From the rim of the hot springs, I languidly observed the approaching doe, who appeared interested in the delicate, soft grasses at the water’s edge. Two fawns crept up timidly behind her. With a start, the mother finally recognized the human presence and snorted sharply to her children to keep them back. She needn’t have bothered; I was scarcely interested in causing trouble, and my muscles were so relaxed from exposure to the steaming waters, I couldn’t have left the pool hastily if my life depended on it.

I had found paradise. The trailhead was twenty miles distant, and my job required me to report for duty in less than five days, but I was content to postpone the return journey while my body recuperated from three days of overexertion in the Sierra high country. The only labor I allowed myself on the first morning was to construct a granite throne within the largest hot spring pool, from which I could thumb through a paperback novel and enjoy the simple pleasures of being both warm and clean in the backcountry.