That night to soothe my sore butt (whose name was now Sorbet) we had to find another hotspring. The trick seems to be asking the funky locals, so one funky local later we were following some typically vague directions: "turn right just before Bridgeport...." So we tried to anticipate Bridgeport and looked for our turnoff. Red asked someone in the town for more directions (also a recommended tactic for the hotspring hunter), and after following a dirt road into the hills we were in the best hotspring yet. The water flows down a channel over that stalagtite-looking rock that also resembles an octopus or an H.R. Geiger creation, and then you get your choice of four pools, each a little cooler than the one before. This little bear liked the really hot one, so I stayed right under the scalding trickle, and Sorbet saw that it was good. If you want to see the extra snazzy pazzy enhancement, click the pic (not recommended for antique Macs).

We lounged around soaking up the heat and watching the shooting stars, and those faint lights at middle left are the town below. We pretty much decided that we were never going back to so-called civilization with its myth of the Dangerous Stranger and it's many ways of putting the flame under our asses to keep us working and consuming, and  (skip the rest of this paragraph if you don't want to read a minor rant)  we decided that it's impossible to make any change if you buy the further myth that this country has any cohesion. It's much more natural and productive to think of it as distinct parts, so right there in the hottub we decided the only way to get anything done is to act locally, within our community. Hallelujah. It might seem basic, but it took a load off us somehow. The thought even seemed to soothe the savage Sorbet.

But alas we had to leave, and we made our way to South Lake Tahoe and found this other type of hotspring,

but something about it wasn't quite the same....