Buckeye Hotsprings

   Ok , this is not a easy story to tell, but here it goes.
 Every year, for the past 12, Ive been meeting up with the same group of friends in the eastern seirra for some kayak fishing and stream stomping. On this particular day, we were stomping just outside of Bridgeport. We started at the  Lower Twin Lakes spillway, fished down Robinson Creek, past Doc n Als resort and beyond, then headed north over to Buckeye Creek and started fishing upstream.  If you have fished Buckeye before, you know that there is a really nice hot spring there that runs off the mountain side and into the creek where the tubs are under a overhang that the hot water spills off of.   Perfect stop after a long day of stomping/fishing.
   Being the greedy little pig that I am, I got ahead of the rest of the group to fish the prime holes first and of course got to the hot springs before the others.  I got naked, got in, and partook from the flask. goodtimes!, until the rest of the group showed up on the opposite side of the stream, not wanting to stop and soak, but to keep on the move until we got to Eagle creek. I figured it was their loss and I was ready to go anyway. So I put my clothes back on, grabbed my gear and jumped into the creek to cross over to join the crew. As soon as I hit the cold water I became very uncomfortable in my nether regions, especially my ass, due to my ass cheeks being stuck together. Every step I took increased the tearing/ hair pulling sensation, and when I got to the other side of the stream I told my friends of the situation.
 I figured that some idiot had spit gum in the hot spring and I had sat in it. But I wasnt that lucky.  A golf ball size lump of sap had found its way into the hot pool and yes "nature boy" had sat on it. The cold water stream crossing sealed me up like super glue and hiking anywhere was a no go for me. I stood there for a moment while my cohorts tried to regain some amount of composure.
   This is when you find out who your real friends are, when you have to ask "who is going to cut my butt cheeks apart".  One actually stepped up to help me out while others scrambled for the photo op. I gave them "that look" and they got smart enough to put the cameras away since we had another week together and my vengence is legendary. Anyway my good friend cut/sawed me free so I could continue the day and the adventure much wiser and wary of trees next to hotsprings.

Sorry for laughing at your expense but that is one of the funniest stories I have ever heard! Cut me here 

Oh my goodness!!!!  Thank you for baring....errrrrr.....sharing this moment with us.........

Oh that is hilarious! I know exactly the area you are talking about. My family has been going down what is now known as little walker river road for 40 years. Great fishing in the Bridgeport area.

-Brian G

To funny... Sounds like a sticky situation...

Too funny  I think I would have jumped back in and let it soften again.
 You will have to excuse me if I crack up next time I see you.

  Of course every year it is brought up when we gather there. Ive taken more than a little hazing over the years since "the incident", so my skin has become pretty thick reguarding it. (no pun intended)
 And If I can save just one person from a similiar situation, it is worth a few well deserved snickers.

photos would have nice .....not of your butt cheek but just the expression on your face while your buddy (true friend) puts you under the knife

One of the funnyest things I have read in a while.  Always nice to have good friends around.

Once after soaking in a hot spring we skied into, I broke my boot walking up the rocks out of the spring.  I was not able to ski much at all with the broken boot so I ended up hitching a ride on a snowmobile to get back to the car.

Too funny  I think I would have jumped back in and let it soften again.
 You will have to excuse me if I crack up next time I see you.

That's exactly what I thought.

I sense a number of interesting nicknames in the works.......   

MolBasser

I read the thread to my wife who said:

Get back in and soften it up?  What, are you crazy?

No, what you want to do is get it real cold and chip it off.

 It would seem to be the easy fix to just get back in the hot water. Those who have fished Buckeye creek and are familiar with the hot spring know that this is not a easy crossing, and there are times when you have to make the human chain for support or you get washed down stream a bit untill you can get your feet back underneath you without snapping or trapping a leg. All that and my "situation" made a return trip across a no go. Trust me, it was not easy to ask that crew for that kind of help, if there was a option I would have gone for it.
We are all headed back there in July and Im sure the giggling will start long before we ever reach the spring.

 While im on the the topic of hot springs and writing in the appropriate thread, let me warn of another type of hot spring horror that can be found not to far from Buckeye.   Travertine Hotsprings.
 Just about everybody who has fished the eastern seirra knows this spot just outside of Bridgeport. This place is rarely empty do to easy access off Jack Sawyer road.  For years the crew has gathered there AT NIGHT and have had great times with the many freakish (naked) folk that gather there, even drank with a cult leader and his disciple once.  But always AT NIGHT.
 There are 3 pools that are filled from one spring, and each has a thick layer of grey ash/mud on the bottom. This mud is amazing when applied to plant and insect stings. Takes the sting and the swelling away like magic.
 I was in the area camping with a girlfriend and she had been eaten up by mosquitoes, so it was off to Travertine and the magic mud. The difference this time was that it was in the DAYLIGHT. We got into the pools and began our soak. Her back was to me and I reached deep into the mud we were sitting in and began to apply it to her back.  Imagine the horror when I noticed the huge clumps of hair in the mud, and most of it not from peoples heads, all over her back. The realization that I was sitting (naked) in this stew was bad enough, add that to the fact that Ive been soaking in these tubs and rubbing that mud on me for years made even worse, but nothing compared to the trauma that I would have had to endure had this particular woman discovered what was all over her. This was now a situation. I took a moment to compose then began gently washing off the mud, when I had finished, I suggested pizza and beer at "The Rhino B&G".
She went for the idea and I escaped the situation without her ever knowing why we didnt spend much time at Travertine.    Beware the magic mud my friends.  nuff said

Beware of sap and funky mud pubes! 

Doc and Als rocks!!!!!
Rhino bar too!

I learned something today....watch out for sap and pubes next time I jump into a hotspring! HA!

Thanks for the great stories!
PK

   thats a great story