River, Creek, Hike, & Soak

Josh and I crossed another natural hot springs off my "Idaho Hot Springs Hit List" in October: we hiked and soaked in Owl Creek Hot Springs.

We loaded up the Jeep the first weekend of October, and drove down river past North Fork. We tent-camped overnight along the Salmon River, near Panther Creek. The weather was gorgeous, and we had a little sandy spot right next to the river all to ourselves. The next morning, we packed up camp, and drove down to Owl Creek. We parked the Jeep, got out our loaded backpacks, and began the hike up and over the hill, where we followed the trail alongside Owl Creek. It was about 3 miles in to the hot springs. It was a beautiful fall morning and we were the only ones on the trail! You have to cross the creek to get to the hot springs, and there was a homemade bridge made from downed tree poles with a rope handrail right by the hot springs source, which was nice to be able to use!

There were two tubs, and we soaked in just the one (the other was too small for both of us to fit). There was a rake there to get some of the floating gunk out, which was nice, too. We soaked for less than an hour, because we were weirded out by a makeshift outdoor home that was created by someone along the trail near the hot spring tub, and we couldn't tell if the person living there was hiding out somewhere around us, or if they were gone for the moment. Either way, Josh and I both had a creepy, eerie feeling that we just couldn't shake the entire time we were soaking, which made it less enjoyable than it should've been! I had been looking forward to a nice long soak after our hike, but that ended up not being the case! However, we never did spot anyone, not in or around the campsite, or along the trail, which we were grateful for at least! 

The hike itself was incredible, and we both enjoyed the views, the sound of the rushing water, and the smells of fall around us! We were both glad we went to this place during the fall!

This was the makeshift home campsite near the hot springs.
Josh is on a rock on the far left, trying to determine if anyone 
is around the place.

Josh followed behind me on the trail back to the Jeep