Help beat winter's blahs

There is a special location not too far from Carson City that offers a unique way to help beat winter's "blahs."

And you can have fun beating those blahs whether you are a very active outdoor enthusiast or a typical, wintertime, weekend "couch potato."

If you're interested, that location is only about 40 miles from Carson City.

What is it?

It's Grover Hot Springs California State Park.

You can reach that very popular, natural hot water spa by driving south from Carson City on a combination of U.S. 395, Nevada S.R. 88 and California 88 to Woodfords, Calif. Then at Woodfords, take California S.R. Nos. 4 and 89 to Markleeville. In the middle of beautiful, downtown Markleeville, take the paved road west for about four miles to the park.

There are two pools at Grover's, one hot and the other cold. The hot one is maintained at a constant temperature of 102-104 degrees.

The winter pool hours are 2-9 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m.-9 p.m. on weekends.

The cost is $4 per person or $2 for anyone under the age of 18.

There is a maximum capacity of 75 persons allowed into the two pools area. And, it is not unusual on busy weekends to have a line of people patiently waiting outside the gate for their turn to enter.

The pools are located on the grounds of the 700-acre state park. That park is in Hot Springs Valley at an elevation of nearly 6,000 feet. It is situated in an alpine area which contains a large variety of plant and animal life.

Grover Hot Springs State Park is surrounded by mountains, with Hawkins Peak (10,023') three miles northeast of the valley and Markleeville Peak (9417') four miles to the southwest.

At this time of the year, it is a "ton of fun" for snow lovers to spend a day playing on their downhill skis, snowboards, cross country skis, snowshoes, inner tubes, snowmobiles, etc.

Then, following that playtime, many of those same snow lovers, plus others, head for Grover's to soak in the hot water pool. That relaxing hot water is guaranteed to bring anyone's fun-filled day in the Great Outdoors to a perfect end. And, if you're lucky and you should happen to visit the pool during a snowstorm, you watch large, thick, wet snowflakes silently fall out of the sky, while you are immersed in the hot water with only your head showing. That is the perfect end to a winter day!

Visit Grover Hot Springs soon. That would be the perfect end to a winter weekend!

For information, call the Park Pool Office at (530) 694-2249 or visit their website at www.ceres.ca.gov/parks.