After spending the night lounging in the hot springs, I slept deeply that night. I did wake up in the middle of the night, cold again as I readjusted my bag. Once again my feet had hit the tent, the condensation soaking the toe box. I brushed off the condensation, fluffed up the down, and shimmied back upwards.
Upon daybreak, I slept in, enjoying the warmth of my bag. Finally embracing my hunger, I got out and broke camp. With everything put away, I made breakfast and waited for the others to get ready.
I find myself wearing my warmest clothes in the morning. Nightfall tends to be cool, but morning feels the coldest.
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| The bottom middle two hot springs- the ring of stones in the river is the second, but it was not very warm. |
As chilly as it was, one of my friends wanted to spend the morning in the hot springs. She lounged in the empty tubs while we finished cleaning up camp, making sure we didn't leave any trash behind. It was at this point we actually took pictures of the hot springs.
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| The middle tub, which was by far my favorite. |
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A blurry picture of the bottom right spring- the muddy one.
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We left camp, noticing the new neighbors that had come in at some point during the night. I was grateful we had camped past the hot springs- our campsite would have been a highway otherwise. I began to see the value of the first 'campy' campsite we had stopped at before- people had to walk around it, not through it. The devaluation was our discovery of that campsite's portable DVD player. Yes, a portable DVD player. The older folk that shared that campsite, the ones who invited us to camp next to them, housed a collection of no less than ten different DVD's as well as the portable player, all for their amusement in the great outdoors. I wonder if
Terra Mater has a rosary for that... Anyways, we headed upstream, stocking up on water before hiking out. We passed a few people on their way in, and, keeping with tradition, I told them all there were ten people at the springs. Ten miles later, we were at the truck, heading to the nearest pizza place. (Local recommendation: Mountain Mike's Pizza) It was a nice trip, but I feel the area is a coin-toss. Flip a coin and hope there aren't many people there. One day I may go back, but for now I'll stick to the High (and lonely) Sierras. I do plan to visit other parts of Los Padres though. Big Sur has much to offer, and should have some great late-season areas to visit.
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