Jeff Sings and Hot Springs, Round 2

When Josh and I went to all 3 days of the outdoor music festival Braun Brothers Reunion (BBR) in Challis last summer, we discovered a new band that we'd never heard of before: the Jeff Crosby Band. Jeff is an Idaho native, and his band members are also from Idaho. We both loved the sound of their music, and became instant fans. A couple weeks later, Jeff's band performed at Sweetwater Hollow, an outdoor venue in Salmon. It was an incredible concert, and it furthered our fandom. We got pictures with Jeff afterwards, and bought several of the group's CD's. We listened to those discs nonstop, memorizing his lyrics and the band's tunes. This past summer, we went to several of the band's concerts around the state, and each time we did, we soaked in different hot springs that were near the venue, to help achieve my goal of going to 30 hot springs in Idaho this year. Listening to Jeff's band and soaking in new hot springs were some of my favorite memories of the year. Because we coordinated our trips to include attending live concerts and adventuring to new hot springs, they are tied together in my mind, even though the concerts never took place at a hot springs. 

The second of these excursions was at the beginning of August. The Jeff Crosby Band was performing in McCall at the Brundage Resort. The resort hosts a free concert series on Friday nights in the summer, and since Jeff is from the surrounding area (he grew up in Donnelly south of McCall), his band was their featured band on Friday, August 5th. 

Since we were headed to McCall, we shuttled a truck there from Salmon for River Shuttles. Josh drove the truck, and I followed behind in our car. We dropped the truck off at a hotel in McCall, and then rode together the rest of the way (as well as the return trip). It was fun to see Josh in such a nice, big truck! Surprisingly, Fords have become my favorite trucks to drive since I started driving for River Shuttles 4 summers ago. 

This was the first time that Josh and I had been to Brundage Resort before. It was a great venue with ample parking and a nice big hillside amphitheater, and there was a pop-up stage with an excellent sound system. This was our favorite concert of the summer. Jeff Crosby and his band performed for 3 amazing hours, there were several food and drink vendors, and the crowd was very into his music. We enjoyed the concert immensely! We ate delicious food, loved listening to the music, and danced the night away. It ended after 9:30, just as the sun was setting.  

We spent the night at the Tamarack Resort near Cascade. It was the first time we'd been to that resort, too. It was much larger than we realized! It's an entire community up on that hillside, and the roads leading through it were like a maze! 

We had planned to go to some hot springs west of Cascade the next morning, but after some research, we realized one of them was no longer accessible due to the new owners of the private property taking it out, which was a bummer. So rather than heading west, we went southeast instead to Trail Creek hot springs, a different natural set of soaking tubs that we've heard a lot about. There were an assortment of pools that were easily accessible to the parking area above. Several other small groups were there, but we were all spread out in the various pools. I can see why it's so popular: set down in a grove of trees along the creek. We had a great soak! 

We had a reservation that afternoon at Gold Fork, a private hot springs east of McCall. After COVID happened, they required their customers to have COVID shots in order to be allowed to soak. They also started limiting the number of people soaking at a time, hence the reservation, but that also meant that the hot springs weren't crowded, which was nice.  They have 6 tiered pools at varying temperatures. It was in a natural setting amidst pine trees and was so peaceful! Most of the pools are set in stone, but one is surrounded with sand and has a sandy bottom. There were a variety of beach chairs and shaded umbrellas surrounding the pools and a covered seating area, too. They also have yurts with changing room and bathrooms. We had an enjoyable, relaxing time that afternoon! We would definitely go back there. 

The hottest pool

The largest pool

That yurt is the business center with the check-in desk.

It was a hot afternoon, so the shaded areas felt good!

The sandy pool

Below the sandy pool, there were 3 more tiered pools. There 
were some kids playing in them while we were there, though,
so we never soaked below the sandy pool. 

We drove back home to Salmon after that. It was a delightful 2-day excursion, listening to our favorite music and soaking in some beautiful hot springs.