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| Hiking | 4.84 Miles |
868 AEG |
| | Hiking | 4.84 Miles | 3 Hrs 19 Mns | | 2.14 mph |
| 868 ft AEG | 1 Hour 3 Mns Break | | | |
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| no partners | | One of many spots on my solo road trip; this was the only one I recorded though. I have so many thoughts on this trail, oh where to begin?
First off, I had NO idea how popular this trail really was. I spent the early morning hours on stansbury island, so I was rolling up midday to fifth water hot springs.  The parking lot was tiny and it was a madhouse. People were parking way down the street and walking to the TH. It was total chaos!!! I knew there was disbursed camping down towards the end of the road, so I just drove down there to check it out and think for a minute. In any normal situation, I’d immediately leave a trail that busy. Butttt that’s really not an option when you drove that far to an area. There was no service at all down there so I couldn’t really find a backup right in the area. Also, it was freezing and I wanted to soak.
With a new level of calm and determination, I decided to head back to the parking lot and just deal with the crowds. It was only 2ish miles each way to the springs, so I told myself to just go. I talked to a girl at the TH and she told me there were pools all the way at the top that nobody went to, so there was hope!
The hike was fine; people of all levels and ages are out there gettin after it. It’s going uphill most of the way to the springs but it’s a nice trail. I kept getting fascinated by the icicles hanging off the logs in the creek, so pretty!
When I arrived at the hot springs, I was super overwhelmed! There were a lot of people (and children!). I remembered the girl saying to go all the way to the top and I think I might have followed her advice too literally. I went above all the hot springs and found some smaller pools then kept going. I saw a man who I thought looked kinda official stacking some rocks, and I thought he was building a spring. I started chatting him up and then I realize that I think this poor guy is trying to bury his …  lol ooops. Anyway, I saw the source for the spring… it was boiling!
I soaked in a pool above the main springs area for about 20 mins before deciding to brave the more crowded area to get a hotter soak. I made my way down and soaked at the top pool. It was VERY hot on the right side and I think I burned my foot a little! Although I was sharing, it was still nice and relaxing. I soaked for a while before changing to head back out. The pools towards the bottom were still the most busy when I was leaving.
The hike out was uneventful but I was surprised at how many people were still coming in towards sunset. Overall, I’m glad I saw it and that I soaked! However, I’d never return here unless it was part of a bigger backpacking trip (I did see some doing this and was curious where they were headed!) The mountain range around the springs is gorgeous too! |
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| Restless between adventures... |
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