Distance: Around 3 miles
Elevation Gain: About 1000 feet
Time: Around an hour
Overall Impression: Fun, but too busy and kind of dirty.
This Sunday after meeting at the Park Cafe for way too much delicious bacon, we went with two other couples to check out the hot springs at the Fifth Water Springs near Diamond Fork, Utah. This was in and around the Provo area, about an hour-ish away from Salt Lake. Sorry about my lack of precision...
We set off and walked through the beautiful Fall scenery along the babbling brooke. There were lots of friendly people around, walking their cute dogs and making us jealous that they have furry friends to take along with them. Steve and I aren't ready for the commitment yet, but we can dream.
This is the view of the stream we hiked along. The hot springs feed into this water.
As we made our way closer to the hot springs, it started to smell like sulpher.
Mid-October hiking in the Wasatch is wonderfully beautiful, in case you didn't know. I was an East Coast snob, thinking our colors were prettier than these Western states, but no. Utah's got it going on.
I didn't really take any pictures of us in the hot springs, but this is the picture of us standing around trying to figure out how to change and get into the hot spring. It was busy with people, kind of dirty, with trash laying around here and there, and lots of dirt floating in the water. And we were a little disappointed by the man-made feeling of the springs themselves. I'm not sure exactly how much intervention there has been to provide the public with this hot spring service, but there are pipes and what looks like cement in and around the springs. We didn't love that. Plus, the water could have stood to be hotter, in my opinion. I mean, if you're going to run a pipe, why not put in a heater? ;)
It was tough and cold and muddy to change back into my clothes afterwards too. Wah, wah, wah.
Then we hiked up higher to find a place for lunch. Some of us attempted this death defying stunt. I took the long way around. Later, I slipped in some wet mud while trying to climb up a bank and bruised and scratched my elbow. Steve worried about the camera in my hands instead of whether or not I was hurt. The nerve!
We found a very pretty spot to sit and eat our sandwiches and cup o'soup that we brought along, and enjoyed chatting with our new friends and getting to know each other. Gotta love other transplants all here in similar situations as us. :)
We walked back down the hill, chatting away still. At the end of the hike as we stood in the parking lot saying our goodbyes, one guy found this preying mantis. Pretty striking, isn't it?
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