Eastern Oregon Road Trip pt. 2; Crystal Crane Hot Springs and The Health Benefits Of Bathing In Natural Hot Springs

Crystal Crane Hot Springs natural mineral bath: photo: J Simpson

Steam curls off the sapphire and chrysoprase surface of Crystal Crane Hot Springs’s perfect 100-degree waters, caressing the warming air like graceful maenad fingers. The shrill calls of yellow-chested blackbirds punctuates the air like delicate bronze bells, as they reenact their ageless mating dance in the nearby cold-water pond. The day is shaping up to be warm and bright, following last night’s velvet black sky, star-studded like so many teardrop diamonds on the world’s most elaborate opera capelet.

I’ve already spent 1.5 hours in these healing, rejuvenating waters, and it’s only 11 am. Lily, Merry, and Mitch are running some preliminary errands, reliving some old memories from their time living in Harney County while i tip-type and get some work done. It’s a far cry from my usual civilized morning routine, which involves getting furiously upset as the world crashes and burns. I’m usually in a frenzy by lunchtime, and nearly insane by the time dinner rolls around. It takes its toll on relationships, friendships, your mental health and productivity. It eventually wears on yr soul, making you cynical and bitter if yr not careful. Unplugging and recharging is mandatory for mastering modernity.

46% of Americans who own smartphones check their phone before getting out of bed in the morning, as of the beginning of 2017. Considering that 77% of Americans own a smartphone, that means around 115,362,940 are letting our days be dictated by media providers. Sensationalist headlines shape our destiny rather than our own dreams or a long, luxurious breakfast with loved ones. Our selves get lost amidst the homogeneity. We becomes cogs in a machine rather than the rarefied gems that we actually are.

Unplugging and beating a digital retreat is just one benefit of visiting Eastern Oregon hot springs. Crystal Crane Hot Springs’ natural mineral baths are thought to possess medicinal qualities of their own accord.

Scientists are still out on why hot springs are good for you, but most seem to concur they are. Japanese researchers have been increasingly investigating balneology, or balneotherapy, which is the study of “treatment of diseases by bathing.”

Consensus is still out, but the data is starting to come to light.

Health Benefits Of Natural Hot Springs

Here are a few of the positive medical benefits of soaking in natural hot springs that have been emerging.

4 Benefits Of Soaking In Mineral Hot Springs

• • Good for arthritis
  • Treats certain skin conditions
  • Relief from fibromyalgia
  • Reduces high blood pressure

Natural mineral hot springs’ medicinal qualities may stem from the combination of minerals in the hot water.

Minerals Found In Natural Hot Springs Include:

• Hydrogen sulfide
• Calcium
• Sulfate
• Magnesium
• Iron
• Chloride
• Potassium
• Zinc

You can see a full list of the minerals at Crystal Cranes Hot Spring on their blog.

These minerals are able to be absorbed thanks to the exfoliating properties of the natural hot springs. Your pores are more open, as well, due to sweating. Your veins and capillaries are, as well, due to the heat.

Remember to drink plenty of water and take occasional breaks when soaking in natural hot springs to avoid lightheadedness and dehydration.

The main tangential health benefit of visiting Crystal Crane Hot Springs is the closeness it brings with your friends and family. I’m out here with my lover and two of our closest friends who are also our roommates. It says everything that you want to go on vacation with somebody even though you already live together. I’m usually trying to get away from my roommates.

It’s totally different being out here in the wide-open expanse of Harney County. There’s nothing but time and space. We could do anything, at any time. There’s no hurry, no rush. The manic pace of living in a city slows to a crawl. There’s more time to BS and goof around. There’s all the time in the world to get to know one another, learning each other’s inner landscapes.

I’m getting a chance to investigate my own interior, as well. There’s been plenty of time to read – I’m currently reading Melissa Broder’s dead sexy new merman novel The Pisces – and it’s helping me to connect with my inner seascape, pertaining to dreams and instincts. I’m waking up and journaling of kamikaze landing in the day’s newscycle. I feel alive, refreshed, renewed.

As someone who can feel way-too-serious, in civilization, where I’m half-convinced everybody things of me as a stressed-out, curmudgeonly, fuddy-duddy, or maybe just plain old bitter-and-evil, its so sanity saving to get out here beneath the jeweled sky of Harney County and find my smile and laughter again.

Going To Be Traveling In Eastern Oregon?

A scant 5 hours outside of Portland, there’s no reason not to visit the vast, epic deserts of Eastern Oregon and Harney County. The people are friendly as can be and the whole area is steeped in history. The past rubs shoulders with the present in one ineffable now.

If you are passing through Eastern Oregon, stay a night at the Crystal Crane Hot Springs. There’s 24-hour access to the natural hot springs when you rent one of their Crane Creek Rooms or stay at the Cowpoke Inn. We cannot recommend stargazing at Crystal Crane Hot Springs enough!

You can read a full article i wrote on Crystal Crane Hot Springs on Ville Magazine.

Want more Pacific Northwest travel news, restaurant reviews, or movie murmurations? Still convinced these are the greatest times to e alive? Follow J Simpson on Twitter,Instagram, Letterboxd, Behance, and Yelp!

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Eastern Oregon Road Trip Pt. 1; Bend, Oregon

Mirror Pond at Drake Park

Bend, Or. Sun. Sky. Volcanic rock. 300 days of sunshine. A scant 162 SE of Portland, Bend is a sagebrush high desert – a world apart from Portland’s misty verdant mouldering decrepitude. The air is sweet, pouring off of the distant daydreams of Mt. Bachelor and The Three Sisters. It smells of sage baking in the sun, the faint linger afterscent of lilac, a distant hint of delicious Indian food, thick burgers, french fries waiting to be discovered.

I am typing in a hotel room – the Sonoma Lodge, a quaint lodge about 1.5 miles South of downtown, a straight shot down 3rd St., Bend’s main drag. It’s late. Lily’s asleep beneath a red silk Chinese bedspread. Noir films are playing softly in the corner. It’s peaceful.

Earlier, 1936’s The Petrified Forest was playing – a really rather excellent crime caper starring Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis, and Leslie Howard, who would go on to play The Cowardly Lion in The Wizard Of Oz. Howard plays Alan Squier, a down-and-out intellectual, the last of a dying breed. He ends up in a small desert saloon being held hostage by Duke Mantee, played by a stone-cold Humphrey Bogart. Squier waxes philosophical about wanting to be buried in The Petrified Forest, as a fossil, a useless relic:

Alan Squier: You better come with me, Duke. I’m planning to be buried in the Petrified Forest. I’ve formed a theory about that that would interest you. It’s the graveyard of civilization that’s shot from under us. The world of outmoded ideas. They’re all so many dead stumps in the desert. That’s where I belong and so do you Duke. For you’re the last great apostle of rugged individualism.

On Visiting Bend, Or.

Visiting a strange city is like seeing the bones of former civilizations jutting out, penetrating the present, leaving ragged holes of questioning, trying to find the quintessence of a new locale. In Bend, you can almost feel the bones of an old logging or mining town (I’m guessing mining), a mecca of industry in the Cascade Mountains where the silver streams of the Deschutes River pass through.

Today, it mostly feels like an upscale outdoorsy paradise – a mecca for mountain bikers, skiiers, hikers, kayakers. There’s plenty of culture, to boot – outdoor concerts in Drake Park, several museums, a couple movie theaters. It’s an upscale hippy town at 3,623.

There’s a mellow pace to Bend life, that’s for sure, but the lava tubes that run beneath your feet seem to have an effect. Lily and i saw the most polite traffic altercation, a meaty marine type hop out of a pickup at full speed, thinking the person he’d cut off had flipped him off. “Did you just flip me off?” he demanded.

“No, not at all,” Car B replied.

“Oh, my mistake,” the meaty marine calmy strolled back to his white Ford.

We were out on the hunt for American food, fresh off the Cobreeze bus, hungry for french fries and adventure. We’d heard good things about JC’s Tavern, as they were open until 2, but settled on the Bend Brewing Company instead. We had an idyllic, sundazed walk through Drake Park, finally descending on BBC’s upscale pub fare with great enthusiasm. Lily had the black bean veggie burger, with sweet potato fries. I had the Sriracha burger with jalapenos and bleu cheese, and the most delicious brewery fries i’ve had in my life. They didn’t even need ketchup.

We never would have discovered those delicious french fries, that silvered lake, had we gone with our map pin.  JC’s Bar & Grill looks great and all, and i truly can’t wait to explore. We wanted something a little more upscale, a little more memorable, plus a walk down by the water sounded nice. We changed our minds in a moment and mapped out our way to the closest, dankest pub burger we could find.
Likewise, I discovered The Petrified Forest flipping channels in our way-too-cute-and-comfy hotel room. Lily is passed out, and i am sharing our adventures with you all. None of these things would have happened had we a strict agenda and clung to it.

photo: Sonoma Lodge

But we are on vacation! We have nothing to be and nowhere to do, except be ourselves. We wandered the neighborhoods for hours, smoking and chatting and checking out Bend’s Historic District. I don’t yet know much about the history of this place, but plan on learning more.

Haven’t yet had time to explore the many places of interest Bend has to offer but looking forward to rectifying that as well! We fill in the map a little bit more each time we come here.

For those looking for things to do in Bend, Oregon, in the meantime, check this article from The Guardian. You’ll find out more Bend, Oregon restaurant recommendations, day hikes, mountain bike trails, and more.

Want more Pacific Northwest travel news, restaurant reviews, or movie murmurations? Still convinced these are the greatest times to e alive? Follow J Simpson on Twitter,Instagram, Letterboxd, and Yelp!

 

I love how alive that traveling makes you feel. How the fresh river of new sights, sounds, smells, sensations, makes you prick up and take notice. I love how you’re not in a hurry, how anything sounds like an interesting adventure. Tomorrow, Lily and i will be leaving Bend, heading for the magickal, medicinal waters of the Crystal Cranes Hot Springs. Will try and update from the road at least one more time, so stay posted. Also reading and writing a ton, so expect lots more MM to come!

This is the state that is most ripe for creativity, which is one of the reason I’ll be writing so extensively on travel writing, among other topics. We’re learning to take control of ourselves, our lives, our minds, and our selves. We are learning to make the most of this world we’re living in and avoid the pitfalls.

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