Yellowstone Mineral Hot Spring
June 6
I checked out Mammoth Hot Springs (in north Yellowstone), and
although it was very beautiful with its rust and sulfur colors spread
across the basin, the novelty of geysers and mudpots had worn off
(maybe it was the weather). Back on the road, I ran into my second
bear, a Bull Moose, buffalo, and a whole family of swans. I also ran
into my friend Bill, the scholar ranger. He took me to the Ranger
Station where he helped me get a permit to backpack in Grizzly Bear
country. Permits were not given to lone hikers, but Bill assured the
ranger at the station that I knew what I was doing. I wish I were that
sure.
After the red tape was out of the way, I went into the camp store and
bought a week's worth of groceries. I figured my Grizzly quest might
eat up enough time for Denny and Mike to catch up to me. After I
called Carole Sue to get an update on their whereabouts, I was
disappointed again. Both of them had remained in Deadwood, South
Dakota, where they took jobs at the Homestake Gold Mine. I was pissed,
but I wanted to see a Grizzly anyway, so I created a makeshift
backpack, and started hitchhiking twenty miles up to the trailhead
that would eventually take me to Specimen Ridge and hopefully to see a
Grizzly Bear in the wild.
Specimen Ridge was located in the real wilderness part of
Yellowstone: its northeast corner. The road up there was snowed in, so
it was a one-way trip for anybody going in that direction. After
standing for more than two hours waiting for a ride, I began to think
twice about my destination, especially since only a couple cars passed
me. When it started to rain, I marched back to the ranger station
where (thanks to Bill) the ranger at the station was looking after my
bike. I was really depressed when I got on my bike and started
peddling to the nearest campground. It was getting dark, I was cold
and wet, and I didn't want the hassle of finding my own campsite. As
it turned out, I made the right decision.
I met some nice people, a girl and two guys, and we shared
conversation and wine together. The girl told me about a natural hot
spring located along the highway just north of Yellowstone. "It was in
a ravine, just out of sight of the passing cars," she said, "we spent
the entire afternoon naked in the hot, steaming, water. It was great."
I made sure to get good directions to the spring before I turned in
for the night, but even with good directions (as it turned out), it
was hard to find.
When I broke camp in the morning, and after three hours of biking
(one hour of searching), I found the hot spring. It was close to the
highway, but it was really hidden from view. I had no idea how the
girl and guys could have found this place, but under the hot Wyoming
sun, in a beautiful canyon, that hot water massaging my body made me
forget all about the hassle it had taken to get there. The pool was
large enough and deep enough to submerge my whole body. After my first
soak, I washed my clothes in the stream that fed the hot mineral pool.
Early on, I thought I was in for another wet, cloudy, day, but now my
clothes were drying in the hot sun, and I was going to bathe in my own
personal "hot tub" until they were dry. Life doesn't get much better
than this!
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