As a result of a visit from an out of town friend, a group of people were getting together to visit a local hot spring. I had met this friend for the first time in person at another hot spring in a neighboring state. A couple of others that I was familiar with but had never met in person also planned to get together at this spring, along with one other person that I had met previously at the same spring.
We talked, and for those who didn't already know each other very well, got to know each other a little better. It was extremely enjoyable. It's about 2 1/2 mile hike each way. I was having a very fine time enjoying the sun, which was extremely intense, and taking occasional dips in the hot water, which for the most part was too hot for me, and simply talking and enjoying the company of the others that had gathered together.
The waterfall that you can see in the picture is actually not really part of the hot springs, but rather a cold water stream that also flows through the area. As the day went by, it started to become something of a challenge to sit under the cold water fall. It was quite a shock to do it as it was such a contrast in temperature to the very hot day (near 100 degrees, as I recall). The friend that was visiting from out of town, and obviously from a generally colder town, could just sit there indefinitely with little reaction. But, one of the others that was a local resident, just couldn't quite seem to.
Eventually, I just had to try it out for myself. It got quite a reaction out of me, for sure. Eventually a couple of us had to take some photos of our insanity, and this is how this photo came to be. This photo, of me, was taken by my visiting friend. For me, it is a treasured memory of a great day spent with great people that I consider good friends.
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