I posted this in Hot Springs Eternal tribe but I think more people will see it and find it useful here.

I'm sure many people are aware of the problems at this hot spring but I thought I would share my story from this Saturday (3/29/08). A friend and I were at Terwilliger (recently the kiosk at the trailhead was burned down), and heard there was a cop with a dog in the parking lot. We figured it was because of the kiosk but it turns out they were there to examine the cars and search them if the dog smelled anything. We were warned about this on our walk down by someone who was searched but nothing was found.

As soon as I reached the parking lot the cops new my name what car was mine and were going to search it no matter what. I was able to get them not to search it by giving away a tin with herb and my pipe. I ended up getting a $525 dollar ticket and they let me go on my way. And they were still waiting for one car that had a "hit" by the dog. All in all it was a lot better than what could have happened if they searched the car. They told me that it is common practice to bring a drug dog to that parking lot and smell the cars. The cops also said they don't care about small amounts (less than pound) and that is why I only got a ticket. If this is true then I question there reasoning for coming to that parking lot because they would only catch users there.

I wanted to warn all out there to be careful at this particular hot spring. I'm sure many people know about the vandelism probablems but federal police targeting herb users is new to me. I would never leave anything in the car because they never even tried to search my person. Good luck to all that visit this spring because I don't think I'll be returning for a long time.