To Elk Horn Hot Springs

On the way to Elk Horn Hot Springs we passed through Wise River. There is an RV park, gas and Wise River Mercantile with Port-a-pots near the mercantile. We discovered a hidden jewel 6 miles North of Coolidge called Grand Vista. On the west side of the road is a handicapped accessible riparian area. Lovely! Off FR 4365 is the ghost town of Coolidge. Well worth the visit. At one time it had over 1,000 residents. When the silver mine stopped working in the 1920's the town fell apart. There are old mine shafts and a beatiful creek.
BETH writes of today - When I left home everyone said that what I was doing was a feat and if I had to stop it was ok. Don't worry I didn't stop - I just cheated a little. Still sore, tired and raining I decided Fleecer Mountain was not the best or the right option for today. Mom, Ann and I drove 12 miles to Wise River on the other side of Fleecer and they dropped me for the day's ride to Elk Horn Hot Springs - 29 miles all up hill (gradual until the end) Today it was freezing and rain was definitely in the forecast. For the first time, I was not excited about getting on my bike. Today at least was all road on the Scenic Byway through the Pioneer Mountains. After riding for six miles my spirits were lifted tremendously by the sight of a green van with bikes on the roof. As I got closer I realized it had NH plates and I recognized the bundled man who stood by it. It was Mike Morse! Wow, way out here in the middle of nowhere Mike had tracked me down. He was going for his own bike adventure in Canada in a few days and had ridden the Divide a few years ago. He had told me before I left he would find me and ride for a day with me. We chatted for a few minutes as a rain shower came and went. Mike would ride with me tomorrow we decided. I was off again to see two young Mule deer and climb to Crystal Park through sun, rain and hail(yes, hail!). The whole day I had seen 3 cars, but at Crystal Park there were tons of people. This was a cool place! This was a park where you could dig for quartz crystals! Good quality clear crystals not like the ones you find in NH. Very fun, especially for this girl who as a kid was a rock hound! We dug for a few hours with some good luck. My prize was a two beautiful crystals about 1-2 inches long. After leaving Crystal Park I was to ride 6 miles down hill to the rustic Elk Horn Hot Springs. Well, road construction was something I was not ready for. They are changing the course of the road so I had to wait for 1 hour and then they made me put my bike and trailer in the back of a truck only to drop me with a half mile climb to the hot springs - oh well! The hot spring were rustic with a rustic cabin and out house. The hot springs themselves felt amazing!! About 98 to 104 degrees depending on where you sat. A nice soak, some fresh apple/raspberry pie ala-mode and off to bed.
JAN writes of today - After donning 4 layers of clothes and packing up our wet tent and gear, we headed out this morning. The skies were threatening, but luckily we seemed to miss all the cloud bursts. While Beth was peddling, Ann and I explored some amazing areas in the Beaverhead - Deer Lodge National Forest. One place, an old ghost town named Coolidge, was five miles off road on a one-lane dirt track and then a 1/2 mile hike in on foot. At one time the silver and gold mining town had over 1,000 residents, a school, a post office and train service. It all fell apart during the depression and now the town's main residents are marmots - related to our woodchucks. Dozens of dilapidated buildings, boarded up mine shafts and equipment. Fascinating! Unfortunately we were meeting Beth at a State park called Crystal Park, where you can dig for quartz crystals, so we couldn't explore every inch of Coolidge. It was fun to just see Crystal Park - a big hillside that looks like it has the worst gopher problem ever, from all the amateur miners. Although ill equipped, we tried our hand at mining and came away with a few nice quartz crystals. From Crystal Park, we all met at Elkorn Hot Springs Lodge. Lodge denotes one thing, but what we got was an extremely rustic unheated cabin with one outhouse we shared with several other cabins. We did partake in the 104 degree hot springs, which felt wonderful. We were also extremely glad we had a roof over our heads when it stormed in the night.