We left San Antonio Hot Springs some what sadly, as it was such a beautiful place, but our next destination uplifted our hearts, and with smiles openly worn, we disembarked. Initially we planned on backpacking into the Petrified Forest National Park to sleep, so we high tailed it there, barely making it to the gates with a half hour of sunlight remaining. The lady working the entrance informed us that we had arrived too late to to be able to do the back country camping, but the silver lining was that it was FREE National Park weekend, and we were able to take a leisure drive through the park until the sun had set for the evening.
The area was truly breathtaking, with amazing overlooks into the painted desert and ancient petrified forest studded with the remains of felled and fossilized trees, that were marbled with every imaginable hue, and seemingly more gem like then not. We took a short video at an overlook, and should be posting it near the end of this post. We raced the setting sun, with the last part of our drive nearing dusk, and as we exited the park, we noticed a sign that said "Free Petrified Wood" at the local souvenier shop, so decided to stop so that Denton could acquire a piece. While stopped, we noticed a sign that said "Free Camping" as well, and they had these really cute Teepee's that initially had a draw to us, but after closer inspection and discussion we decided that the night was still young, and the Teepee's a tad small, so we hit the road again.
We rode throughout the night, coffee and nicotine our only defense against the monotonous, hypnotic, winding desert freeways, and arrived at Camp Verde, AZ around 1 A.M. We stopped to fill our gas tank at the local gas station, and then headed over to a Denny's to update our blog and to enjoy some $2 Hashbrowns and Biscuits and Gravy. While there we asked the Waitress about the Verde Hotsprings, she was under the impression that the road leading in was closed, so we worriedly googled the information looking to confirm her statement, but were unable to find any information that collaborated her opinion, so we decided to risk the trip anyways. In retrospect, she was probably thinking about the Verde Hotspring Resort, which closed in 1958 due to a massive fire, or that nearby Strawberry Road was closed most likely due weather conditions, either way, we were determined to make our way there.
The road leading into the Verde Valley was a wash board dirt road that wound around the mountain side, following the river that had carved it's gorge into the valley below. The ride down was tedious, most of it down hill, with sharp banks and a steep grade, and with the added weight of our gear, it put a lot of stress on our brakes as well. Shawna was a bit nervous, after driving all night over four hundred miles, and was a little on edge, but moving along slow and steady, we made it the twenty five miles to the end of the road, and the Child's Campground. When we first arrived, we noted a sign that said "No Motor Vehicle's Allowed", so we decided to break out our hiking gear, hike down the little hill, and find a spot to crash for the night. By this time, it's close to 4 a.m., we scavenge out a nice little camp area, and notice that everyone actually did have their vehicles down near their camp sites, yet decided to get the Jeep in the morning, so we hastily assembled our tents, and fell into a blissful sleep.
We awoke after only a few hours of sleep, as is often the case in tent sleeping, the roasting morning sun was our wake up alarm. We stepped out of our tents, and beheld the beauty of the flowing Verde River not a hundred feet from where we slept. We took a short hike around, greeting our neighbors and asking where the path to the hot springs was, as well as looking for a shaded camp site, then grabbed a light snack, some towels, and headed out to explore! The hike was a fairly easy one, with rocks stacked upon each other in formations known as cairns, helping to mark the trail, and with only a little scrambling, some boulder hopping, and a single river crossing, we were almost there. The hike itself only took about 25 minutes, and as we approached the waters crossing, our little puppy Maya swam confidently across the river current for her very first time, we were so proud of her!
We approached the deck of the two pools, a concrete outcropping over looking the river about fifteen feet below, and immediately we noticed the beautiful mosaics and art adorning the pillars and walls of the stone bath house. Lucky for us, the locals had just recently detailed and cleaned out the larger of the two pools (with a temperature of about 97 degrees), so that the waters were clean and inviting. The larger of the two pools was the coolest, about 7 feet deep with a few stones to stand upon, and probably five feet wide by 15 feet long. At one point I counted thirteen poeple in that pool, with room for more to join. The other pool was enclosed in a stone room without a roof, it was about five square feet, and only a foot and a half deep, but the temperature was very enjoyable, chill-abolishing 102 degrees. This hotter pool had a variety of awesome murals on the walls, an ever changing collage of color and self expression that bespoke of a love for life and the sacred nature of the pools themselves. Quotes and images inspired us and offered a fun opportunity to reflect while soaking in the curative properties of the waters.
Our first trip to the springs was very enjoyable, the only other interesting point being that the other people there also had their dogs off leash, so that there was like eight dogs running amuck, but they all behaved well and incorporated our dogs into their expanding pack. We introduced ourselves to the others in the pool, ate an orange apiece, and soaked ourselves until the noon heat drove us back to camp for shade and nourishment.
Shawna was very hot, so I took our 15 foot tarp and made a very nice shade structure for us all to enjoy. We made a fire that evening, and Shawna cooked the best campfire meal to date, bacon wrapped green bean bundles with a balsamic sugar glaze. We must thank Chambrey and April for inspiring the recipe. That night a Verde River Elder slash Dead Head named Jack that we met at the pools stopped by for a bit to show us his musical skills. When we met him earlier at the springs, he had a CD playing by the pool that he said was his band. Listening closely, I noticed what sounded like a musical saw. Jack was impressed that I correctly picked out the sound of this archaic instrument, and admitted that it was indeed him whom was playing the saw! Jack sat down around our flames, and commenced to seranade us with violin like peals of enchanting music accompanied by a very trippy Grateful Dead song. It was a first time experience for us all, and much enjoyed!
The rest of our six day stay went by far too fast, we made friends with another Elder named Brett who offered us his shaded campsite, as he too was relocating to a better one, and we siezed the opportunity to find real shade and to be close to the babbling river. Brett also let us borrow an air mattress, as ours seemed to be losing air (as is always the case it seems with air mattresses!), and over all was a very cool person who hooked us up in a number of small ways. We met some traveling street kids who were pretty cool, we jammed out on some drums a few times, and helped them out with a pot to cook rice in, which they failed to return before they left. Sad Face. Denton caught his first snake, a three foot King snake, that we released so that it could continue to scourge the area for its main food source, Rattlesnakes. I also happened upon a lethal Coral snake that was crossing the road in front of me, it was only maybe seven inches long, and I wisely left him be.
Our days consisted of a trip or two, to the springs, a nightly campfire, good company and wonderful new experiences. One evening, Denton went to the hot springs alone with a water bottle full of rum to enjoy some solitude under the stars. The next morning came, then noon, and we still hadn't seen him. Worriedly we hiked to the springs, only to find that he wasn't there either! Come to find out, he took a different trail back to camp, and we had just missed him. Thankfully, he finally returned and was perfectly intact, much unlike our bottle of rum.
On the last night of our trip, we had a chance to bond with other Verde Family members, and stayed up late drinking and conversing in the springs, as they had talked us into staying for an impromtu farewell party. The next day we took group photos, and was told that we too were now Verde Family, we exchanged facebook information so that we may stay in touch, as they were now a part of our family as well. Shawna sold some more soap, all natural unscented bars to a cool hippy chick named Becky, Brett gave us some dehydrated road rations, and we packed up to hit the road once again.
Our next destination is my parents house in Lucerne Valley, California, where I am writing this blog now in fact. We should be here another week or so, then north we will head to Bridgeport and Mammoth area. As we get closer to leaving, we will update again our time here in southern California. Until then, we send our love, and hope to hear from all you lovely poeple.
Empathetically yours... Tieas Cone
“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
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