Burhan handed me a book on various Arizona hot springs and insisted we take a trip to at least one before he moves to the East Coast. After doing a good deal of research on several different springs, there was one that interested me more than any of the others. But the only way to get to it was by watercraft. So we rented a canoe and set out -- my first canoe experience!

We had a really great time. The Colorado River area is gorgeous, and it was fun being on the water. Didn't see too many people, but those we did encounter were very friendly. When we docked our canoe, there were a few others there making camp. Experienced water rats, they shared some very helpful information with us, and gave us some other river recommendations. We hiked up the canyon along a warm creek a little way before setting up camp ourselves. Darkness was soon approaching, so we put together a nice little fire, had some food, and then put on our headlamps and hiked farther up the canyon to the hot spring. The moon was only half full, but provided a decent amount of light with the headlamps off. The spring itself was only about two feet deep but was over 100 degrees in temperature, so the night chill was hardly noticeable. We eventually hiked back to camp and passed out. It was 9:30pm; we did a lot of work that day!

Woke up early the next day and hiked back up to the hot springs so we could get some pictures of it. There was also a waterfall deeper into the canyon, so headed up there to check it out. I was a little bummed that we didn't have time that morning to go for a dip, as the water pooling at the bottom of the fall was also quite warm -- like comfortably warm bathwater. We packed up all our stuff and headed back to the canoe, talked with the friendly campers there for a little while and then set off again to return the canoe.

This trip made for a very enjoyable weekend. I'm glad I was able to experience it, as I've never done anything like it before!