Five hour drive from Los Angeles, but well worth it. Walking through a wash most of the way, we found a hike that leads into Arizona Hot Springs. We’ve been there before, but only by canoeing up from Willow Creek Docking Area.
It was so windy the day we went in, but who cares, we got to go to a hotsprings. The one most annoying thing about the whole hike was that we were hiking on little rocks the whole 2 hours in, which made it harder to feel like we were moving. But, we were moving! After a couple successful rockclimbs, we found the Colorado River.
After arriving, we set up the tent on a sandy part right next to the river up on a ledge. We were covered by some bushes, but the wind still hit us pretty harshly during the night. We woke up to a pile of sand on our tent. Before we went to sleep, we headed over to the hot springs.
After going over the canyon we hit another wash, yes we were so happy to walk in the little rocks again. Once we found some water that was coming from the hot springs, we changed into our suits and sandals. The water kept getting warmer and warmer. Yes it kept getting even warmer, but not until we hit the ladder and had to climb it. That was an enjoyement in itself, though a little bit scary as well.
Once the climb was over, there was a small pool that was pretty warm. The higher you went there were three more pools and they got hotter and hotter. The middle pool was just perfect and kept us away from the harsh winds outside the canyon walls.
We spent about 3 hours there and were completely exhausted, because the hot water sucks the life out of you. Went back to the campground through the wash down to the river and over the canyon and back down to the other side. We found our tent and stuff butchered by the wind, everything was sandy. We cleaned up and made a fire, wasn’t to pleasant because of the wind, but still warmed us up.
Apart from the wind all went well. We headed out the next day to Hoover Dam. If you ever consider visiting Hoover Dam make your way over to Arizona Hot Springs, it’s a pleasant easy hike with a soothing reward!
-Ani-