Jeff Sings and Hot Springs, Round 3

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 fell in love with the sound of their music and we 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 both 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. This particular concert/hot springs trip in September was the 3rd of 4 such trips this summer and fall. 

This trip was all in Crouch, a cute little community in the Garden Valley north of Boise. We drove down on Friday afternoon (Sept. 23) and stayed in a cabin at the Terrace Lakes Resort. After we got checked in, we ate dinner in their clubhouse, and then soaked in the warm pool that evening afterwards. It was a pretty quiet evening in the pool, and the weather was perfect. Neither of us had been to Terrace Lakes before, but we liked the feel of it. They have a golf course, a restaurant, the naturally-heated warm pool, and lodging. 

The Clubhouse and restaurant

The next morning, we checked out and started our drive northbound on the Forest Service Road into the Boise National Forest. Our first stop of the day was the Rocky Canyon Hot Springs, about 12 miles north of Crouch. You have to cross the Middle Fork of the Payette in order to reach the cascading pools on the mountainside. I'd been to this natural hot springs before, but this was the first time for Josh. The last time I went there was in June of last year, but the river water was a lot lower this time in September, and it was easier to cross as a result. There are 4 pools, and we soaked in the highest (and hottest) one for a while. When we arrived, nobody was there, but the longer we soaked, more people came. We finally left, crossed back across the river, and continued our drive to the next hot springs. 

We drove about 3 more miles and stopped again at another natural hot springs called Fire Crew Hot Springs just past the Trail Creek Campground. The water was super hot (the source was 120*), but the pools closer to the current in the river were more comfortable to soak in. Once again, when we arrived, we were the only ones there. We had one pool to ourselves for a few minutes before a few other adults arrived. It was a very accessible hot springs and we enjoyed our soak there. 

There's a large loop about 20 miles long on that Forest Service Road with access to a few more hot springs. The beginning of the loop is right by the Boiling Springs Campground. We parked and walked to our next stop--Boiling Springs, another natural hot springs. The half-mile walk was down a gated road and past an old Guard Station (which is now a rental). The water flows out of a cliff at a scorching 130* into a pond. The water cascades down from there into another pool, and then it cools as it flows toward the river. I soaked my feet in the lower pool, where the water was between 108-110 degrees, for a few minutes, and when I was done, my legs were super red! It was a unique area, with so much evidence of how the hillside has formed around the geothermal features, but it was far too hot to soak in for long on a warm summer day. 

The upper pond

The lower pool

You can actually see the red line where my leg
had been immersed into the water!

On our walk back to the car, we saw a trail cutting across a field, so we took it, and found where the Boiling Springs enters the Middle Fork of the Payette. There were two shallow, soak-able pools at the small confluence, and we sat for a lot longer in them than the hot pools we'd just been at. We loved listening to the flowing river and relaxing in the warm sun!

This was a record-setting, hot springs-soaking day for us--the most we've ever been to in a day before is 3, but we'd already soaked in 4, and we weren't even done yet! We continued around the loop to the Silver Creek Plunge, a remote mountainous resort. It's a unique establishment: it's completely surrounded by the National Forest, but the private property includes A-frame cabins, log cabin rentals, a campground, a convenience store, a snack bar, changing rooms, and a swimming pool that flows from a spring at 100 degrees. It was a pretty popular spot that day: several large groups were camped there, including a boy scout camp and a retreat for foreign exchange students. We rented an A-frame for the night. Once we got checked in, we swam around in the pool for almost an hour that afternoon.  

After soaking off and on all day, we changed out of our swimsuits into dry clothes and headed back into Crouch to go to the Middle Fork Music Fest at the Dirty Shame Saloon to hear Jeff Crosby's band. The bar has both indoor and outdoor seating, and an outdoor stage that faces a large empty lot. It was a neat venue! When we got there late that afternoon, we ordered some food from the food trucks onsite and listened to the bands leading up to Jeff (he was the headliner). We really enjoyed the music and the vibe of the place!

Check out that huge hot dog from a street vendor!

The Whiskey Flats

Audio Moonshine

David Henry Band

George DeVore Band

Finally our favorite band appeared! They put on a great show, as usual! We danced and sang along to the tunes for 2 hours. We had SO much fun!!

David Henry was a special guest for this song.

I love how Jeff can sing, play the guitar, AND
blow tunes on the harmonica all in the same song!

We drove back up to Silver Plunge to spend the night in the quaint A-frame. The next morning, we drove back to the Boiling Springs Campground, and went for a 2-mile hike to two more hot springs past the Boiling Springs where we'd been the previous day. Apparently, there were two different ways to get there, and we unknowingly chose the more challenging, uphill route! It took quite a while to get to our destination, but it was well worth it!

 The first hot springs we encountered along Dash Creek was Pine Burl, a small tub encircled by rocks right next to a cliff where the hot water source seeps from. The water was too hot to soak in, but I did sit on the rocks and put my feet in it for a few minutes while Josh looked further upstream for another hot springs. 

About 100 more yards upstream was an incredible hot springs pool called Moon Dipper. People have cemented in rocks to create a large soaking pool along Dash Creek, and there were valves inserted into the structure to regulate the amount of hot water (from the nearby spring) and cool water (piped in from the creek). It was incredible! We soaked for about 45 minutes, and were the only ones there! I would definitely return to this one! Especially since I walked along the easier route back to the car, and now I know it won't be such a treacherous hike next time!

It had been an incredible weekend: we'd seen 5 bands perform and soaked in 7 different hot springs all in less than 48 hours! Seven hot springs in one trip is now our new record! On our drive back towards town along the Forest Service Road, we came across this section of the Middle Fork of the Payette with a ton of stacked cairns. It was quite the sight! Josh and I absolutely loved our time in Crouch, and we look forward to returning.