[pct-l] Deep Creek Hot Springs

[rogers at isi.edu (Craig Milo Rogers)]

On 04.12.22, Steve Peterson wrote:
> Is there camping there or not? Yogi in 2003 reports getting booted out of 

	When I asked a Forest Service ranger this year or last, the
word I got was "No camping in the Deep Creek drainage".  This response
surprised me, because I thought the rule was "no camping within a mile
of the hot springs".  I'm pretty sure that was the rule in the
'80's...

	Nearby "Family Canyon", downstream of the hot springs, was one
of Charles Manson's hangouts.  I saw, er, satanic(?) grafitti and many
candles at the hot springs a couple of years ago.  There are also
recurrent reports of problem drug users and occasional long-term
campers in the area.

	There are clueless people who hike into the hot springs with
insufficient water for the hot access trail in the summer, or who get
lost and freeze to death in the winter (as happened last winter, I
think).  There are recurring reports of vandalism to day hikers'
vehicles.  There's a long-simmering fued over legal ownership of the
main non-PCT access path to the hot springs, occasionally involving
guns and threats of violence, according to some of the participants.
There are recurring reports of vandalism on nearbly BLM land, locks
and fences being cut, ATVs ridden through marked archeological
reserves, etc.

	Don't get me wrong: most of the folks you'll meet at Deep
Creek are happy, well-adjusted naked people.  But, the area does
attract a certain fringe element.

	If you want to be very conservative, I'd recommend the
following plan:

1)	Check with the Forest Service rangers before leaving Big Bear,
	and file an itinerary with someone.

2)	Camp before you enter the Deep Creek drainage.

3)	Have a pleasant soak at the hot springs (without getting your head
	wet), but camp at Hesperia Lake Park, about 3 miles off the trail
	past the dam (the PCT guide book has contact info).

4)	Call your itinerary holder from Hesperia Lake Park, and again
	from Silverwood Lake State Recreation Area.

5)	Don't hike alone.

					Craig "Computer" Rogers