Monday, August 26, 2013
Carson, Washington August 2013
My parents took their honeymoon in a motor court hotel on the side of a river. Possibly the Delaware river. One of those places that have individual cabins, are on the side of jot even well-traveled roads. If you can find one, it looks really dilapidated nowadays. I have not seen one in decades. I can recall one in the 1980s on hwy 395, but when we moved back north of Spokane, I could not find it.
When my mom showed me the place they had stayed - probably in the 60s - i thought she HAD to be kidding. Time had moved on. And it does move on, and all things old are new again. We found a motor court hotel. It’s called sand hill cottages, and it’s in Carson, WA.I think about 5-10 years ago it was pretty nice. It’s not bad now, but more on the ok level. Qualifies as a trip down memory lane. Inside there’s a table, 2chairs, 2 rocking chairs, a double bed (the old fashioned size of double) and a cute, tiny bathroom. I took some pics on the phone.
This town is an adventure. It’s not really a town any more. I think it used to be a hot springs town, like Ainsworth, but people have changed. There still is an old "bath house" for people who might want to take a cure, but it’s not right for hippies. You can sit in a bathtub-- claw feet and all-- for 20 minutes or so, and then they wrap you up in towels (called a hot wrap). That’s the old hot springs resort. There is also a new one, a fancy golf course and hot spring place with restaurant and lodge. We didn't go look at that one.
We tried to walk to a hot spring this afternoon, but instead we had an adventure. Getting to the starting point was complicated. The roads did not do what the map said they would do. But we got out Bob’s handy tablet which had a map app, and between it telling us where we were, and the topo map, we put together an idea of where we were. Then, we had to get from the road to the possible hot spring.
The topo line was right next to the creek. That means it’s a steep incline. Well, the map was right! We bushwhacked part way down. Then, i got a good idea and climbed on a fallen log which was going down the slope. I slid down it, slowly, as it was covered with moss. Like edging out a VERY long teeter totter. Of course, we knew there had to be a different way back up. There always is, right?
Then we got down to the creek. Is the hot spring up stream or down stream? 50-50 chance of doing it wrong....... We’re good at 50-50 chances.
The creek was great. Parts of it were shallow, water rushing over gravel and small stones. Part of it was deep pools. The temperature was middling. At one point Bob said -- how will we know a spring if we come to it? This was not a well-traveled place, we were not likely to find a group of happy hippies in the water. I said, let’s just keep checking the temperature and hope. We did not see any steam rising.
At one point, I slipped in the water. We had to keep crossing it, because it ran into steep and solid rock banks. That was the end of dry feet. Not long thereafter, I fell in, so that was the end of dry pants. Luckily the phone did not get wet.
Then Bob, who was behind me, said "hey, there is poison oak here!" Well, that means I have some for sure, because he was behind me, I can’t recognize it, and I am a clutz.
Well, we did not find the spring. We had an adventure. It was really pretty, and I got very messy. Then we had to go back up.
In theory, there was a power line access road. We had seen one on our way into the forest. But, we got to the power lines and could not find it. So, we bushwhacked our way up. Bushwhacking means you are whacking bushes as you climb. Some of them are prickery. Some of them are blackberries, which may taste good but have long vines to trip you up. And, it was really steep.
When we were in Belize trying to hike up a vertical incline, nice people had put ropes on the trail to help you. Well, first we were not on a trail. And second, there were no ropes. Try using ferns as ropes to help you keep your balance when the dirt bank crumbles out from under our feet. The big ones that are long and green, look like Boston fern, those are pretty good. The beautiful ones with the black spines and little round leaves are not as sturdy. Still, we made it to the top. And then more bushwhacking to get to the road and the car.
No hot springs. But certainly an adventure. The report I had read online about this spring said --I finally found this spring! And if we ever try again, and succeed, I would have to say something of the same kind.
