Last week I spent a epic few days in the Eastern Sierras seeing how much fun we could have with out snow boarding or skiing ( Two winter sports that are just not for me) and also hanging out with a couple who had just destroyed their knees. ( J tore here ACL playing soccer and M tore his meniscus skiing) It’s weird for me to be the one who is not hurt for once!
It was hard on me to control myself, and my need to constantly climb mountains and explore new trails.
I drowned this impulse by drinking lots of chardonnay in natural hot springs.
We spent a fair amount of this four day trip off roading up snowy trails in a Jeep. On Sunday we drove up to Bridgeport as the clouds were forming and a storm was gathering in Mammoth Lakes behind us.
Just before you reach the town of Bridgeport there is a dirt road off the right hand side of Highway 395 that leads up to the Travatine Natural Hot Springs.
We traversed Travatine the day after a snow had dumped a few inches and it was so beautiful as we hiked along the little hot springs, trying to find the perfect pool. The lower hot springs that you hike to are just beyond the pit toilets, about half a mile down a trail.
These springs are all natural and the tub is not paved at all, so they are really muddy. This tub was also not very deep, but it was in a really pretty area with views of the snow capped mountains on one side.
We decided to hike back to the nicer tub right by the road ( After changing into bikinis in the pit toilet area) J cracked me up as she ran towards the hot springs like a yoga loving gazelle, wearing just a bikini, scarf and hiking boots.
She looked ridicules, and just than another car load of people drove up the road in a truck. It was pretty hilarious.
It was about twenty five degrees out side so we were dying to jump in the hot water.
That is when we discovered these hot springs were really hot, like scalding hot.
We actually had to use the shovel we had with us, for, um, forest bathroom emergencies, to shovel snow into the hot water.
The shovel was clean, by the way.
Finally we managed to cool down the water enough to dangle a few toes in, than a ankle and finally, and after opening the chardonnay, I managed to get in most of the way.
This was seriously such a beautiful, fun day out in nature. We did a little side hike up to Virginia Lake also, but they stopped plowing the road where the snow got really deep so we need to come back and continue exploring this lake some other time.
There are just so many fun things to do in the Sierras; it makes me want to stay forever!
But alas I do miss home and having a Trader Joe’s thirty minutes away ( and not three hours! Mammoth Lake’s closest Trader Joe’s is in Carson City, hours up the 395) and a Whole Foods less than two hours away.
My newest Trader Joe’s addiction is this Cruciferous Crunch mix of shredded broccoli, shredded Brussels sprouts, kale and cabbage.
This curried high fiber broccoli slaw like salad is so great!
Curried Broccoli Crunch Salad
1 bag Cruciferous Crunch (From Trader Joe’s)
1/4 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup red grapes
1/4 cup almonds or cashews
2 tab parsley, chopped
dressing
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp chili powder
juice of half a lemon
1/4 cup Greek yogurt
1 tab soy sauce
2 tab mayonnaise
Mix the dressing ingredients together.
In a salad bowl toss the veggies, grapes, raisins, nuts, and parsley. Add dressing and serve.
