Camping at Gulpha Gorge Campground
We had a beautiful Spring day with a lot of sunshine. It started out with the temperature of 36 degrees and got up to 70. It felt cooler because there was a breeze and our site backs up to Gulpha Gorge Creek.
We started the day out by going on a 5.5 mile hike. We started off wearing a lite jacket but the hike started off with a steep uphill and it didn't take long and we took off the jackets. We started by crossing Gulpha Gorge Creek via rocks, we followed the white trail (Gulpha Gorge) up to the purple trail (Goat Rock), we hiked this trail until we got on the yellow trail (Upper Dogwood). Next we followed the green trail (Lower Dogwood) to the black trail (Floral) which took us into Hot Springs. Once in town we walked around part of Bathhouse Row and part of the Grand Promenade Scenic Walk, it is a beautiful brick walkway displaying some Hot Springs. I took pictures of the Superior Bathhouse, Hale Bathhouse and Maurice Bathhouse. The Superior was the smallest bathhouse and is now a Brewery. The Hale is the oldest surviving bathhouse. The Maurice has a 3rd floor lounge with a stone fireplace, painted mural, stain glass skylight and a great view. Most of the bathhouses are no longer bathhouses, the demand went down and it cost too much to keep them running. The National Park is in the process of restoring the exterior of a few of the bathhouses to the original front. Then they're going to lease them back out to businesses, they can use them for whatever they want to. The National Park uses the old Fordyce Bathhouse as its visitor center and museum. After walking around we headed back to the campground. We hiked the red trail (Oertel) back towards our site. Then we got back on the white trail (Gulpha Gorge), which took us back home. During our hike we saw a few deer in the trees. They were too far away to get a picture. We saw very few people on the trails. We had a super hike.
Superior Bathhouse built 1916
Hale Bathhouse built 1892
Maurice Bathhouse 1912
Larry checking out one of the hot springs on display
A view of the area from the hiking trail
We spent the afternoon relaxing at the campsite. Larry read. I did the Daily Challenges and the Event: World Tour Mini of 10 games. It took me 41 minutes and 12 seconds to complete, which put me in 9th place in my group.
Larry enjoying the campsite
I barbecued burgers for dinner. After dinner we went for a walk around the campground. Then I went for an hour hike to get some of my steps. I took the white trail (Gulpha Gorge) to the purple trail (Goat Rock) for a half a mile. This morning we hiked this trail and didn't climb the stairs to the observation overlook but this evening I did. The view was very nice. When I got back home I told Larry I did the purple trail and he was surprised because it was pretty steep. I had a great hike. I rested a bit and then I went outside and finished my steps, I ended up doing 26,500 steps. This put me in third place in my group. The rest of the evening I did some Sudoku games. We had a super day.
The steps to get to the observation point
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I would love to hear friendly comments on anything at all. Ruth