Another hike, another hotspring: Diamond Forks, Utah

We left our comfortable lodgings early yesterday morning to arrive at the Diamond Fork hotsprings before the crowds that, thanks to spring break, undoubtedly would find their way there later. The sun was about to rise, and the eastern sky displayed a brilliant array of red, purple, pink and orange when we stepped out of the house. Only a few minutes later an even more stunning sight awaited us: the nearly-full huge equinox moon setting over the mountains in the west. I've seen moonrises and moonsets in all kinds of landscapes, from plains to forests to oceans, but never like this. Too bad we were just about to enter I-15; I would have loved to linger and watch it disappear.

When we arrived at the trailhead at 8 only two vehicles were parked there, and a solitary hiker just strode through the gate towards one of them. Great! We knew who the other one belonged to: a man we had met in these same hotsprings two years ago and been in contact with recently. He had told us that the road is now plowed 2.5 miles further, which makes the hike a lot less forbidding: 8 km of pavement less makes a huge difference. Now, we only had about two kilometres of pavement one way, and then about four on the 'real' trail. 

We had a quick picnic breakfast and were on our way, the sky bright, temperature still around freezing. The river to our right was running freely, but here, too, there was still a lot of snow on the banks, and on our slow ascent we found more on the road as well, but also sheets of ice where the the water ran across once the temperature got above freezing during the day. We remembered our hike two years ago when our feet were tired from the six and a half kilometre walk on the pavement before we even started the trail, glad that we reached the trailhead proper in only twenty minutes. From then on it was a beautiful hike along the river, the sulphur smell quite strong even that far down. The trail was firm for the most part, hard-packed snow and every once in a while ice or frozen mud, depending on how open it was to the sun. Scrub oaks, maples, cedars and douglas firs covered the hillsides, and apart from the sound of the river and an occasional bird song or quick warning call from jays and robins it was quiet.

We reached the main pools after about an hour and a half, and as expected they were completely empty. We hiked up a bit further and found our friend waiting already. These pools don't offer the same magnificent view as Goldbug, but this, too, is a real gem, especially after the beautiful hike. We spent almost three hours in the water this time (no wonder the sulphur smell lingered) before we climbed out again, a bit lazy after this relaxing soak. 

Right beside this pool is a smaller one. Two years ago one of the huge conglomerate rocks typical for this area formed an overhang, and I noted that I'd be a bit worried to sit there since it probably was only a matter of time until the rock came loose. This has indeed happened, and Jay told us that a woman had been in the pool when it did, only six weeks ago. She heard something and was on her way out when the rock fell and hit her. She broke her back, but if she had been right underneath she would undoubtedly have been dead. It is an unstable landscape. Looking up even on the hike up there are several places where rocks are perched precariously overhead, but there, at least, their momentum would be slowed by the trees.

The snow and ice were soft on the way down, and parts of the trail were now muddy. Chickadees and robins (the first ones for us this year) appeared along the trail, and twice a flash of metallic blue alerted me to the presence of mountain blue birds. Out in the open a high-pitched call caused me to look up: a golden eagle was being chased by a smaller raptor. But birds and a group of mule deer weren't the only creatures we saw: the main pools were populated by quite a few people already, and we encountered group after group of mainly college age kids on the way down. When we reached the parking lot I counted 38 cars! It was a good thing that we had come so early, good, too, because we still had over 300 km to drive until we reached Cedar City, our destination for the night.