A scorching sun sets in Shoshone, at which point the dusty denizens of the desert breathe a collective sigh of relief.
Death Valley — where the plants and animals have adapted and mutated to survive this barren alien landscape.
Death Valley — where life simply refuses to die. Bats glide and dive in the twilight. Spiders that look like scorpions scuttle about, only to be devoured by actual scorpions.
The amber glow of the distant hydrogen helium orb recedes behind the Nopah mountains bringing with it a sublime solitude. Coyotes howl in the distance. Lizards squirm out from under their rocks and the 193 residents of Tecopa Hot Springs leave their air-conditioned homes. A full moon rises, bringing with it a drum circle around the natural hot springs, known as the “free” springs.
Up the street, at Delights and others, a day pass can be purchased, but all the springs offer the same rejuvenating experience. The mineral-rich waters contain potassium, calcium, magnesium, and sodium ions, making it alkaline with a pH balance of 7.4–7.6, meaning your skin will sing upon emerging from these silky healing waters.
The reason I moved to Pahrump is in large part because of the Tecopa Hot springs, after a weekend trip taken 15 years ago and revisited in 2020. And a couple of years ago I took a front desk job at Delights Hot Springs Resort. This map was created while working there. In addition to being inspired, I met many interesting folks in Tecopa: the holistic doctor lady from Sedona, Arizona who could diagnosis you by “looking” into your body, the cigar-chomping Wall Street hotshot who mused about the black bees known as “Tecopa Bombers” being a military experiment that had escaped the base at China Lake, and my colleague at Delights, who had this to say about the springs: “Every oasis in a desert has a gravitational pull, and Tecopa’s hot mineral water is a particularly strong vortex. I came to clear my mind and be a hermit, but ended up meeting a wide range of delightfully odd characters who are attracted to the place for one reason or another. Though it is not my permanent home, I know I will come back again and again for as long as I am able.”
While in Tecopa, I bumped into the YouTube star Wonderhussy that my friend Ben was raving about. Unfortunately, I never got to meet Ross, the one-legged miner and his three-legged dog, another local celebrity. My dog Killer would have liked that. We might have a chance to connect at Tecopa Takeover, coming up here Nov. 8th to Nov. 10th.
Eric Coleman is an artist based in Pahrump. He is also a screen writer and and an actor. He is the cartoonist for the Pahrump Valley Times and Tonopah Times-Bonanza. Follow him on his YouTube Chanel The Traveling Cartoonist at https://tinyurl.com/2swrkmpm. For map information, contact Mr. Coleman at ericjamescoleman@gmail.com.