Chapter 11 Hot Springs In Oregon, New Mexico, And Arizona

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Hi to all our readers, friends and family. For our latest chapter we thought we would do things a little differently. Since we don't have a whole lot of exciting travel news to share we wanted to give you a run down of our trip but then concentrate on some of the hot springs we have mentioned in our previous posts, as well as a new one for us in Tonopah, Arizona where we just spent 2 ½ weeks as “work campers”. Here's the link to our photographs: http://picasaweb.google.com/Ches.Alli/Chapter11HotSprings?feat=directlink So lets get started.

OREGON

At the end of chapter 10 we were just getting ready to leave Breitenbush Hot Springs (www.breitenbush.com) but we failed to say much about the springs themselves. They are a beautiful place to soak with three rock lined pools in a field overlooking the Breitenbush River. The water comes from a group of artesian wells that were created years ago by former owners as well as newer drilled wells and the water is piped to the pools. It is very clean clear water with no smell, such as sulphur. The water temperature varies between the pools and ranges from about 102 to 110 degrees and they are cleaned twice a week. Also there are four small circular pools with a cold plunge. These pools have varying temperatures and hold a couple people each. They are cleaned daily. The flow through in all pools is slow because of the very hot temperature of the water. There is also a sauna, restrooms with showers and a beautiful old lodge where vegetarian meals are served three times a day at a reasonable price. The area around the pools is usually clothing optional (unless there is seminar that requests otherwise). Cabins and tents are available for overnite as well as tent and vehicle sites if you are set up for you own camping. Breitenbush is in a beautiful location at about 2000' plus in the Cascade Mountains in the Willamette National Forest. It is about 10 miles from Detroit, Oregon and two hours southeast of Portland. From Portland you can either take I-5 south, to SR22 east to Detroit and then SR224; or take SR 224 south from Portland for the scenic drive. Check their web site for prices, reservations and a schedule of their seminars and workshops. Breitenbush can make a great vacation because of its proximity to the Portland airport. Photos of Breitenbush are at http://picasaweb.google.com/Ches.Alli/Chapter11HotSprings?feat=directlink
Also, as we mentioned in our last chapter, there is also Terwilliger Hot Springs (http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/willamette/recreation/tripplanning/dayuse/terwilliger_hot_springs.html ) (also known as Cougar because of its proximity to Cougar Reservoir) which is an hour or two drive south of Breitenbush. It is a beautiful drive through the foothills of the Cascades passing lakes and waterfalls. Located east of Eugene, turn south off of SR 126 to FS 19. The turnoff is between Blue River and McKenzie Bridge (where a Forest Service Station with displays is located). About 10 miles later there will be signs and a parking area. At a small shed where the trail leaves the road someone will collect $5 and you will have a ¼ mile hike through a beautiful forest of very tall cedar and fir. Once there you will find 3 or 4 natural rock lined pools with the water flowing out of a small cave. The water flow is pretty good and from the top pool where the temperature is about 106° (excuse my off the cuff temperatures but my memory just isn't that good) each succeeding pool is slightly cooler as the water cools as it cascades downward. People have added stone steps and retaining walls which add to the overall charm of the place. There is also a shelter for hanging your clothes and this is a clothing optional area. Terwilliger is one of the nicest natural hot springs I have been to and the water is clear and clean. It is also in the Williamette National Forest and operated by a concessionaire who takes the $5. Apparently before the concessionaire the place was being trashed and not particularly safe. Now it has been cleaned up and the pools are cleaned every Thursday morning (don't go then). Camping is no longer allowed at the springs but both national forest campgrounds and primitive camping are located in the area. No other services are available till you get back to SR126. There's a photo at http://picasaweb.google.com/Ches.Alli/Chapter11HotSprings?feat=directlink
There are many more hot springs in Oregon and for more information checkout the book Hot Springs and Hot Pools of the Northwest by Marjorie Gersh-Young (www.hotpools.com/). This is an excellent book as well as its companion Hot Springs and Hot Pools of the Southwest by the same author. Both books are continually updated. There are also various web sites devoted to hot springs that can be researched by the enterprising hot springer. For some people the search is part of the fun. Sorry for all you folks east of the mountain time zone but most hot springs occur in more geologically active areas, particularly along fault lines. But what a great reason to head out west.

ACROSS THE GREAT DIVIDE

Now let's all head east a bit as Allison and I go back to New Mexico towards the end of August. We made one last trip to the coast swinging by Newport, Oregon for a final lunch at a favorite seafood spot. The all day rain did not dampen our spirits as we said one last good-bye to the Pacific Ocean and headed to some of the driest parts of the continent. We decided to retrace our steps from back in July when we drove west to Oregon. After a quick stop in Ashland to stock up at their food coop we headed east through Klamath Falls and on to Lakeview to check e-mail at the library and into the desert of the Great Basin. Once we left Oregon we knew there would be few services such as natural food, internet, or even good coffee till we got to Colorado. We admit that even though we may appear to get along without many material possessions, we live in safety and comfort and have developed habits that make us snobs about these few things such as good coffee, natural foods and internet. And those things are in short supply out in the desert west. Into Nevada, through Winnamuca and Austin back to the loneliest road in America, US 50, we had a delightful drive with nice warm weather and wide open spaces. US 50 is one of the few ways to cross the country on a two lane highway as all the other routes involve a four lane interstate except for US 2 which is way up by the Canadian border. And when you are in Nevada and Utah two lanes are plenty for the long straight road with few cars or trucks and the towns are few and and far between. We stopped in Ely, Nevada which is a pleasant town with wi-fi at the library, good coffee and if you like to gamble the last casinos before heading into Utah. We took advantage of the first two. Utah was as beautiful as we remembered from our trip west in July. We stopped at a rest area on I 70 on top of the San Rafael Swell finding it full of Navajo vendors selling jewelry and trinkets. Sales were slow because of high fuel prices and a bad economy and they had to stay ahead of the state police who would run them off. It was a drop dead gorgeous view and the vendors only added to the scenery.

COLORADO

We decided to go through Moab, Utah but found it a bit over done and took back roads into Colorado where we spent the night along the San Miguel River. The next morning we surfaced in Ridgeway, Colorado for coffee and tried to look up some traveler friends we had met in Mazatlan last winter. Unfortunately they were not home but we had a good time looking around the town which is small, quaint and surrounded by some of the highest mountains in Colorado. It has breathtaking beauty. There are a number of hot springs in this area but we have not been to them and it was too hot for soaking this particular day. Plus we were headed to Valley View Hot Springs ( www.olt.org ) which just happens to be Ches's favorite place on earth. We have mentioned it several times in previous chapters, and there are photos of some of the pools at http://picasaweb.google.com/Ches.Alli/Chapter11HotSprings?feat=directlink Valley View is in the expansive San Luis Valley of south central Colorado nestled in the lower reaches of the Sangre De Cristo mountains at about 8500'. The previous owners who have built it up over the last 30 years have turned it into a non profit land trust now run by a board of directors. The profits go into acquiring land in the valley to protect it from development. In the early part of the 20th century the springs were built up to serve miners at the nearby Orient Mine shut down in the 1940's. The springs and cabins were in ruins till Neil and Terry Seitz started the long road to building it all back up. There are three natural rock lined pools where the water stays about 96° year round. Another natural pool which is a ¼ mile hike up a steep trail varies between cold and 104° depending on the rain and snow which mixes with it and the time of year. A small concrete tub has supplemental heat and averages 104° to 106° and is next to the best swimming pool with silky water and no chlorine. All pools have great flow through. None of the springs mentioned in this blog use chlorine, which makes this a great time to talk about the subject. Many states require chlorine unless there is sufficient flow through of water to insure clean pools in relation to the amount of use and how often they are cleaned. The water at Valley View is clean, clear and devoid of sulphur. Also there is the best sauna in the world conveniently located next to the swimming pool. All of Valley View is clothing optional and the bathrooms are coed. There are cabins, camping, dorm rooms and an indoor kitchen for use by all. Free electrical for campers is supplied by an on site hydro turbine designed by Neil which he loves to give tours of. Around the area there is hiking, mountain biking, fly fishing, and tours of the old mine which has a shaft with a million Mexican free tail bats in the summer. There are no mosquitoes here. Whew. This is a very special place.

NEW MEXICO

Now is a good time to cover some of the hot springs in New Mexico that we have frequented in the past. When we lived in Santa Fe we would go to Ojo Caliente Hot Springs
( http://ojocalientesprings.com/ ) on the coldest days of the year as the water is hot and Ojo is in a typically sunny spot. So you could sit outside in hot mineral water in a pool that probably dates back to pre- Columbian times as snow squalls and sun divide the time. Ojo is about an hours drive north of Santa Fe on US 285 in the tiny, typical northern New Mexico village of the same name with a small river flowing by. It is located between the Rio Grande and Chama Rivers and between the Sangre De Cristo, Jemez, and San Juan mountain ranges. There are pools there with iron, soda, and arsenic waters, one of the few hot springs to offer different kinds of water. There is even a lithium water fountain. My favorite pool is the iron pool which is outside and the most natural of them. The water is about 104° to 105° and is clear and clean other than your bathing suit may get a bit orange (iron) after repeated soakings. Bathing suites are required except in private areas. The springs has gone through a building spurt in the last few years and is trying to become a full fledged resort. There is a hotel, restaurant, rv park, and casitas with private pools as well as day use and spa facilities which include steam room, sauna and massage. From the springs are hikes to an old pueblo ruin overlooking the valley and an abandoned mica mine where the ground glitters on a sunny day. As well as Santa Fe, it is about an hours' drive to Taos or going the other direction to Abiquiu and O'Keefe country which makes it a convenient spot to tour Northern New Mexico any time of year. Arts, hiking, mountain biking, rafting, skiing, fishing all abound in this area.
Further south, a couple of hours below Albuquerque, is the small town of Truth or Consequences ( http://www.truthorconsequencesnm.net/ ) which has several hot spring businesses which draw hot mineral water from a large aquifer under the town. The town is slowly moving into the 21st century as many of the establishments are getting fixed up. We are not too familiar with most of these facilities so check the website above for more information and links to each of them. One that we have visited is Riverbend Hot Springs ( http://www.riverbendhotsprings.com/ ) which has outdoor soaking pools on the banks of the Rio Grande River. T or C is an interesting part of New Mexico situated next to Elephant Butte Reservoir and the corresponding state park which offers camping. There are lots of mountains, national forests, and old mining towns to explore in the area as well as a commercial space port being constructed nearby next to the White Sands.
From Tor C you can head south on I 25 a few miles and then west on NM 152 over the spectacular Emory Pass, make a turn to the north on NM 35 and another turn north on NM 15 and drive on till you cross the Gila River and you will find Gila Hot Springs Ranch (http://www.gilahotspringsranch.com/gilafacilities.htm). They have an rv park but the area we like is the River Campground which is next to the Gila River. An artist manages this part and his unique found object sculptures are everywhere as well as tastefully built pools. There is a least one pool that is clothing optional out of the several pools here and the water temperature varies between the pools. It is clean clear water. Facilities are few and include a composting pit toilet and water hydrants. You can see some of the pools in our photographs http://picasaweb.google.com/Ches.Alli/Chapter11HotSprings?feat=directlink Also a short walk away is the more comfortable Wilderness Lodge ( http://www.gilahot.com/ ) which has a pool for guests who stay in the lodge. A few miles down the road is the Gila Cliff Dwellings, a must see. All of this is located in the Gila National Forest next to the Gila Wilderness so there is lots of camping and hiking in this area as well as undeveloped springs that require hikes of varying difficulty. There are many more hot springs in New Mexico than what we have mentioned here, these are just the ones we are most familiar with. Again let me remind you to check out Hot Springs and Hot Pools of the Southwest by Marjorie Gersh-Young (www.hotpools.com). Before we move on to the springs in Arizona we need to get up to speed on where we are so we will digress a bit.
By the last week of August we were back in New Mexico between Taos and El Rito camping and visiting friends and looking at real estate. We house sat for friends in Santa Fe and then Allison flew back to North Carolina for a three week visit to see her family. Ches took that time to make a trip to Silver City to check on real estate down there. We both are feeling unmotivated on that front for a couple of reasons: 1. the economy is on a slide as we are all aware by now, 2. we want to stay in New Mexico but can't decide where, and 3. we haven't found that perfect piece of property. So we are at a bit of a lull feeling that time is on our side.
By October we were still in the same groove as well as house sitting for friends in El Rito and Medanales. The house sitting has been a great relief for us as we get to remember what its like to live in a house and catch up on the internet. Plus we are in really nice places and nice houses, kinda like being on vacation. As the weather started to cool off in the second half of November we decided to drop our elevation a bit and headed to southeastern Arizona.

ARIZONA

On November 18 we drove south from Lordsburg, NM through Rodeo and headed for Bisbee, Arizona. Bisbee is a former copper mining town with a huge pit right next to the town. Since the mine closed a new wave of people have moved in fixing up the old buildings and creating a tourist town with lots of charm and a great place to walk around. Situated in the mountains the streets are narrow and steep. There has been some talk of opening up the old mine but with copper prices in the pit (hee-hee) that seems unlikely. This whole area of southeastern Arizona as well as southwestern New Mexico is copper country and has been booming for the last few years but the layoffs are hitting hard now with some mines getting rid of two thirds of their workforce. This boom and bust cycle is the norm in the mining industry but is also a reminder of how the bad economy is affecting different parts of the country in different ways. While we were in this area close to Mexico, Ches decided to get his teeth cleaned in Agua Prieta just across the border from Douglas, Az. The dentist's office was a short walk from the border crossing through a rather dull town with little to offer. The office, on the other hand, was beautiful and very clean, tiled throughout. You never know. From Bisbee we had a beautiful drive over to the tiny town of Patagonia which is about an hour south of Tucson close to the Mexican border. It is a higher elevation than Tucson and surrounded by mountains so it is cooler and wetter. Lots of birders come to this area.There is a great little cafe here that has good coffee and wi-fi so we were happy. And it is a great place to mingle with the locals and other travelers. After breakfast we headed towards Tucson where we spent a couple days stocking up and hiking in the Catalina mountains. We arrived in time for the annual bike race which held up traffic considerably. An incredible mass of riders - it was impossible to see how they could move forward without scraping legs and wrecking. Sadly, we missed connecting with Allison's sister and brother-in-law who had come to Tuscon specifically for the race, but we didn't know that until later.
With winter closing in on us, and the corresponding short days which are no fun for camping, we wanted to explore the warmest parts of the southwest. We headed west to the El Dorado Hot Springs ( http://www.el-dorado.com/ ) 50 miles west of Phoenix and about a ¼ mile from the Tonopah exit off I-10. We didn't know much about it except that somebody in Silver City said it was pretty nice. Thinking we would only stay one or two nights, we ended up staying 2 ½ weeks as work campers which makes four hot springs we have worked at up till now. These springs are not actually springs as the water is pumped from deep wells that tap an hot underground aquifer. This water which is very clean and clear is piped to a series of tubs in five private areas and a semi-private area that has four old cast iron tubs, a larger concrete tub and a six foot metal stock tank. Semi-private; a strange description when the area is open for anyone that pays to come in. Perhaps this term is used by the Spring owners because the area is walled off from public view and also, you are in the cast iron bath tubs alone. All of the tubs ( two of the private tubs are stone ) have valves so that soakers can adjust the temperatures and flow through as they desire, and they are cleaned daily. Clothing is not allowed in the semi-private area and in the private areas, of course, bathing suits are up to the bathers. There are also two cabins and three rooms for nightly rentals with one room and one cabin each having their own private tub. Camping and rv hookups are also available.
We arrived there two days before Thanksgiving and soon agreed to stay longer to do work in exchange for camping. We were immediately and warmly accepted by the manager, Vickie and all the other work campers who generously invited us to there Thanksgiving dinner before we had done any work or they even knew who we were. Holidays can be very lonely on the road but we were hardly lonely here. They are a great group of folks, working hard to keep things running smoothly. Photographs of El Dorado and our new friends are at http://picasaweb.google.com/Ches.Alli/Chapter11HotSprings?feat=directlink We had never been to this part of Arizona before but we learned a lot talking to farmers (cotton is the crop here), truckers (being right next to an interstate exit with truck stops right next door we learned that some truckers like hot springs) and other visitors from far and near. Our plan had been to head to the Salton Sea as Ches wanted to see that area but we put that on the back burner for another day. By December 14th we said goodbye to our new friends to head back to Albuquerque to house sit for our good friends Susie and Ray who are on vacation for three weeks. We had promised we would watch things for them weeks earlier and we were happy to have a house to stay in over the holidays.
One last springs to mention is Roper Lake State Park near Safford in southeastern Arizona. There is one small rock lined pool here for use by campers or day users of about 102° and clean clear water. Because of the small size of the pool soakers are asked to stay in for only 15 minutes when people are waiting to get in. Our experience so far has been that this is rarely a problem. The park has a lake, rv and camp sites and is only a couple of miles from Safford which has supermarkets and restaurants.
So here we are enjoying all the comforts of a home till January when we will need to come up with a plan for the new year. One of our thoughts is to head down to Mexico to at least San Carlos which is on the Sea of Cortez. Who knows? Although we are homeless, even if by choice, we certainly feel very fortunate in this time of uncertainty. The new year will be challenging for many of us and we hope for the best for all of us. Happy New Year, Ches and Allison

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Photos

Breitenbush pool
Breitenbush pool

Terwillinger pools
Terwillinger Hot Springs

pond scum mouse
creative creatures at Valley View Hot Springs

Top pool Valley VIew
top pool at Valley View Hot Springs

Soaking pool, Valley View
most popular pool at Valley View Hot Springs

cabin Valley View
Private cabin at Valley View

Views from the Top
Hiking views at Valley View

Crossing Taos Gorge
Taos Gorge Bridge

Pedernal
Famous mesa near Abiquiu Dam

Rio Grande
Rio Grande between Taos and Pilar

Grapes
grape vine in Santa Fe

Gila pool
Gila Hot Springs pool

Gila pool
Gila pool

Gila Mnts
going to Gila Hot Springs

Gila Art
Drift wood sculptures Gila Hot Springs

Bisbee gate
Bisbee AZ gate to private residence

El Dorado Hot Springs
entrance to El Dorado

Corral tub
Corral tub at El Dorado

Desert Pete
hot tubs, El Dorado