Sierra Holiday
Spring Downpour
An adventurous group is rained-out during a trip to Piedra Hot Springs.
We rolled up to the dirt parking lot, so excited that we nearly lept out of the car, not a single worry in our minds. We should have checked the weather.
I was with my friend Eva, her brother Leo, her mom Jennifer, her mom’s boyfriend James, and their dogs Lilah and Atlas. We were all standing in the parking lot, putting on sunscreen, packing our gear up, and preparing for the hike ahead of us. We got to the trailhead and looked around, a cool breeze blew all of our hair back and smelled of pine. I took a deep breath and started trudging down the trail.
There were lots of trees and rocks, as would any mountain hike, and the whole hike to get to the campsite was downhill so it was very easy, and made it easy to carry all of our stuff.After about thirty to forty minutes, we arrived at Piedra Hot Springs. It was an all natural spring, so what made the water warm was the earth. No one else was at the campsite, so we had this whole beautiful area, by the river, all to ourselves. There were lots of tall trees and a beautiful view of the mountains and the river.
We start to set up our tents, and as we break out the first tent, we realize it was meant for only one person, it looked like a coffin tent. The bad thing about this was that I had to share this tent with my friend and her little brother. At the time, it didn’t matter to us, we were just there to have a good time. So we set it up, put all of our stuff inside, and started to explore the area to find firewood.
When we got back to the site, we set down our wood and sticks and decided to go down to the spring. We put on our bathing suits and excitedly jogged to the river. When we arrived, we dipped our toes in the water, and it felt warm so we got in. The floor of the spring was dirt and the sides were rock. It was pretty shallow, and to our surprise, it was cold. This was disappointing, but the further down you dug into the dirt, the hotter it was.
This wasn’t very pleasant, so we decided to head back up to camp and start a fire. We sat around the fire and roasted marshmallows, and told stories and had a good time. As it started to get late, it got colder and clouds started rolling in. So we slowly made our way into bed. We were all laying in our tiny little tent, talking and figuring out what we wanted to do in the morning, then we hear ‘drip, drop, drip, drop’, RAIN. We figured it would pass, so we ignored it. About an hour went by, and the rain, not only did it not pass, but it got worse. After about two hours, we had an inch of rain, in a puddle, in our tent.
Every five or so minutes, we would complain to Eva’s mom, but she kept saying, “It will pass, it will pass.” It never passed.
Everyone was finally so cold and wet that we thought the best option was to head back up to the car, and go home. We gathered all the things we wanted to take home, and left behind the tents, so that we could get them in the morning, when it wasn’t raining.
Three kids, two adults, and two dogs all slipping and sliding up this mudslide of a mountain. Every step we would take up, we would either slide a little bit, or our feet would get stuck in the mud. When we arrived at the car, we all piled in, exhausted and wet. The smell of wet dog and dirt filled our noses. In the end, I learned that sometimes you just need to stop and take care of yourself, to push through to the end, but also stay healthy while doing it.
We all sit in the car, in complete silence, I peel off my muddy socks and look out the window. It was all worth it in the end.
I was with my friend Eva, her brother Leo, her mom Jennifer, her mom’s boyfriend James, and their dogs Lilah and Atlas. We were all standing in the parking lot, putting on sunscreen, packing our gear up, and preparing for the hike ahead of us. We got to the trailhead and looked around, a cool breeze blew all of our hair back and smelled of pine. I took a deep breath and started trudging down the trail.
There were lots of trees and rocks, as would any mountain hike, and the whole hike to get to the campsite was downhill so it was very easy, and made it easy to carry all of our stuff.After about thirty to forty minutes, we arrived at Piedra Hot Springs. It was an all natural spring, so what made the water warm was the earth. No one else was at the campsite, so we had this whole beautiful area, by the river, all to ourselves. There were lots of tall trees and a beautiful view of the mountains and the river.
We start to set up our tents, and as we break out the first tent, we realize it was meant for only one person, it looked like a coffin tent. The bad thing about this was that I had to share this tent with my friend and her little brother. At the time, it didn’t matter to us, we were just there to have a good time. So we set it up, put all of our stuff inside, and started to explore the area to find firewood.
When we got back to the site, we set down our wood and sticks and decided to go down to the spring. We put on our bathing suits and excitedly jogged to the river. When we arrived, we dipped our toes in the water, and it felt warm so we got in. The floor of the spring was dirt and the sides were rock. It was pretty shallow, and to our surprise, it was cold. This was disappointing, but the further down you dug into the dirt, the hotter it was.
This wasn’t very pleasant, so we decided to head back up to camp and start a fire. We sat around the fire and roasted marshmallows, and told stories and had a good time. As it started to get late, it got colder and clouds started rolling in. So we slowly made our way into bed. We were all laying in our tiny little tent, talking and figuring out what we wanted to do in the morning, then we hear ‘drip, drop, drip, drop’, RAIN. We figured it would pass, so we ignored it. About an hour went by, and the rain, not only did it not pass, but it got worse. After about two hours, we had an inch of rain, in a puddle, in our tent.
Every five or so minutes, we would complain to Eva’s mom, but she kept saying, “It will pass, it will pass.” It never passed.
Everyone was finally so cold and wet that we thought the best option was to head back up to the car, and go home. We gathered all the things we wanted to take home, and left behind the tents, so that we could get them in the morning, when it wasn’t raining.
Three kids, two adults, and two dogs all slipping and sliding up this mudslide of a mountain. Every step we would take up, we would either slide a little bit, or our feet would get stuck in the mud. When we arrived at the car, we all piled in, exhausted and wet. The smell of wet dog and dirt filled our noses. In the end, I learned that sometimes you just need to stop and take care of yourself, to push through to the end, but also stay healthy while doing it.
We all sit in the car, in complete silence, I peel off my muddy socks and look out the window. It was all worth it in the end.