Many people at work have recommended that we go down to Bridgeport, CA and check out Buckeye Hot Springs. Well, if course, planning a 3 hour trip to see 1 thing is not ideal... so we planned a 2 day trip.
On our way we saw Moro Lake!
First stop was Saddle Bag Lake which is actually on the backside of Yosemite National Park in Inyo National Forest. On All Trails it is rated as an easy 4 miles. To get to the trailhead, you have to head down a dirt road which you do not need 4-wheel drive for. There is plenty of parking at the end as well. The All Trails app did not take us to the correct location, but Google will! It looks like there is a boat that can take you across the lake, I think it would be kind of fun to try that out instead, especially since the trail was somewhat difficult to follow. The beginning was beautiful!
Then after getting past Saddlebag Lake (we went clockwise), you can see a small waterfall in the distance past Greenstone Lake. It was really pretty, but the trail was very muddy and difficult to follow.
We almost got lost on the way back since we were trying to make it a loop and eventually found the trail.
Then we were headed for some food in Bridgeport. On our way there we stopped and took a photo of the valley.
There are not many places to eat in Bridgeport...then again there isn't much there at all! We decided to eat at the Bridgeport Inn. We sat outside to eat and it was all delicious!! I ordered the fish and chips, Aaron had the burger, and then we split the wings and we both had side salads... yes we were hungry.
We walked around the little town and bought some ice cream before heading over to our campsite. We booked a site at Paradise Shores for the night. There are a lot of places near here to dry camp, but we weren't sure exactly where they were so we booked a site to play it safe. We loved it!
We enjoyed the sun going down as we had a couple beers. Unfortunately, there were a ton of bugs that didn't bite, but would fly around you all the time. They got annoying, and of course a couple of mosquitos were in there as well. We made the best of it though!
The bathrooms were actually really nice and had cute decorations!
Waking up in a tent is always so peaceful!
We decided to walk down to the Bridgeport Reservoir in hopes to use the kayaks from the campground.
The kayaks were a little worn down and did not have cushions for seats in them. So, we packed up our campsite up and headed to breakfast at the Virginia Creek Settlement. The food was all really good, but the service was slow. It was nice to support what looked like a family business!
Then we headed to Travertine Hot Springs. There are a few hot springs here so go look around!!
They were VERY HOT so we enjoyed what we could and headed to Buckeye Hot Springs, really, the main reason we took this trip. On the way, we saw some horses!
The road to get to the springs is dirt and you have to drive slow since it is bumpy. At the springs, clothing is optional as well. It was pretty, but again, VERY HOT.
After that we headed home! We enjoyed exploring some new lakes and hot springs!
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