Paulina Lake Hot Springs again?

Happenings
#1

Continuing the discussion from EVA to Paulina Lake Hot Springs:

@crankycoyote set one up last year, and I quite enjoyed it. Maybe we could repeat the trip again this year?

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#2

Very cool! I would like to participate this year too. :3~

To start, I’ll summarize what is in the topic from last year~!
It has some very great points:

  • We 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!
  • Good shoes will also be a must, since the trail crosses an obsidian flow.
  • Have an entrenching tool for the group, and either a bucket or a tarp to ferry cold water from the lake.
  • More shovels would be good if people have them.
  • Cell service is spotty, but available.

Direction-wise there’s good info as well:

Very excited for this year!!! :3~

#3

I’m in for a repeat. I think Boulder captured pretty much all the relevant info up there; I’ll have a bucket and entrenching tool, same as last time.

#4

Ah, right, I forgot about the tools for digging out collapsed hot spring pools. I’ll try to remember to at least bring a small folding shovel and my folding bucket. I’ll also try to bring my lifestraw-style water-filter thingy so we can get safe-to-drink water from the lake. It’s slow, but if you rig it up to sit and filter via gravity, you get water plenty quickly enough for everyone to drink.

I remember temperature regulation was interesting as well: move water from lake to pool to cool it down, move water from pool to lake to heat it up. I recall the water seeping in through the rocks was tremendously hot as well.

A word of caution to anyone interested - it is about a mile and a half light hike each way. No significant elevation gain in the hike, but a few parts are narrow enough, with a long enough drop, to be a touch unnerving if you aren’t 100% confident in your balance.

It’s so worth the effort though, especially at night, when you can lay back and stare at the sea of stars. I just checked, new moon is August 2nd, and first quarter is August 10th, so we’ll have less than half a moon all weekend long, making for pretty good night-sky staring.

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#5

I don’t remember if we were able to hit the HAM repeater we set up at camp or not but I THINK we were able to last year? Either way, we will have radios with us I’ll try and figure out a small shovel too on my end

#6

Yes Tyco, a hot springs trip sounds great, we’ll talk about anything else we’ll need to have it work out well!

#7

Oh man I love hiking and I love hot springs! I’ll be driving to CFT so can provide my own transportation but this sounds rad!

#8

I realized something when I re-read my post above. As mentioned, there are a couple spots on the trail that are narrow and have a significant drop. Because of this, I’m going to advise against this outing if you’re significantly drunk on departure, or plan on drinking significant amounts at the lake. I mean, if you want to bring a shot or a beer or two, I doubt that’s an issue, but if you’re at the point of stumbling, you won’t make it through the trail, and you taking a 30-foot plunge toward a rock-filled lake shore will really put a big damper on the whole trip.

#9

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