Fifth Water (Diamond Fork) Hot Springs

Winter is slowly releasing its grip on Utah and I’m feeling that familiar twinge of spring fever.  It’s still cold outside and pockets of snow hover on shady cliffs, but the days are getting noticeably longer and the sunlight isn’t so slanty. Still, I'm trying not to get too antsy.  We still have a few solid weeks of winter left, and Jordan and I want to squeeze in a couple more snowy adventures before the warm weather hits.

With that in mind, we decided to head north to the Uinta Mountains.  It was Jordan's 28th birthday, and he wanted to try out the pair of snowshoes I got him, then soak in Fifth Water Hot Springs.  We pulled into Diamond Fork Canyon that afternoon, set up camp, then snowshoed along the nature trail as the sun set and the moon rose.  The full moon reflecting off the white snow was gorgeous, but it was getting cold, so we crawled into the tent.  It was only then that we realized we forgot our sleeping bags!  After a moment of "I thought you packed them" disbelief, we curled up in a couple thin blankets for a cold night of 13-degree snow camping.  Whoops.  Oh well -- our dumb asses survived!

new snowshoes!

The next morning, despite being cold and sleep-deprived, we were determined to warm up in Fifth Water Hot Springs.  So we were pretty discouraged when we saw the road was closed three miles before the trail head.  Luckily, a super nice retired dentist from Salt Lake offered to give us a ride on the back of his snowmobile to the trail head.  The snow-covered road whizzed by as Jordan and I each took a turn riding behind him.

Once we got to the trail head, it was a gorgeous 2.5 mile hike to the hot springs.  The trail was covered in snow, but enough people had walked on it that the path was packed and easy to follow.  The trail gradually gained elevation as it wound along a chilly running creek, and we kept gawking at all the huge Doug firs and weird conglomerate rocks (the Uintas are way different than the red-rock desert!)

hiking to the springs

After about an hour of hiking, we reached the springs.  You could definitely smell the sulfur before seeing the water!  Fifth Water is a natural hot spring, so it isn't really developed or built up.  Over the years, people have installed PVC pipes and built a couple pools, but for the most part it's natural and really scenic.  The water ranges from glass-green to milky blue, and there's a frozen waterfall with a base of rocky mineral deposits.  The tubs we soaked in weren't quite as warm as we would have liked on a snowy February day, but I think there are warmer pools closer to the waterfall.

Fifth Water is a beautiful place, but you can tell it's really popular.  Even on a chilly winter Monday with a closed road we saw six other people, so I'm sure it's slammed on warmer weekends.  For the most relaxing visit, I'd definitely try to come during the off-season.  There was some trash left behind by careless visitors, so make sure you pack out your garbage.

soaking pools

frozen waterfall

To reach Fifth Water Hot Springs, drive on Route 6 to mile marker 184.1 (about 11 miles south of Spanish Fork.)  On the north side of the road, you'll see a sign for Diamond Fork.  If the paved road is open, drive about 10 miles to the Three Forks Trailhead.  However, we learned the hard way that during the winter the road is closed past Diamond Fork Campground.  You can either bring a snowmobile or do the 3-mile (each way) road walk to the trail head.  Or get lucky like we did and mooch a ride!

Christmas in the San Juan Mountains

One of the downsides of working at Goblin Valley is that we have to work holidays.  The other ranger and I are pretty good about swapping holiday duty -- I went home for Thanksgiving this year, so he gets Christmas.  It's definitely a bummer not seeing family during the holidays, but Jordan and I managed to sneak away for a couple days for a great consolation prize -- visiting Diana and Jerry in the San Juan Mountains near Ridgway, CO!

12" of new snow = guaranteed white Christmas

I love Christmas in the San Juans.  The mountains are coated in snow and the tiny towns are decked out with lights.  It's definitely a cheeseball-classic winter wonderland.  Jerry and Diana have a house up in Elk Meadows with a killer view of the Sneffels Range and loads of snow for us to play around in.  We didn't wander very far from their place all weekend, but we still managed to squeeze in loads of snowy shenanigans -- sledding, snowshoeing, riding ATVs, and building an igloo. Diana and Jerry are a blast and it was great to spend the holidays with such great friends.

redneck-style sledding!

Jordan and I have been talking about snow camping this winter, so we decided to test our igloo-building skills.  Fueled by copious brandy mixed with hot chocolate, we piled up a huge mound of snow and misted it periodically with a hose.  We let it set for a couple hours, then came back to hollow it out.  It took the better part of an afternoon to finish, but it was surprisingly cozy inside and totally bombproof.  Seriously, spraying it with water made it an ice bunker -- I bet it'll be there until next spring!

On Christmas Eve day, we rode the ATVs up to Top of the Pines to snowshoe.  The Top of the Pines building is still under construction, but eventually it's going to be an outdoor education/recreation/event center.  There were also 8 kilometers of groomed cross country ski and snowshoe trails, which we tooled around on for a couple hours.  Really pretty.

After hoofing around in the snow all day, we drove a couple miles down the road to Orvis Hot Springs for a soak.  Orvis is a natural hot springs resort near Ouray, CO with water that ranges from 98-112 degrees.  It also naturally contains lithium, which makes you feel super relaxed and loopy.  They have a couple big pools, the "lobster pop," a sauna, and two massage yurts.  There's nothing better than soaking in steaming hot water surrounded by falling snow.

That evening, the big storm rolled in!  While a foot of snow fell, we drank wine, belted out Christmas carols around a bonfire, unwrapped presents, and danced around all night.  Yay Christmas!

Diana at Top of the Pines

 

Skiing @ Powderhorn

Oh man, we finally went skiing!  How have I lived in Utah for almost 5 years and never gone downhill skiing?  No excuse.  We finally had decent snow this week, so we drove 40 miles east of Grand Junction, CO for the opening weekend of Powderhorn Mountain Resort!

So much fun!  Honestly, Jordan and I are both terrible skiers (the last time we both went was in high school, where a ski trip to *Iowa* was considered pretty awesome,) so we stuck to the beginner slopes, biffed a lot, and had a great time.  I really like the vibe at Powderhorn.  It's a nice mountain with good snow, but it's not really expensive or pretentious.  Even though we live near some world-class skiing (Park City! Telluride! Aspen!) it definitely doesn't make sense to blow a bunch of cash on those places until we get better.  Powderhorn was a great place to build up our non-existent skills.

We stayed a couple nights in the teeny-tiny town of Mesa, CO at the Wagonwheel Motel, which is only 4 miles from the slopes.  Mesa doesn't have much going on, but the motel was nice (in the elk-head-on-the-wall type way,) and we had some great food at Blink Twice.

On our second day out, we decided to snowshoe way up on the mesa.  We rode the West End lift up to the top, where Snow Patrol told us that no one had done the trail yet.  But the path was well-marked with blue blazes, so we decided to push on towards the Take Four lift anyway.  SWEETBABYJEBUS...  busting new trail through 3 feet of powder at 10,000 feet was one of the toughest things I've ever done (not gonna lie, Jordan led the way 99% of the time.)  But it was totally worth it -- it was gorgeous up there!  Lots of spruce, aspen, blue skies, and pure white snow.  It was totally quiet in that way only a snow-covered forest can be.  Perfect.

 

Map credit: www.powderhorn.com