Bog Hot Springs

Where the video of Bog Hot played in posting preview mode, it inexplicably failed when I tried to publish this post. In place of the video, please click on the thumbnail above to view it, or on this link. Credit: Josh Laughtland, aka hotspringsguy, described his video: Located in the high mountain desert region of northern Nevada. 312 miles from Boise, Idaho. The video clip features a sunset soak, the hot springs at dawn and primitive campsite ...

In yesterday's Old Postcard Wednesday post featuring The Claremont Hotel in Berkeley, I ended with a comment about a different kind of spa, Bog Hot in northern Nevada. I've been thinking so wistfully ever since of my solitary desert vacations before Mike and I were married, and of the few we've taken together. In particular, today during my monthly massage, my mind floated back to various hot springs in the Oregon and Nevada high deserts. I rarely doze off during massages, but today I momentarily did just that.

I had a relaxing afternoon and when I returned home was pleased to discover this excellent video of Bog Hot Springs to extend my peaceful mood. I will under no circumstances allow my tranquility to be ruined by the fact that my clutter problem has prevented me from finding my photos of the day I soaked all alone in Bog Hot. When I find them I may post them as an addendum to this post.

The trip that included my day at Bog Hot I had stayed first at Frenchglen Hotel in Oregon touring Steens Mountain and then drove around the mountain to Fields, Oregon (population less than 20) where I stayed some nights at Fields Motel (composed of three units). Along with the motel there is a tiny cafe that makes wonderful milkshakes and a no-nonsense store that serves the ranching community. I'd explored the Alvord Desert and hot springs around it the day before and had risen pre-dawn to take photos of the Alvord at sunrise that day, so by afternoon I was tired and just hung around the store talking to one local old coot.

I'd heard about Bog Hot and asked him how to get there. It wasn't on any maps I had and I wanted to find it the next day. He wasn't exactly forthcoming with information, instead tested me to see if I was worthy of his providing directions. When he learned that I'd driven my car on the (then ungraded, unimproved) rocky, gutted loop road to the rim of Steens Mountain and had hiked down to Wildhorse Lake he started making little arrows on my map with his ballpoint pen. His arrows pointed the way from Fields Store to a generalized spot in the Nevada desert where Bog Hot Springs is hidden. There were no road signs or even simple markers for Bog Hot so it's a good thing I paid attention to his verbal instructions, which went like this:

(Pointing to the impressive rounded purple range to the right of Fields, toward the Oregon-Nevada border) See those mountains? Those are the Pueblos. You follow them as you drive the road about 60 miles. Keep watchin' 'til you see the Pueblos start to get smaller. They get smaller and smaller, then they just slope down to nothin' and become desert floor. Around that point you'll see a dirt road off to the right of the road. Turn there and drive out into the desert, around the back of the Pueblos, out into the antelope preserve. The road keeps getting wider out there about 2-5 miles until it isn't a road anymore, it's just desert. Now pay attention to anything that looks different from the sagebrush and dirt, maybe someone's car (didn't happen) or maybe some steam comin' out of the ground. You will see an open area where people have parked. You'll be there.


[Postscript dated September 29, 2008 I have published an update to this post that includes my photos of Bog Hot.]