Hot Creek Geologic Site

We were in mammoth and I didn’t want to ski. I had an advancing pregnancy that didn’t give me the mobility to reach over and buckle my ski boots, let alone careen narrowly past others at 40 miles an hour. What does one do in a ski town without plans to ski? I scrambled to find something new and fun that would distract me from the persistent FOMO that plagued my pregnancy.

I found the Hot Creek Geologic site. It is an easy 3 miles on a packed snow trail.

Sign marker at the winter parking lot. 1.5 miles to the summer parking lot.

I’ve spent months over the course of weekends in Mammoth without ever knowing the Hot Creek Geologic site was there. My Ikon Pass app alone can tell you at least 50 weekends spent over two years driving directly past this spot without even knowing it was there. It was only a scant 18 minutes south of where we were staying.

Gigi had a blast. Probably the most fun part of hiking in Mammoth Lakes is just how dog friendly it is. I spend most of my life in dog friendly hiking trail mecca San Diego, but it doesn’t compare to how free you can be with your dog in Mammoth Lakes. Gigi loved zooming around for hours offleash playing with the other friendly offleash dogs on trail. She runs full speed, ears back to reduce wind resistance. It splits my heart in half.

We were bummed we didn’t bring our skis to take on this trail as a back country objective. This trail would have been easy enough to ski and it may have made the easier since the trail sloped very slightly downhill. I also find that being on the skis cross country leads to less ankle twisting action. The trail was shallow enough that it would have been easy enough while pregnant.

We hiked a quick 1.5 miles from the winter car park area to the summer car park area. The summer parking area had very nice bathrooms, picnic tables, and some maps. The lounge area was at the edge of precipice that looked down upon a valley with a river crossing through the center. The river had steam rising from it. It was a steep trail through the snow from the bathrooms to the creek.

We descended down to the hot creek itself, and I was hit with a wave of nostalgia about our trip to Yellowstone last year. I knew that there must have been some sort of magma area in the Sierras due to the prevalence of natural hot springs in the area, however, I didn’t know that there would be scalding waters with sulfer geysers steaming against the winter snow. It was gorgeous.

I unfortunately brought only gummy bears as trail snacks. I should have known better since my Doctors office just diagnosed me with pregnancy onset anemia, and I have been feeling particularly faint in the high altitude and after the long drive. I found myself redlining on the way back. Is it safe to push myself on hikes when I am this pregnant? I don’t’ know. I used to be in better shape than this.

Still, it was a short walk and mostly downhill and flat. Regardless, I found myself proud of myself for the longest hike I have done in my second trimester. It is times in my pregnancy like these where I turn to my husband and ask wistfully, “Remember when we climbed mountains?” It is a rhetorical question that makes me feel grateful for the amount of life that I squeezed in before making this life choice.

“You’ll climb mountains again”, he responds. We know how many days it will be until we will meet our daughter.

I’d like to think that there is a time in our lives for every sort of experience. My 20s were a perfect time to see the world, sleep on the floor, eat street food in foreign countries, and go on 10 day suffer fests to conquer unbelievable peaks. This trip, an easy flat 3 mile hike to jaw dropping views and curious geological wonders, was a perfect trip to do mid-30s and 7 months pregnant.