[pct-l] Deep Creek Hot Springs

[dsaufley at sprynet.com (dsaufley@sprynet.com)]

I had an interesting experience there 20 years ago as "a clueless[person] who hike[d] into the hot springs."  I drove in late at night an car camped somewhere off the highway on the road to the hot springs.  In the morning, as I tried to find the way to the springs, I encountered a young man at the side of the road who asked for a ride.  To show you how clueless I was, I gave him a ride.  I wanted directions which he gave me in exchange for an unopened bottle of wine I had in the car.  

While we drove he told me that he lived in the desert, and was part of an enclave of people who lived out there.  They were warring with another group of desert dwellers, who had raided their encampment and taken some of their goods and provisions.  Much of their food and goods were gotten from the dumpsters of the nearest homes and businesses down in Victorville and Hesperia.  He opened my eyes to the fact that there are "fringe dwellers" living a nomadic, tribal existence.  From everything I heard, I would say it was like walking into a Mad Max movie.  

I dropped him off where he wanted me to, and his directions got me to the parking area at Bowen Ranch, where I was much surprised to be asked to pay for parking by a very hairy man wearing nothing but a poncho that er, well, didn't quite -- well, you know.  It was an eye-opening experience, to say the least.  Thankfully after hiking down into the creek (don't know if it was on the PCT or not), my experiences were a little more conventional.  It's one of those things I did in my youth that I look back on and feel lucky to still be alive.  I've never gone back -- once was enough.  

I have a friend who used to frequent the hot springs.  He especially enjoyed the busloads of foreign tourists who sometimes show up there.  Apparently Deep Creek is very well known world-wide by hot springs enthusiasts.  Many hikers have mentioned having fantastic experiences there, but they've also mentioned going through on a week day rather than a weekend or holiday.  

A hiker I thought was very wise said that "No two experiences of a place are exactly alike.  It is colored by who you meet, how you feel at that moment, and even the weather."  Many experienced hikers say they don't want to hear advice from other hikers about what's ahead -- it's invariably not what the advisor indicated, having been the sum of that particular person's views, attitudes, abilities, and conditions at the moment.  They don't want that to warp their expectations and own individual experience.  Others want every possible contingency spelled out for them.  

It's a joy and a wonder to observe the diversity of the human experience.  

-=Donna Saufley=-

-=Donna Saufley=-



-----Original Message-----
From: Craig Milo Rogers <rogers@isi.edu>
Sent: Dec 23, 2004 11:37 PM
To: Steve Peterson <steve_peterson@sbcglobal.net>
Cc: pct-l <pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net>
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Deep Creek Hot Springs

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

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