The choice to keep The Hot Springs Trail a personal journey or to publish it as an Official Guidebook was affected by synchronicities and coincidences that are deserving of recognition, if not revisiting. The quest for National Scenic Trail status has its own set of goals that will be outlined here as well. Learn why long-distance hikers aren’t the only people who could benefit from this trail becoming an NST, plus, discover: The 3 Synchronicities That Made Me Publish This Route & Pitch It As An NST.
What’s the hardest part about The Hot Springs Trail? Leaving the places it visits!
3 Goals in Publishing The Hot Springs Trail
What are my goals in publishing The Hot Springs Trail?
To draw attention to the scenic and therapeutic value of hot springs in a way that provides a unique challenge to visitors, makes hot springs more valuable as a feature on the landscape, and is up-close and personal.
To create a multi-cultural meeting ground for hot spring enthusiasts. Whether your style is ride-in or walk-to, naked or clothed, purist or section hiking, this trail has something for everyone and can be used to inspire personal growth, recreational tourism, and community development.
To benefit the local economies of rural mountain towns and backcountry lodges which are oftentimes the hosts and stewards of hot springs.
Having a designated trail to follow – or at least a published and defined trail to go off of – is the first step to even having a National Scenic Trail at all. But why shoot for National Scenic Trail status, on top of just publishing the trail? That’s a great question, let’s explore it next.
3 Goals in Seeking National Scenic Trail Status
Why am I publishing this trail as an NST proposal?
To increase the likelyhood of getting signs on trail.
To create something that can be used as a leveraging piece for getting old trails renovated and new trails built.
To honor the work that has already been put into the hot spring areas and access trails that are visited along this route.
So now that you know what my intentions and goals are for publishing this trail, this brings us to The 3 Synchronicities That Made Me Publish This Route & Pitch It As An NST on top of just publishing. Not only did these 3 things seal the deal but they were each realized after I'd already designed and interconnected the route. To me they were the icing on the cake.
And how sweet a cake it is!
Here they are:
Nevada has the most natural hot spring areas of any US state.
Idaho has most usable hot spring areas of any US state.
The Hot Springs Trail can allow you to visit 100 hot springs areas while following a continuous, but at times multi-optional, trail. This feat, which has never been an option to hikers and explorers until the creation of this trail, makes the HST a Soaktennial to not only cherish and protect, but to commemorate and share with the world.
Image by: Footsteps of Freedom
But above all of this, my ultimate goal is for you, the user and adventurer who's out on this trail, to make it to the other end of it not only safe, but feeling incredible about what you just went thru.
With this trail, I hope to show our nation that hot springs soaking, and the places where it’s done at, is part of our national heritage. It's an experience, tradition, and natural phenomenon that knowledge of has been shared - passed down through time by word of mouth and publications - since before our country was even considered a country.
In short, publishing this trail allows their legacy to live on and to be honored.
What are your thoughts on publishing this trail? I'd love to hear from you...