I’d like to find the hot springs at Paulina Lake! I’ve never been there, but I’ve got a big-ass van w/ either 2 or 3 passenger seats and a lot more room in back if folks don’t mind sitting on the floor or on camp chairs. I’m thinking Friday afternoon, maybe?
I (and my cohorts) might very much enjoy that, assuming it’s not an expensive proposition (pay-to-enter sort of thing).
Rad! We do ask that you check in with staff with a list of all going and have a way to contact us in case of emergency! Keeping channels open with Base is important!
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I did a little research, and it appears there are some hot spring-like pools somewhere on the shore of the east lake. I would guess it’s somewhere near the west side of the east lake, since that’s where the caldera itself is. The entire shoreline looks to be only about 3.5 miles around, so presumably it’s not hideously difficult to find. Couldn’t see it on satellite photos though 
Looks like if one is planning to actually use the hot spring, it seems advisable to bring a shovel (to re-dig the hole if needed), and a bucket (to bring cold water from the lake into the hot spring if needed). It does not appear to have direct car access, requiring some amount of hiking.
Will do, @Beauchamp, thanks for the heads-up. Do you know if there’s cell coverage in the area up by the lake?
Thanks for the research, @tyco! I had forgotten about the shovel requirement. As far as I know, it’s Deschutes National Forest, no entry fee required. According to the guidebook I’ve got, the trailhead to use is the Little Crater Campground parking area at (43.718070, -121.241027), and the hot springs area is around 43.732833, -121.251300 (I don’t know which datum they’re using though, and (43.731946, -121.255689) seems like it’s more correct based on the directions - those are WGS84 coordinates, so they’re good on Google Maps). So, looks like about 1-1.5 miles each way, conservatively.
Good shoes will also be a must, since the trail crosses an obsidian flow. I’ll have an entrenching tool with me, and either a bucket or a tarp, but more shovels would be good if people have them.
@crankycoyote Last year, we found that verizon and tmobile (I think) were getting decent service at the camp site. I would guess that you’d at least be able to make a phone call from Paulina.
I had talked with Tyco recently and we believe we may be able to get communications up using mobile ham radios.
Yes, @groggy and I talked about possibly rigging up ham radios to talk between the camp and the hot springs, but for me that’s mostly just a geek-out-and-see-if-we-can-do-it sort of thing. That sort of range will need higher-power radios, like the sort typically installed in a car. A handheld ain’t gonna cut it, nor will any sort of non-licensed radio such as FRS or XRS. That means communicating back to camp from there will mean someone with a license would have to stay behind at camp.
Which leads me to wonder: who at camp has a ham radio license? I know of myself, @Groggy, @smash, and @WoofyTheBunny.
What about business band itinerant frequencies not in use up there?
My original curiosity was whether or not, if I go on the excursion to the nearby hotsprings, if we’d be able to get simplex back to camp, maybe by bringing batteries and ~40W mobile rigs. The hot springs are several miles away; handhelds probably won’t cut it. But I did recently discover there are repeaters in the area, so that might pull it off.
The idea of contacting back to camp from the hot springs is purely to see if it can be done.
Or set up a repeater in camp. I have a UHF repeater
Sounds like we are getting close to base unit territory. :V