15 lines
2.7 KiB
Markdown
15 lines
2.7 KiB
Markdown
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Upper Frisco Hot Springs, full name Upper San Francisco Warm Springs, down Forest Road, 35. A four backpackers and the adventurous. Area has mostly been abandoned. The Forest Road had two spots where I had to clear trees in order to keep driving. The trail has no markers other than people providing cairns. The water is still flowing but the pool is unplugged so you'll want to get there with plenty of time to clean the pool if you choose and then plug the hole so that the tub fills. It has a decent flow but it may still take one to three hours to fill. I'm not sure because I got there too late to try and did not bring backpacking gear. Supposedly there's a hot spring to the north on the other side of the river that I saw on a map but I looked around and all I could find was very steep rock cliffs. Overall it seems like a very beautiful place to hang with friends on a backpacking trip, especially if you bring gear to clean the bottom of the pool or maybe if the pool fills up the debris will spill over. And it will self clean. There are cows in the area so be prepared to smell cow dung and also possibly scare them away from your campsite if they get too curious. They had calves but still packed up and then ran away rather than confronting me. In mid-August the San Francisco River was more of just a creek so there was not really any possibility of cold plunging. The hike is similar to doing Humphreys Peak and Blackstaff. So if going down and out in the same day be prepared for a good workout and definitely leave time and definitely get there early enough to where you can fill the pool and enjoy the area for a bit before finding your way back out. I've posted my track of hiking in and out on open street maps as a trail in order to help others who want to try to find it. It is a best guess as there were quite a few times where I went off on animal tracks rather than the actual trail or just got lost because I couldn't find the Karens. Overall I do think this area is worth a visit in the spring and fall especially as something to do socially. But if you're just going alone as a day trip I wouldn't really recommend it.
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Other than the debris in the road, the 13 mile journey is actually pretty easy. As the road is not very washboarded, there's only a few spots where it gets rough and rocky. It is nothing like the 20 mile washboard journey to the Verde Hot Springs.
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The temperature felt pretty warm, almost like a hot spring, but just a little bit cooler. Definitely warm enough to enjoy on a cooler day but maybe not a cold day. Warm enough to where you might not want to get in during summer, especially if the sun is on the pool. (logo whooshing)
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