Saline Valley Hot Springs, 

Death Valley National Park

Nov. 12-15, 2012

So this was my destination for what may very well be my last camp trip of 2015.

I saw a posting for a trip to Saline Valley on MeetUp.com with the group California-Hot-Spring-Adventures.  Because it's believed that a strong El Niño winter could bring more devastation to the roads in Death Valley N.P., this might be one last chance to visit the area in many  months to come.

I started doing a lot of research on the area and saw warning after warning about how dangerous travel can be to and from the springs, how rough the roads are and how desolate a place this area really is.  I figured that I have a sound truck/camper, a bit of experience and a lot of determination and that I'd give it a try.

I then learned that the North Pass Road (the one I'd be taking) was closed due to recent flash flood damage.  Still undeterred, I saw a You Tube video of a guy taking the closed road anyways and making it safely to the springs.  I decided to pack a lot of extra food and water and let people know exactly where I was going and when I'd be back and what to do if I didn't return by Monday.

We took U.S. 395 south from Reno and made great time on a beautiful day.  I always see pop up campers when I'm on this road and today was no exception.  We saw three FWCs, all of which were heading south too.  We stopped at Eric Schat's Bakery in Bishop, CA, where I got one of the best turkey sandwiches I've ever had.  All fueled up, my camp buddy, Dexter, and I set off down the road. 

We traveled to Big Pine, CA, where we turned east on CA 168 and continued for about 8 miles before coming to this... 

So it was true, the road really was closed.

We maneuvered around the cones and continued on.  The little two lane road was paved and in very good shape as it wound around and through the terrain, but the smooth run didn't last very long before we came to another set of cones also advising "CLOSED ROAD."  We continued on...

The road didn't get rough gradually, oh no, it got rough the instant my tires rolled off of the asphalt.  This is the road I knew I'd be on for the next 2 1/2 hours and I was beginning to wonder what I had gotten myself into.  

Just six miles or so from the paved road, we came upon this little site, which I'm sure had something to do with mining in its time.

We didn't explore the area too much because I wanted to be at the springs with an hour of daylight to spare, just in case we had trouble on the way down.

Never have I gone through so much planning, trouble and work just to sit in a hot pool of water, but the best hot springs usually make you work to get to them.  I'm lucky I don't have any fillings in my teeth because I think they might have rattled loose on the this road.  We never got over 20 mph and 10-12 mph was the norm.

About 7 miles south of the little mining site, we came upon the washout that caused the road's closure.

The washout is more gnarly than the photo depicts, but by carefully 

navigating around it to the right, a high clearance vehicle

can make it through without a problem.

Shortly after making it through the washout, I came upon a truck traveling north and I was very relieved to hear them say the rest of the road, was rough, but passable.

After almost two hours of driving, Saline Valley finally decided to show herself.

We still had another 45 minutes to go, but the end was now in site.  As you drop into the valley, you can see a large stand of palms off to the east and somehow you just know that that's the oasis you've been chasing all day.

The turnoff from Saline Valley Road to the springs is not marked at all and it's very easy to miss, especially at night.  I was lucky to find a group of people parked at the intersection and they confirmed that it was the turnoff to the springs.  

The final road in reminded me a lot of driving on the Black Rock playa as it was a very fine dust that gave away my position like a large land contrail.

When you see this "totem" you know you've arrived.

Dexter was trying to look cool here, but we were both so ready to get out of the truck.

I stopped at the main pool where I found Lee, the naked camp host, sipping on a beer and taking a late afternoon soak.  He gave me the low down on the springs and although I had heard that people here are very territorial, Lee and some of the other guests were very warm and welcoming.  At that point I knew I was going to have a great time.

I found this little gem of a campsite, which was a mere 30-40 feet from a nice soaking pool.

Within 40 minutes of arriving, I had camp set up and I was chest deep in some clean, clear 102° water with a Santa Fe IPA in one hand and Edward Abbey in the other.  I just took it all in!

When it got too dark to read and when my beer can was empty, I went back to camp and cooked Dex and I our typical first night's meal of a steak, salad and potatoes and just relaxed.

That night, about 7:30, I went down to the main pool that was only about 50 yards from my campsite.  There were a handful of people soaking in front of a very nice campfire and there were a couple of people playing guitars and singing some old classics (James Taylor, Gordon Lightfoot, Bob Dylan, Billy Joe Shaver, etc.).  I soaked, sang and visited until about 9:30 before turning in for the night.  

The nights were cold, but not too bad and we enjoyed a chorus of what sounded like 30-40 coyotes yipping into the night.  The wild burros also chimed in throughout the night with their ridiculous sounding whining and honking.

The next day I did some exploring around the springs.  The grounds and vault toilets are all kept in immaculate shape by the volunteer/visitors who care so deeply about this place.  It's one of those places where you just want to pitch in and do your share to keep it up.

Nudity is the norm here.  This guy and his wife had just finished cleaning one of the pools, which I 

learned are all cleaned on a daily basis by camp volunteers.

 This is a little shower area where you rinse off before soaking.

This is the smallest pool at the springs and it'll hold two people who want some coziness. 

The fence is closed up at night to keep the burros from wrecking the place. 

The Inyo Mountains provide a beautiful backdrop to the west of the springs. 

This little bridge takes you back to the "kids only" soaking pool.  

I didn't go back there, but I could hear the giggles of a gaggle of kids splashing around. 

 Another pool at the lower springs.

This is just east of the main (lower) springs. 

Someone installed a car seat on a swivel out in the open air

and believe it or not, it was a pretty nice place to sit and just be there. 

That rusty mound is called "Peace Mountain." 

Dexter can always manage to get the attention of the hotties.

They don't just wear tie dye here... 

This is a group that comes to the springs every year for a reunion of sorts. 

Three Sportsmobiles were camped in the area too. 

This lady, her husband and her son, had traveled all the way from Germany with their rig.  They had been all over the western U.S. and were going to head south from here and eventually all the way 

down the Baja coast before shipping everything back home.  What an adventure. 

This was the west part of the camp host's compound.  The NPS' camp host here is a year round, 

volunteer position and Lee told me he had been here for almost 20 years.  I can't imagine what

it's like in the summer with that 126° heat.  He has to bring in all of his food, water, firewood, propane and everything, so he's happy to take some extra supplies of of you hands when you leave. 

This is the other side of the camp host's area.

The main pool is under the tarp cover and is a very inviting place. 

Some of the geology in the area is amazing.

After exploring the lower springs, I hiked up 3/4 of a mile to the middle springs which are called "Palm Springs."

There were three of us pop-ups in the area during my visit. 

Another Sportsmobile. 

I met the owner of this new Alaskan flatbed and she gave me the whole tour.  She originally had and XP Camper on the flatbed but didn't like it, so she traded it in for this.  She travels from Florida to the west a couple of times a year and basically lives in the rig for most of the year.  Oh, retirement... 

One of two pools at Palm Springs. 

I never saw this woman with clothes on.  She was the owner of the Alaskan. 

These are a couple of the source pools for the Palm Springs.

This was a cozy little hammock nested among the palms 

A new visitor is arriving on the horizon.

The next day, I ventured out a little further from camp to explore the area a bit more.

Rock art appeared in all directions from the area. 

I had read that the air strip was closed, but apparently it's up and running again.  Both of these 

planes took flight later this afternoon.

Speaking of planes, even though Saline Valley is in a National Park, it's also designated as a low 

flying military corridor and every morning around 9:00 AM, fighter jets buzzed overhead and sounded like a volcano was erupting nearby.  Some of the dogs in the camp hid on their approach,

but Dexter just stood out there and howled and moaned into the air. 

I caught this guy checking Dexter and I out as we hiked.  I don't know if he was just curious

or if he thought Dexter would make a nice snack for him and his friends.  He trotted 

off after watching us for about five minutes. 

More rock art...

My days consisted of waking up, having some breakfast, taking a morning soak, hiking/exploring, reading, eating lunch, taking a nap, hiking to a different pool for another soak, eating dinner, an evening soak with campfire and music and then to bed and repeat the next day.  It was a very relaxing trip and one I plan to take at least once a year from here on out.

Each Thanksgiving, over a hundred folks show up, each bringing something to a big pot luck feast--I think I'll mark that on my calendar for next year.

Once again, it was time to visit the sign, only this time from the other direction 

as I was leaving.  I had such a good time on this trip that the road back to

civilization didn't seem quite as long as it did coming in.  I think I had a little

smirk on my face all the way back home. 

Once I got back to CA 168, I could see the storm that had been forecast hitting the Sierra.

We drove back home hitting about five different bands of the incoming storm.  It was so nice to see some winter weather for a change that I didn't even mind the strong westerly winds that blew me all over the highway.

If you've never been to Saline Valley, you really should add it to your bucket list.  If you go with the right attitude and are willing to lend a hand in keeping the place nice, I guarantee the local denizens will welcome you to their "society" with open arms.

Ebbetts Pass - Labor Day 2015

"Oh, the humanity!"  So, I wanted to get away for Labor Day this year and my only criteria was to try and find a place that wasn't as crowded as the usual places.  I'd only been through Ebbetts Pass twice before and both times it was virtually empty of people.  I knew there would be more people than those previous times, but I was surprised at how many people there actually were.  Every wide spot in the road had a car parked in it.  Every little dirt road to nowhere had tents, cars, generators, gaudy EZ ups, stereos blasting and car alarms going off.

On Saturday, I had planned to first find a little boondock campsite somewhere and once that was done, go for a nice hike in the area.  Walking, especially uphill, is always a guaranteed way to beat the crowds.  Today, however, it took me most of the day just to find a remote camp area and even then, I had to share it with two other users--thankfully they were a quiet and respectful bunch.

It seemed that every camp site with a view of a lake or river was occupied or too rowdy to even consider, so we drove on.



My research said that there's a lot of dispersed camping near Utica and Union Reservoirs, but after thoroughly exploring the area, we didn't find a location worth spending the night at.  While driving out of the area, we saw a little forest service road that looked promising.  The map showed that it dead ended at Elephant Rock Lake.  We drove all the way to the end and, as expected, a sea of cars at the trail head.

So, we meandered back and took a little fork in the road and voila, near solitude.  This little road took us around a ridge to the west side of Summit Lake.  We found a nice little secluded, level spot and set up camp.

Solitude on Labor Day

Just a short hike to the east, over two little hills, was little Summit Lake.  It was a nice little patch of water, more pond-like than lake-like.  As far as I could tell, it was a very shallow lake and I saw no sign of fish--even small fish.  

Like everywhere, the water was low.

 There was a lot of dead fall around (and in) the lake and the area seemed very ripe for a fire

 Porky made an appearance

This wall was about 50 yards west of the lake shore.  I'm assuming it's some sort levy.  See what I mean about the tremendous amount of dead fall?

We walked the entire shoreline, which was only a 30 minute stroll.  On the north side of the lake, we came upon an older couple who had lugged a couple of camp chairs and a cooler to a nice spot in the sun.  They were sipping wine (from stemmed glasses to boot) and enjoying the setting sun.  They did it right.

 Back at camp, I made the usual first night's meal of steak, potatoes and a salad.  I even fried Dexter up some stew meat for a treat.

The next morning, I made a pot of coffee, sat outside in the haze of a forest fire and finished up Edward Abbey's "Serpents of Paradise."  I LOVE mornings like these.

We packed up camp and headed out to Spicer Reservoir.  I had heard about Spicer before, but had never seen it personally, so I wanted to lay the ojos on it since we were so close.

 I have no idea what these things were and there wasn't a sign explaining them.   If in Nevada, I'd assume they were from the mining industry, but here, these could anything from mining to agriculture to power generation equipment.

Spicer looked so sad with the water this low. 

 The smoke was really thick to the north.

  Just looking at the high water mark of the reservoir puts the drought in perspective for me.

We left Spicer (and a lot of the smoke) behind us as we headed back towards Ebbetts Pass.  We made a brief stop in Bear Valley to top off the tank and ate lunch at a nearby trail head.  We then headed up to the Highland Lakes area.



The Highland Lakes Road is easy to miss if you're traveling westbound on Highway 4, as it's far from perpendicular to the main road.  Now that we're eastbound, we spot it right away.  The first half of the road meanders alongside a little creek (possibly Arnot or Wolf Creek).  There were a lot of boondock campsites along the river and we planned to camp at one of them after seeing the lakes above.

Highland Lakes is probably 4-5 miles from Hwy. 4 and although it's a rough road, most cars can make the trek without any problem.

Remember when I said that we planned to camp down below, near the river? That was before 

we came upon this empty campsite at Highland Lakes.  That's Hiram Peak (9795' elev.).  

The campground was only half full and the people there were quiet, respectful people.  I've grown to dislike most campgrounds, but this was an exception and worth every bit of that $12.00.  

 We had to walk the shoreline of this, the smaller of the two, Highland Lakes.

  I love that view

 The campground, as seen from the east side of the lake

On the south shore of the small Highland Lake is a trail head that will take you

all the way to Spicer Reservoir.  I saw a backpacker taking that exact route.

 It was either Ash Wednesday or Dexter got into a fire pit.

We stayed out, walking the lake shore, until the sun went down and Iceberg Peak turned a brilliant golden yellow.  As the sun set, an icy wind started blowing through the area, so we hunkered down in the camper for the rest of the night.  

A couple of weeks before this trip, while perusing through the local Goodwill, I came across a brand new box set of DVDs that contained all 39 episodes of the Honeymooners for $8.00.  So, for this trip, I packed up one of those DVDs and watched Jackie Gleason threaten to send Alice to the moon, until bedtime. 

It was a pretty cold night, but I stayed warm inside under a down comforter, while Dexter had a jacket on and seemed pretty happy.

The next morning, while sipping my coffee in camp, I could see tons of fish jumping in the lake.  They looked to be feeding on the little white bugs that were flying above the water.  Well, I can't let that go by without tossing a line in the water.  I only had my little Tenkara rod with me, which is best suited for creeks, but I gave it a try anyway.  

I tied on a white and green Sakasa Kebari fly and headed to the lake.  Once I got to the shore, I was surprised to see that the fish that were making all the noise and splashes, were only about 3 inches long.  They put on a great show for such little fish.  But, where there are little fish, there are big ones too, so I kept at it.  The bigger fish were jumping about 30 yards off shore; just teasing me.

I did get two little bites from those tiny fish though.  I actually saw them nibble at the fly as I was bringing it in.  They had a lot of self confidence, I'll give them that.

 On the way out, we stopped a the larger Highland Lake and it was pristine.  A float tube or a kayak

would be a great way of seeing both of these little lakes.

This is one of the reasons I don't like campgrounds.  A necessary evil I know, but I prefer the boonies.

There are a few rustic old cabins in the area; probably because there's a small

open range cattle operation in the area

This is an old cow camp and it appeared to be still in use.

We got back onto Hwy. 4 and headed home.  It was a very nice weekend, despite the crowds, and it's an area I plan to revisit on the off season.

Until next time Ebbetts Pass...