Sunday, August 16, 2009

Bend - Day 2 - Oh Stewart

Thunderstorms were headed our way as we ate breakfast in camp. Marisa's iphone (Stella) confirmed it so we decided to go explore in Gwen and see what we could find. It was chilly, rainy and we were in a volcanic area, what is there to do? Oh yeah, lets go find some hot springs. We consulted Stella who told us about a place called Stewart Mineral Hot Springs just past Weed, CA. It was actually our only nearby choice so we gave it a shot.


Turned out to be locals day so we got half price ($12) but had to wait an hour and a half for our tubs. The time was spent in the cozy waiting room reading books, chatting with a cute couple that just got back from spending a month with Sai Baba in India, and trying to understand a girl who was on mushrooms and would start to say something then take 5 minutes to finish her sentence. We were finally called by the hostess who explained the system to us.


First we got our own room with a bathtub that we'd fill with the mineral water. It has silica in it, a natural detoxifying mineral, and you're not supposed to rub your skin while you're in the tub. The silica is like little glass shards that could rub your skin off. After about 10 minutes of soaking, you get up and go into the co-ed wood burning stove sauna where nakedness abounds. It was a little difficult to relax with so many people in there, all staring at each other like monkeys. The lighting was a little bright for my taste. At one point a guy randomly said to the room "Hey guys, I'm having a great experience." That was hilarious.

After about 10 minutes in the sauna, you walk out in your sheet through the cozy waiting room, onto the deck, down the stairs and throw yourself into the very chilly river. I loved this part and had no qualms about being naked here for some reason. I sprawled out on a rock to cool off, let the rain drops drip on my face, and soaked up the healing energy of the sacred grounds. We did this 3 times which took about an hour and a half and it was absolute decadence.


After the soak it had stopped raining and this was our view of Shasta as we drove back to McLoud.



We hiked around the McLoud area again, made some dinner and had some fun taking pics by the campfire. Fowler was great cause there was free firewood and kindling everywhere around our campsite. I'm used to having to buy it in bundles.





This potentially bluesy day turned out to be one of my favorites.

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