CA - Parks - 04/2009 (Part IV)

After dropping Matthew off in San Diego, I head back north and make my way toward Deep Creek Hot Springs. Most natural hot springs in the state are tucked away in remote canyons or deep forests and call for some serious back country orienting and hiking to uncover. Deep Creek Hot Springs is no exception. It's wedged in a canyon in the arid foothills of Round Mountain, about 10 miles south of Apple Valley. It is a series of outdoor hot spring pools located in a high desert canyon, nestled on the banks of Deep Creek in the Bernardino National Forest.

Hot springs flow directly from fissures in the rocks that line Deep Creek. The 108º mineral water is captured in several volunteer built, rock-lined pools that vary in size and temperature. The main hot pool is right below the source, and several other pools offer bathing opportunities closer to the creek. This area offers a fresh breath of pristine wilderness, and visitors continue to do a great job of keeping it clean.

These natural hot springs are located in the San Bernardino National Forest. The pools were built by volunteers over a period of years and are largely maintained by volunteers in the pristine state you see them in today. The beautiful and unique landscape, the soothing hot spring waters mixing with the cool mountain stream, local custom and tradition make for a wonderful setting to be enjoyed by all. Since the time Native Americans inhabited the area, people from all over the world have come to the Springs to get away, soak, sunbathe, relax, and enjoy the natural environment all year long.

I believe this pool is called The Womb. It is over 6 feet deep and very nice!!!

The next pool is the Wizard Pool.

It's a bout 3 feet deep and just about perrrrrfect. That's me in shadow.



The name of this pool, which is down by the river, escapes me.

My trip is about done, and I head back to LAX for the flight home. Happy trails, I mean soaks.

CA - Parks - 04/2009 (Part III)

From Death Valley, we make our way up to Bishop, a neat community at the foot of the Eastern Sierra Range, with lots of hot water in the area. The Eastern Sierra is the remote east side of the Sierra Nevada region of California. The desert-like yearly rainfalls compete with small streams draining down from the snow-covered mountains to create a barren land with regions of verdant green. The largest industry in the Eastern Sierra is tourism. Lodging and campsites are plentiful.

Bishop (formerly, Bishop Creek) is a city in Inyo County. Though Bishop is the largest city in Inyo County, the county seat is in Independence. It is located near the northern end of the Owens Valley, at an elevation of 4147 feet (1264 m). The population was 3,575 at the 2000 census. The town was named after Bishop Creek, flowing out of the Sierra Nevada: the creek was named after Samuel Addison Bishop, a settler in the Owens Valley.

The local hot water comes from the Long Valley Caldera, which hosts an active hydrothermal system that includes hot springs, fumaroles (steam vents), and mineral deposits. Hot springs exist primarily in the eastern half of the caldera where land-surface elevations are relatively low; fumaroles exist primarily in the western half where elevations are higher. Mineral deposits from thermal activity are found on an uplifted area called the resurgent dome, at Little Hot Creek springs, Hot Creek Gorge, and other locations in the south and east moats of the caldera.

The Long Valley Caldera is a depression in eastern California that is adjacent to Mammoth Mountain. The valley is one of the largest calderas on earth, measuring about 20 miles (32 km) long (east-west) and 11 miles (18 km) wide (north-south). The elevation of the floor of the caldera is 6,500 feet (2,000 m) in the east and 8,500 feet (2,600 m) in the west. The elevation of the caldera walls reach 9,800-11,500 feet (3,000-3,500 m) except in the east where the wall rises only 500 feet (150 m) to an elevation of 7,550 feet (2,300 m).

The primary thermal area in the Caldera is known as Hot Creek, which has cut into the floor of the caldera and passes through hot springs. The warm water of Hot Creek supports many trout, and is used at the Hot Creek Fish Hatchery. Hot Creek is part of a stream that follows part of a fault line and is well-known for its hydrothermal pools and for the contrast swimmers experience between the cold stream water and either the occasional plume of very hot water (which can scald swimmers' feet and can on rare occasions cause more serious injury) or even long and very strong upwellings of hot water when enough water is in the hydrothermal system. This area has been closed for several years due to increased thermal activity, i.e. people not exercising good sense getting themselves burned in the hot water.

Our first stop is called The Hot Tub. It is a beautiful stone hot tub fed by natural hot springs, located in the Inyo National Forest.

The view from The Hot Tub is really something.

Hot water is carried through PVC piping, from its source to a lovely stone soaking tub. The 5’ x 10’ x 2-foot deep pool is large enough for several friends to share together. The water measured 105º during our visit on a windy day. There is a small area next to the tub that has was smoothed with cement, who ever built this tub even set a tile chess board into the cement as it hardened, although no longer intact. The Hot Tub is a great place to relax and enjoy the scenery.

Next stop is The Crab Cooker. A near boiling source of hot mineral water is used to feed this rock and cement soaking pool, near the edge of Little Alkali Lake. Natural hot water is visible at its source about 50 yards from the tub. A concrete enclosure keeps kids and cows from scalding themselves, from here the water is piped underground to the hot tub. The tub itself measures 8’ x 14’ x 2-feet deep, with stone benches on two ends. The inlet pipe has a valve so bathers can turn it off when the tub is hot enough. It’s always a good idea to turn it off when you leave, otherwise the pool will reach 120º or more, making it hard to reach into the water to adjust the valves. There is also a drain at the opposite end, so bathers can pull the plug and easily clean the pool. Be sure to leave it empty to deter the cows!

As you can tell the tub was in need of a cleaning, which is precisely what I did.

As The Crab Cooker refills, it sure looks much more inviting, but the water temp is over 120, not exactly good for soaking. There is no source of cool water, so you fill it up, then wait for it to cool down. Next stop is Little Hot Creek. Hot springs flow into a hot creek where the water is piped into a concrete soaking tub, probably the least known soaking spot in this area, and the only one fenced off from local cows.

A wide flow of hot water streams with orange algae, as it flows down a gentle grade into pastures. The water is piped through PVC into a concrete soaking tub measuring about 10’ x 14’ and 2-3-feet deep, with tiered benches around the sides. The ingenious folks who made this tub even pressed beer cans into the drying cement to serve as cup holders while you soak. The inflow pipe brings water ranging from 106º – 115º into the tub, and is controllable by closing off the inflow so the water can cool to a comfortable temperature. There is also a drainpipe in the bottom of the tub, so bathers can easily clean it out.

These springs were in need of a cleaning too, so after a good soak, we drained the water and scrubbed it down. While we were here, some folks dropped by who had just visited The Crab Cooker and reported that it was still too hot for soaking.

Our soaking done, we pack up and head back to San Diego to get Matthew back before he is AWOL.

CA - Parks - 04/2009 (Part II)

With the desert in my rear view, I head to the city to pick up Matthew at the Marine Recruiting Depot, San Diego.

The Marine Corps Recruit Depot (commonly referred to as MCRD) San Diego is a United States Marine Corps military installation. It lies between San Diego Bay and Interstate 5, adjacent to the San Diego International Airport and the former Naval Training Center San Diego. MCRD San Diego's main mission is the initial training of enlisted male recruits living west of the Mississippi River. Over 21,000 recruits are trained each year. The Depot also is the home to the Marine Corps' Recruiter School and Western Recruiting Region's Drill Instructors School.

The buildings are mostly this yellow Spanish style, most dating back to the 30s. Pretty nice duty.

This is Matthew's duty station. He played the trombone in the band.

This is one of my favorites. These are the actual Quonset huts used in the filming of that classic 60s tv show: Gomer Pyle, USMC.

Life on the post seemed good. This is the barracks that Matthew called home.

Yep, barracks life seemed tough: private room and bath. Can't image why he would leave all of this! We depart the city and head out toward Death Valley.

First stop was Tecopa Hot Springs to wash off the trail dust. The springs are a public bathhouse in Tecopa, operated by California Land Management (CLM). Located in the dry desert near the southeastern boundary to Death Valley National Park. Natural hot springs emerge at 118º before being piped into the separate men and women’s bathing areas.

The men’s section has two large cement tubs, both equipped with railings and stairs leading down into the water.

Water temperatures range from 100º – 105º and the pools operate on a flow through basis so no chemicals are needed.

One of the pools is nice and hot, while the other is cooler, relatively speaking that is.

Forgot to mention, Matthew became a member of the Confederation of Reformed and Presbyterian Soakers (CoRPS). Next stop: Death Valley National Park.

Death Valley is the hottest and driest of the national parks in the United States.

The second-lowest point in the Western Hemisphere is in Badwater Basin, which is 282 feet (86 m) below sea level.

Mount Whitney, only 85 miles (137 km) to the west, rises to 14,505 feet (4,421 m). This topographic relief is the greatest elevation gradient in the contiguous United States and is the terminus point of the Great Basin's southwestern drainage. Although the extreme lack of water in the Great Basin makes this distinction of little current practical use, it does mean that in wetter times the lake that once filled Death Valley (Lake Manly) was the last stop for water flowing in the region, meaning the water there was saturated in dissolved materials. Thus the salt pans in Death Valley are among the largest in the world and are rich in minerals, such as borax and various salts and hydrates. The largest salt pan in the park extends 40 miles (64 km) from the Ashford Mill Site to the Salt Creek Hills, covering some 200 square miles (520 km2) of the valley floor.


The park is home to many species of plants and animals that have adapted to this harsh desert environment. Some examples include creosote bush, Bighorn Sheep, Coyote, and the Death Valley Pupfish, a survivor of much wetter times.

Approximately 95% of the park is designated as wilderness. Its wilderness area covers 4,774 square miles (12,360 km2), making it the largest in the Lower 48 states, and the sixth largest in the United States overall.

There are two major valleys in the park, Death Valley and Panamint Valley. Both of these valleys were formed within the last few million years and both are bounded by north–south-trending mountain ranges.

These and adjacent valleys follow the general trend of Basin and Range topography with one modification: there are parallel strike-slip faults that perpendicularly bound the central extent of Death Valley. The result of this shearing action is additional extension in the central part of Death Valley which causes a slight widening and more subsidence there.

Death Valley National Park is visited annually by more than 770,000 visitors who come to see its diverse geologic features, desert wildlife, historic sites, scenery, and clear night skies. Furnace Creek Ranch was originally built as crew headquarters for the Pacific Coast Borax Company. Now, Furnace Creek Ranch is tourist central, providing motel accommodations, eateries, t-shirts, and related tourist stuff. There is a large spring fed (warm) swimming pool here.

Mining was the primary activity in the area before it was protected. The first documented non-Native Americans to enter Death Valley did so in the winter of 1849, thinking they would save time by taking a shortcut to the gold fields of California. They were stuck for weeks and in the process gave the valley its name, even though only one of their group died there. Several short-lived boom towns sprang up during the late 19th and early 20th centuries to exploit minor local bonanzas of gold.

The only long-term profitable ore to be mined, however, was borax, a mineral used to make soap and an important industrial compound. Today, borax is an essential component of high-temperature resistant boro-silicate glass products, for example Pyrex cookware.

Twenty-mule teams were used to transport ore out of the valley; helping to make it famous and the subject of books, radio programs, television series, and movies. Now, seems like a little off roading is in order.

Chloride City is an unincorporated community in Death Valley at an elevation of 4770 feet (1454 m). A fun 4x4 road from the valley floor takes you up to Chloride City and some pretty neat views.

The settlement is a ghost town.

The town was established in 1905 when the Bullfrog, Nevada, gold discovery brought people into the area. Matthew is checking out an abandoned gold mine.

The ghost town contains numerous adits, dumps and the grave of James McKay, of whom nothing is known.

The town also holds the remains of three stamp mills.

One of the abandoned buildings in downtown Chloride.

The entrance to an old mine.

Hard to believe some of these buildings have been here for about a hundred years.

Well, its down the mountain and on to Rhyolite City, which is "one of the most photographed ghost towns in the West."

The town began in early 1905 as one of several mining camps that sprang up after a prospecting discovery in the surrounding hills. During an ensuing gold rush, thousands of gold-seekers, developers, miners, and service providers flocked to the Bullfrog Mining District. Many settled in Rhyolite, which lay in a sheltered desert basin near the region's biggest producer, the Montgomery Shoshone Mine. Industrialist Charles M. Schwab bought the Montgomery Shoshone Mine in 1906 and invested heavily in infrastructure including piped water, electric lines, and railroad transportation that served the town as well as the mine. By 1907, Rhyolite had electric lights, water mains, telephones, newspapers, a hospital, a school, an opera house, and a stock exchange. Published estimates of the town's peak population vary widely, but scholarly sources generally place it in a range between 3,500 and 5,000 in 1907–08. Rhyolite declined almost as rapidly as it rose. After the richest ore was exhausted, production fell. The 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the financial panic of 1907 made it more difficult to raise development capital. In 1908, investors in the Montgomery Shoshone Mine, concerned that it was overvalued, ordered an independent study. When the study's findings proved unfavorable, the company's stock value crashed, further restricting funding. All three banks in the town closed by March 1910. The newspapers, including the Rhyolite Herald, the last to go, all shut down by June 1912. The post office closed in November 1913; the last train left Rhyolite Station in July 1914, and the Nevada-California Power Company turned off the electricity and removed its lines in 1916. Within a year the town was "all but abandoned",and the 1920 census reported a population of only 14. A 1922 motor tour by the Los Angeles Times found only one remaining resident, a 92-year-old man who died in 1924. After 1920, Rhyolite and its ruins became a tourist attraction and a setting for motion pictures. Most of its buildings crumbled, were scavenged for building materials, or were moved to nearby Beatty or other towns, although the railway depot and a house made chiefly of empty bottles were repaired and preserved.

The Bank. Once most prominent was the three-story John S. Cook and Co. Bank on Golden Street.

The School.

The Bottle House, now that's a good use of old beer bottles! A miner named Tom T. Kelly built the Bottle House in February 1906 from 50,000 discarded beer and liquor bottles.

The Brothel. Hey, it's Nevada after all. Rhyolite had 50 saloons, 35 gambling tables, cribs for prostitution, 19 lodging houses, 16 restaurants, half a dozen barbers, a public bath house, and a weekly newspaper, the Rhyolite Herald. Four daily stage coaches connected Goldfield, 60 miles (97 km) to the north, and Rhyolite.

The sun setting on the mountains, as we leave Death Valley.