I had a dream last night in which I got married – a prearranged marriage to a pretty lady who became a lot less pretty a day later. Not sure what the point of that was, but I know that I only dream when I go to bed at or before 11 pm.
Test finished, what to do? Chrissy wants to go to Jackson. I don’t trust her driving in the snow, nor do I want to be dragged around Jackson on her various errands. Ryan wants a day without strenuous activity – he is still healing from surgery. Nick is indecisive. So I drive up to Elkhart Park (9000 ft) to see the mountains with fresh snow and take a few pictures. That lasts until 3 pm. I want an excuse to drive – mainly to listen to my new songs on a good sound system – so I decide to visit Granite Hot Springs – 62 miles from Pinedale and the closest good hot spring. Ten miles west of Pinedale I hit heavy snow – clogs my windshield wipers so I crank up the defrost. The snow shower passes. Over the pass and down, and the snow returns. I passed Chrissy on the road at 4:30, then follow the last nine miles on gravel to the spring. I wish I had pictures, but I didn’t dare take my camera out in the heavy snow or risk dunking it in the creek on the unstable log crossing. I sat in the 110-degree water for about an hour and was ready to leave when some other folks showed up – a young guy from Jackson and three young women from Ithaca, NY (same town as Cornell). We all sat naked in the spring for an hour, and I enjoyed having some more open-minded folk to chat with. Granite Hot Spring is beautiful – a 15-foot waterfall of hot water into a pool beneath a 30-foot waterfall on Granite Creek – and it is only improved by a heavy fall of snow. Can’t say I have ever been naked in heavy snow before, but with the hot water it was quite comfortable.
I hit heavy snow on the east side of the pass on the return and was briefly slowed, but aside from that the roads were in good shape – still warm enough to melt the falling snow. Went out to the brewpub for beer and dinner, then walked down to the Cowboy Bar to play some pool. All in all, a good day – even if it did start out with a three-hour test.
