Diamond Fork Hot Springs

We've heard several times about a natural hot springs that was somewhere in Spanish Fork Canyon, but never had the opportunity to go up and check it out. Well, that opportunity finally came! theBRIGADE crew went up to explore the area and it turned out to be pretty freaking sweet!

We left after work in the afternoon from with Jake's Scouts and met Jeff and Paul on the way. The trip down took almost 2 hours with all the traffic in Suck Valley, but thankfully we made it without anyone throwing up in the truck. Miracles... Ha!

We found a really beautiful campground and a great campsite that allowed for plenty of hammocks and tents to be set up. After setting up the tents, we got a fire going and started cooking hotdogs for dinner.

After dinner, we decided that we would try to make it up to the hot springs. It was a beautiful night and perfect for a night hike! We drove down the road to the trailhead and it was pretty much packed full of vehicles. We turned on our headlamps and started up the trail...

It was quite the hike for doing it in the dark without ever being up there before. We passed a lot of hikers on their way down and they updated us on our progress. After about an hour or so, we finally found, or actually SMELLED, what we were looking for! And believe me, it was 100% worth the hike!

The water was PERFECT! We couldn't have been more happy. Soon our shirts and shoes were on the ground and we were soaking in the amazing hot springs. Then we looked up to see literally BILLIONS of stars in the sky on what was a clear cloudless night. It was perfect.

After a good soak, we decided to head back down since it was getting pretty near to midnight. The hike down was much faster and we made good time getting back to the truck. We drove back to camp and everyone fell asleep pretty quick. The night was clear and cold, which made for a long night sleeping in a hammock! Overall though, everyone slept well.

We awoke to frost in the morning, so it wasn't long until we had a good fire going and started cooking pancakes and bacon for breakfast. It tasted extra good on this cold morning. We were living like kings!

After breakfast, we cleaned up camp and loaded all our gear into the truck. We decided to hike back up to the hot springs one more time before heading home. The hike was really enjoyable in the daylight and we were finally able to see everything we missed the night before! It was beautiful. Look! Jeff even found an arrowhead! (Inside joke)

We had such a great time at the hot springs that day! The waterfall was really cold, but made for a refreshing rush when you went under it. There was even a hole through it that could be accessed from the backside! It was so sick!

After we were done, we hiked back down to the truck and headed for home. Once again, this was an awesome trip and adventure! Well done, boys!

Goshute Cave

Since we've had pretty good success at conquering all sorts of terrains on the ground, for our latest adventure, we decided we'd try conquering UNDER ground! A close friend, Dave, had been telling me for years about Goshute Cave, a cave in Nevada that he loved to go explore. It's a thermal cave, which made it perfect for winter camping. I'd always hoped to take this trip with him and we finally got the chance. Logically, theBRIGADE crew (Tim and PC) came along as well.

It was quite a drive to get out to the cave. We didn't leave until 6:30 p.m. since that was the earliest that Dave's son could get off work. We drove out to Wendover, grabbed a bite (or a smoothie), and headed out into the vast blackness that was the Nevada desert towards Ely. Being nighttime, you couldn't really tell how far we were going or what was passing us as we went. After an hour or so, we turned off the highway onto a paved road and started heading west again. Then we turned onto a dirt road that took us back north and out into the middle of the desert.

Thankfully, we had Dave to guide us as the turnoff to get to the cave was all but impossible to find without knowing where to look. The "road" finally led us to the foot of the mountains and we climbed up the washed out trail to finally come to a stop at a makeshift parking lot. The night was surprisingly warm and clear, perfect for hiking. We shouldered our packs and started for the trail.

The trail started out as a gradual incline, but soon became steeper as we went. It wasn't too bad of a hike at all. Although it was steep, it was short. It wasn't long until we found ourselves at the base of a rock face that Dave's son, Kurt, scampered up. He attached a climbing strap to a nearby tree and we took turns climbing up the rock face to the top.

At the top, we found ourselves on a shelf under a large rock overhang overlooking the valley below. Even though everything was dark below us, it was beautiful. We hugged the rock face on a narrow trail and found ourselves at the mouth of the cave! Just kneeling down in front of the opening you could feel the warm air escaping from the caverns inside. A final photo and in we went!

The narrow mouth opened into a large cavernous room that was extremely dusty! It had several opening leading off in various directions into the dark. There was a log book there as well, which of course we signed. tB reppin' in the NV. Harry Hatchet had also passed this way...

Dave led us around the passages to "The Bedroom," a large room with a soft sandy floor that was to be our sleeping quarters for the night. It was now after 11:30 p.m., but we were too excited to sleep. We made got our beds all set up and prepared our day (night) packs to go deeper into the cave. Dave and Kurt led the way and we found plenty to see and photograph!

It was about 3:00 a.m. when we finally crawled back into "The Bedroom", covered in dirt and grime but super stoked! We changed into fresh clothes, tooled up some snacks, and hunkered down for the night while Dave shared a scary caving story with us. It wasn't really that scary, but even if it had been it wouldn't have mattered. We were too exhausted to care.

We awoke the next morning and packed up our gear. Kind of funny how being in the dark of a cave kind of limits the time you spend poking around camp. We were ready in minutes and headed back to the mouth of the cave.

We emerged into the bright sun and got our first real glimpse of the valley below. It was a breathtaking sight. I couldn't help but appreciate being able to feel the wind on my face and being able to really see again. It felt quite refreshing after spending the last few hours in the dark cave. We climbed down the climbing strap in turn and made our way down the trail.

We made it back to the truck in no time and took off our packs. Back in the trucks, we made our way back across the desert valley, up the dirt road, and hit the pavement back to Wendover. This was such an awesome trip! I sure am glad we had guides down in the cave because we would have been lost without them. (Thanks Dave and Kurt!) Great adventure.