Comment by jtwaleson
3 hours ago
A couple years back I drove from Vegas to Yosemite. Due to a road closure we had to take a 4 hour detour. We had this colourful van from Escape Campervans, and every night looked at freecampsites.net to find a free place to sleep. Nice adventures.
That night around 8pm we drove to a random pick, called Willy's Hot Springs, very tired and hungry. We had no idea what it was and had never been to a hot springs. After confirming we could stay there, we drove for dinner and a beer at Mammoth. When we got back, we were curious and went along the wooden path to see the hot springs.
It was around midnight, there was no moon and 0 light pollution. It was magical. You sit in the cold night in natural hot water, in the middle of pretty barren country. There's all the stars and the milky way. Then all of a sudden it got pretty bright. The moon rose over the horizon. It was the first and only moonrise I've ever seen.
This was the most magical night in nature I've ever experienced. A friend of mine said "oh, Willy's Hot Springs, I've been there too, it was kind of mid." I think we experience the world in different ways.
Ha - I live on the East Coast and had never been to a hot spring in my life until last week, on a road trip in California. It was Wild Willy's. Your night visit sounds wonderful, but our late afternoon stop was beautiful too. Blissful scenery all around.
Similar experience at the Arizona Hot Springs, we sat in there nestled between a slot canyon as the sunset and the moon came out. Magical. One of the most memorable experiences of my life.
The hours-long hike back through the desert in the dark of night though, kinda scary. Felt like we were walking on Mars.
I considered adding a dark skies layer for this very reason!