We left Cascade in bright sunshine in what looked to be another hot sunny day. There were forest fires in the area but none too close. We could see a lot of smoke in the air. Hap was feeling a lot better but still not 100%. The first few miles were fairly flat dirt/gravel/sandy roads. We saw a group of rafts starting a trip down the river. When we crossed US 55, we stopped at Clear creek restaurant for lunch. They had a great salad bar. One of the things that I really miss is not being able to eat a lot of greens. Good lunch! After lunch let the climbing begin. We climbed for about three hours on some pretty steep roads. Poor Hap had a hard time after being so sick. But we made it. We road through lots of forests that were so pretty. We had some good views. But visibility was poor due to smoke.
Once we reached the top.....finally..... We had a tough descent on rough, steep four wheel drive roads. The down was a little steeper than the up. 8-12% going up and 8-14% going down. Whew rough road that seemed to go on gorever. At the bottom we debated about going on to the next campground but after checking the map and seeing the UP Boiling Hot springs campground seemed just right!
We took the last campsite along the river, set up camp and went in search of the hot springs. They sure don't believe in telling you where they are! We finally found them after a short walk. This hot springs had a shower. Well sort of a shower. The water came down over a rock. We took a "shower" and then saw more hot springs along the river bank. It was fun sitting in hot water in the river. For dinner we had some freeze dried food. Overall a good but tiring day.
