Fish Lake Valley Hot Well

Fish Lake Valley Hot Well, NV 

I have no idea how I stumbled upon this hot spring, but glad we did. It has an interesting history. Back in the 60’s a company tried drilling for oil. They didn’t get any of the black gold, but instead tapped into a hot water aquafir. They capped the well and went on their merry way. Years later the county opened the spring for people to soak, built a cinder block wall around the spring and allowed people to camp around it. Lucky us.  

The water flows into the spring or “well”  at 100 gallons per minute at about 104 degrees. How perfect is that! No pipes or valves to fuss with, just perfectly heated water au natural.

The water drains out into several ponds. The pond closest to the soaking tub is about 100 degrees. The pond has koi swimming around and lots of coots and mallards.  They like swimming right up to the hot tub.  It’s fun to watch them as you hang out.

We had the hot spring to ourselves for most of the afternoon.  The force of the water coming in feels great (kinda like a jacuzzi). Really looking forward to enjoying this spring when the temperature drops to the mid-teens tonight.  It was a sunny 50 degree day so very pleasant soaking weather.  

We met an adorable young couple from Portland that camped here last night. They headed out mid-afternoon.  As of early evening there is only one other camper here on the other side of the pond.  It really feels like we are in the middle of nowhere.  

Another view of Wolfgang with the Silverpeak Range behind.  

Speaking of, here’s a screen shot of where we are.  Yeah, middle of nowhere.  

We are so enjoying boondocking more than we have in the past thanks to Wolfgang and his solar abilities.  

Hot Spring Sampler

Benton Hot Springs, CA

Can you believe I slept 12 hours last night?! Those really were some magical hot springs. By the time we rallied, made coffee and headed back to Travertine Springs it was about 8ish. It was already too busy for my liking, so we decided to explore some other hot springs.

This area is called Hot Creek Geological Site.  It’s not swimmable or soakable, think Bumpass Hell at Lassen National Park. 700,000 years ago 50 cubic miles of molten rock was blasted from this area creating a huge caldera.  The water from the Sierras seeps down thru cracks to the molten rock 5 miles below and creates steam vents, boiling water and an occasional geyser.  

We stopped by Mono Lake for a mid morning walk.  I love strolling on this boardwalk at the County Park. So interesting to see the signs marking the decreasing lake level over the years.  Hard to believe these tufas were under water in the 1950’s.  

We’re continuing to put Wolfgang thru his paces.  We decided to get off Highway 395 and take some “backroads”.  Lots of fun ditching pot holes and navigating boulders and sand. 

He’s passing with flying colors! 

Our next soaking destination was Hilltop.  We were expecting a crowd, but had this little spring to ourselves.  This spring has a valve that lets you adjust the incoming water, Ned got it dialed in just right.  We hung out for quite awhile, it was a great lunch spot too.

We were about 10 minutes away from Wild Willy’s Hot Springs and it had been years since we had been there so we decided to revisit it.  This spring is much larger and has several soaking pools on both sides of the boardwalk and along the creek.  We went in the first pool next to the rock outcropping on the left side. Some people were just getting out so the timing worked out perfectly.  

Tonight we’re camped at Benton Hot Springs, an old favorite.  We’re not in our preferred campsite (#5), but glad we got the last available site.  It’s going to be a cold one again tonight, but at least it’s only a few feet to the hot tub.  

Travertine Hot Springs

BLM Land, outside of Bridgeport, CA

We thought we’d do a little mid-week exploration of hot springs.  Travertine Hot Springs was the first one on our list. We’ve passed this spring lots of times driving on Highway 395. We always said “one day,”... and today was finally that day. 

 I kept my expectations pretty low wondering how Wolfgang would do on the dirt road, was there snow, would it be crowded, would it just be a mud puddle? 

Turns out it was amazing.

We almost had the place to ourselves.  Even though there were several cars in the parking lot, this area has a lot of little springs dotted all around.  It absorbs the people nicely. We stuck to the main pools and hung out for the majority of the afternoon. 

The first pool is the hottest (maybe 104/105?).  The mother source drips off the travertine directly into it.  It felt divine.  It’s shallow, but great for stretching out, putting your head back and just soaking. 

Ned was curious where the water was coming from, so he took a little hike up to the top of the ridge.  You can see the trough that the water has made over years and years of tumbling down the rock.  It looked like a fault line going down the middle of the rock.  

I opted to stay in the springs and soak, you can just barely see me in the far left of the picture. 

We eventually tried out 3 of the 4 pools, each one varying in temperature.  

In the background, behind Ned, are the Eastern Sierras and the town of Bridgeport.

Looking down on the town of Bridgeport from the ridge. 

This is where we spent several hours.  It was the coolest of the pools (maybe 95/99) and felt so good to just hang out.  We stayed until the outside temperature began to drop.

We’re camped just down the road of the hot springs on BLM land.  It was about 50 degrees most of the afternoon.  Just perfect temperature for soaking.  Tonight the temperature is supposed to drop to...12 degrees.  Yikes!

Good thing we got each other and a bottle of wine to stay warm! (okay, and a heater in Wolfgang definitely helps too). 

Maddy, YaYa, Baba Birthday Camping

Sly Park Campground, Pollock Pines, CA

Ned asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday.  How about doing all my favorite things? Camping, Ned, Maddy, Wolfgang.  I can’t think of a better way to bring in my 63rd birthday. 

We were able to snag this sweet little spot near Jenkins Lake.  Maddy couldn’t wait to get out of the car and start exploring. 

Maddy helping Baba park Wolfgang.  She’s a natural! 

What a perfect fall day. The temp was in the mid-70’s.  Great weather to check out the lake.  One of the best thing about having grandkids is they keep you feeling young! 

We went on a hike, collected wood, fed the ducks and birds that came to visit our campsite and even managed to get in some book reading time. 

No promises mom on returning a clean child:) 
























Although we tried! 

Camping food is the best. Yum, burgers and corn - and does that girl love her corn!

We finished off the meal with the birthday cupcakes that Maddy made me.

Getting settled in for the night with stories from Baba.  (Although we really aren’t expecting to get that much sleep).  A little someone is a bit too excited to be sleeping in the van with YaYa and Baba.  

Benton Hot Springs, CA

Benton Hot Springs, CA

Last night of the trip and can’t think of a better way to end it than having our own hot tub at the campsite.  We’re in a sweet little grassy area with a stream that runs thru it. Very private and picturesque.  

We spent the first half of the day at Death Valley pool.  For most of the morning we had the pool to ourselves.  Felt so good to get in some laps and then just enjoy the soft spring waters. 

Interesting to see Death Valley change over these last 15 years. Xanterra bought the Furnace Creek Inn and is trying to turn it into a swanky place.  You can’t beat camping here for $6 (Senior Pass) and then get a $5 pool pass.  

Early morning pic of Wolfgang before the sun came up.  We really tested Wolfgang these last 3 weeks. I’m still in love. So easy to drive, comfy to sleep, convenient to have our fridge, stove and sink always ready. Best investment we made was the solar.  We only plugged in one time the whole trip.  (We did have one minor issue with the USB ports, but it’s easily resolved).  You’re officially part of the family Wolfgang.  I’m sure this is the beginning of many, many adventures.  

Biking the Historic Railroad Tunnels at Hoover Dam

Furnace Creek Campground, Death Valley, CA

We packed up camp this morning and headed out of the Valley of Fire and to the far end of Lake Mead near Hoover Dam. There’s a trail that takes you thru several old tunnels. It was a short bike ride, but scenic as we rode high above Lake Mead. 

It was a great expansive view looking out over the Lake Mead area and valley.

This is an old railroad trail that was originally built to bring material to Hoover Dam during its construction.  Supposedly, it was built in 5 months which is amazing considering the amount of rock that had to be moved. This was done in sweltering conditions in 1931. 

I think we rode thru 5 tunnels. 

The tunnels are approximately 300 feet in length and 25 feet in diameter. The tunnels were oversized to fit penstock sections and large equipment being transported to the dam.  I enjoyed the coolness in the tunnels and the brief respite from the heat. 

Thanks Josh and Marlina for a super-fun filled weekend.  Safe travels back to San Diego, we ventured on to Death Valley. 

What do we love best about Death Valley?  The spring fed swimming pool.  It felt great with the temps in the triple digits.  When we finally left at sunset the temp was 96. We about had the place to ourselves too! 

Home for the night.  I’m sure once the sun hits Wolfgang first thing in the morning, the heat will encourage us to get up and get going. 

Lake Mead Picnic Day

Valley of the Fire State Park, NV 

It was hot, we hiked yesterday, so today was about cooling off in the lake.  As luck would have it Lake Mead is only about 20 minutes away.  Sounds like a great opportunity to have a picnic at the lake

We found a spot near Stewart’s Point.  We had the place to ourselves.  The closest thing next to us were a pack of wild donkeys.  Josh was worried that there wasn’t any shade for Ned so he “McGuyvered” a towel/shade structure.  Perfect.  

Where was I?  Doing what I do best, floating.  Lake Mead water temperature was perfect.

On the way to Lake Mead we stopped at a warm spring to check it out. Rogers Spring is a sweet little oasis in the desert.  It’s not really a hot spring, the water temperature is about 85 degrees. The water flows from an underground spring at about 1000 gallons an hour. We were going to go for a dip, but a sign was posted not to put your head in the water due to some pesky little brain eating amoeba.  I decided to take a dip, but careful not to put my head in the water.  (The others declined to partake of the waters). 

Josh thought it was the perfect opportunity to be a “fan boy”.  You funny Josh.

This morning as we were packing up for the picnic some big horn sheep came by our campsite for a visit.  They hung out for awhile, wandered off, then came back again. 

We visited some more interesting rock formations in the park on our way to Lake Mead and also stopped by to see these cabins built by the CCC in the 1930’s.  They were so cool! Each one had a fireplace inside, nice adobe style interior and great views of the valley.  Once again, we are so impressed by the work these young lads did in the 30’s during the Depression.

Rough day, I know.  This afternoon we just hung out at the campsite, chatted it up and played some charades.  Thanks Josh and Marlina for making the 6 hour trek to meet up with us in the desert.  What a fun weekend.  

Exploring Valley of the Fire State Park

Atlatl Campground, Valley of the Fire State Park, NV

Josh and Marlina showed up around midnight last night. Despite their late night arrival, we still managed to get in a full day exploration of the park.  There are so many cool geological features to see here. 

This picture was taken at the last hike of the day, at the Fire Wave.  Don’t know if you can see us, but we are near the top of this rock.  Such a fun hike to get to this point.

My favorite hike of the day was the Fire Wave.  There was no clearly defined trail and we wandered over the rocks. The different colors and swirly patterns were impressively unique. 

This morning we checked at Atlatl rock and got a close up look of some of the many petroglyphs in the park.  

We started the day with a bike ride thru parts of the park. This led us to some hikes thru awesome canyons and rock formations.  And yes, we saw some more big horn sheep. 

Yes, there was a lot of rock climbing and exploring.  

p.s. - where is Ned hiding?? 

 Picnic in-between the many hikes.  

Some of the other hikes we did were to Mouse’s Tank and Rainbow’s End.  It was a challenge at times to hike thru so much sand, but so rewarding to see all the different rock formations and petroglyphs.  

Doesn’t this one rock look like the Starship Enterprise? 

Time for burgers and margaritas at the campsite!