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| An ethereal evening soaking in one of the tubs after arriving the first day. |
We set out for Iva Belle hot springs from Reds Meadow on Monday, June 15th. We originally thought it was going to be about a 10 mile hike but later realized it was more like a 13 mile hike. The last few miles of our hike in were tough. We were all pretty exhausted and sore due to our 40-50 pound packs (which only included necessary items like Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, a hammock, frisbee golf discs, etc.) Hey, we back-pack in style.
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| At the trail head, ready to go. |
The trail was covered with all kinds of ferns and wildflowers and as I hiked I watched the shadows of dozens of butterflies gliding over my head and through the meadows.
We started out at 8:00am on Monday and arrived at the springs at 5:00pm. We did take a long lunch break and stopped a few other times to rest and refill our water bottles. I would say this is a difficult hike. It is long with many ups and downs in elevation. However, soaking in the different tubs after finally arriving at the springs made the journey totally worth it. We camped there two nights. On the way out we left at 9:00am and arrived back at the car around 3:00.
I couldn't stop taking photos of the wildflowers and succulents along the way...
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| The trail was also covered with lizards sunning on rocks and rustling in the bushes. |
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| The trail takes you over several stream crossings. |
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| Amazing vistas... |
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| Our lunch stop. About half way to the springs. |
At our last stop, we were all pretty dead. We filled up our water bottles and laid by this stream for a while. I went ahead and stuck a beer in the stream to cool off and we all split it. Sierra Nevada always tastes good but that was the best tasting beer I've ever had.
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| The last little climb. |
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| Caitlin posing in the meadow... almost there. |
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| Kara got the pizza dough ready, while Cade, the assistant chef, kept the hair out of her face. |
The next day we set out to explore and find the other hot spring pools. Kara was ready to go...
Going up... again...
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| A hot spring with a view. |
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| Tons of butterflies around the springs. |
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| If heaven does exist, I hope it looks something like Iva Belle hot springs. |
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| This pool was closest to our campsite. |
I didn't take many photos on our hike out but here are a few...
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| Find beauty in details. |
I also wrote this in my journal after making it back to the car:
"The wind glides through the mountains...
fluttering the leaves in the aspen trees,
carrying the butterflies over the wildflower speckled meadows,
swirling the bird songs through the air,
spreading the aroma of warm greenery and pines,
along with providing cooling relief to the hiker."
We were all pretty exhausted and sore due to our 40-50 pound packs (which only included necessary items like Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, a hammock, frisbee golf discs, etc.) Hey, we back-pack in style. Gui hang di My
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