Carbondale, CO

Penny Hot Springs

Taking the advice of the nice woman at the state park I set off to find a public hot spring. My searches lead me to Penny Hot Springs. I was hoping to get there early enough on a Monday where there wouldn’t be too many people around.

Another great drive through the mountains and along creeks. When I got to the springs around 10am I noticed two cars parked there, but I didn’t see anyone in the water. I equipped my bathing suit and brought my towel down to the water. I was really hoping to get some therapy on my achy bod.

One guy showed up while I was changing into my suit, so he showed me the ropes. He was a regular. There were three main pools all varying in temperature. The closer you were to the vents the hotter the water was. You could adjust the rocks to let in/out cold water from the river to get the temperature just right. It smelled slightly like sulfur but nothing too bad.

The first guy only stayed for a few minutes, but after he got heated up he would take a dip in the ice cold river water. I thought he was a crazy person.

After a while a third guy showed up and we got to talking. He was a Paleontologist who moved from Wisconsin. He was giving me all types of geology and earth lessons. It was great to get some insight  on the rocks that were shooting up out of the ground all around me. He also gave me some good tips on where to go in Utah. Like the place call Goblin Valley State Park where they shot a scene from one of my favorite movies Galaxy Quest.

After a while a couple showed up from Phoenix, AZ who were on their honeymoon. They were nice enough.

When I got heated up enough I figured I’d give the cold water a try, so I tiptoed in and took the plunge. It nearly took my breath away it was so cold. But, it was the first “bath” I’d had since Trinidad and it felt amazing. It was so exhilarating and instantly made me feel great. That crazy guy from before wasn’t so crazy after all. Now I was the crazy guy!

After another hot soak and cold plunge I called it quits. The place was starting to get busy. As I was leaving a hippy couple went in au naturale, so I wasn’t able to get as good of pictures as I would have liked. I didn’t want them to think I was creeping on them.