no idea that Mary Kay designed gas stations!

Once I hit pavement in Eastern Oregon, I stayed on pavement all the way home. About the only noteworthy thing happened just as I crossed the state line from Oregon into Idaho. As I approached a curve, I saw a lot of red spots on the pavement. It looked like a truck carrying a load of reddish gravel had lost some in the curve.

But there was something "wrong" about the way the spots looked. They were too dark red to be rocks. My next thought was "maybe a truck was hauling a load of cranberries and they rolled off and into the road.

Then I noticed it. The red spots were moving. :Wow1:

They were grasshoppers or locusts. Deep red in color and about two inches long. They moved across the road like a wave. Fortunately, I slowed down before I hit the curve, as I can only imagine that slimy smashed locust doesn't provide great traction! The locust-crossed area was about a mile and a half long, and then it was gone.

It was one of the creepiest things I've ever seen.

Near Nampa, ID I came across one of the most bizarre billboards I've ever seen. Not bizarre for what it said, but bizarre for what it was:

There's a saying that goes "If life gives you lemons, make lemonade."

I guess the Nampa, Idaho version of that is "If life gives you a WWII Surplus Half-Track, paint it white and make it into a billboard for selling Alfalfa Seed."

Once I got into Boise I hit the superslab.

Not much was scenic although I did see this cool bridge in Twin Falls, ID, near where Evel Kneivel attempted to ride his rocket-cycle over the Snake River.

Incidentally, the ramp Evel Kneivel used is still there but I was in too much of a hurry to wend my way through mid-afternoon traffic to get close enough for a photo.

After that it was interstate all the way. I overnighted at a truck stop in Sinclair, WY and rolled into Englewood quite early, at about 9:30 am.

After spending part of the day unloading and putting away gear, my truck was still filthy. Serendipitously, when my wife came home from work, she told me that a little league baseball team was having a car wash to raise money for the season. Although it seemed a bit cruel, she suggested I drive my dirty truck over there for them to wash.

They accepted the challenge and handled it like troopers! We gave them a $10 tip, so I don't feel too bad about it, and they actually did a pretty decent job.

All in all, it was a great trip and I'd definitely like to get together with Jan, Sue, and Bob again as they are all great travel companions.

The main lesson I learned here is that even the seemingly "emptiest" parts of the country can be hiding some amazing and beautiful places.

I want to extend my thanks to Jan, Bob and Sue for going on the trip and to ExPo for providing the method for us to meet up! Trips like this are what makes this site so awesome!

:clapsmile For Expedition Portals and the folks who provide it to us!

 

[CanuckMariner/Nomad]

Hey Martyn, Excellent trip report. Only suggestion is you might add your photo of the little critter that Bob found ("Bob found this little fellow on the ground!") on the way back from a nature call at Double Hot Springs, I think you may have forgotten to upload it. My version is attached.

Brought back the same memories of this trip and the fun we all had. Thanks for sharing your version of it. I'm still waiting to hear from Bob (hello) about his version of the rest of the trip we did together after this. We all had a great time and thanks for joining us. Hope you can make it to another trip in the future.