Wine may be the elixir of the gods, but here at the northern edge of the Napa Valley it is the smelly, gaseous waters from deep beneath the Earth that truly soothes the souls of mere mortals.
No tour of California`s wine country would be complete without a visit to the famed hot springs and mud baths of Calistoga, an old frontier town built above the curative sulfuric waters that eons of volcanoes and earthquakes left as nature`s gift to man.
A couple of free hours from the decidedly stressful task of examining firsthand the pleasures California`s wine industry is all it takes for a recuperative encounter with the mineral waters here, and a bit of history.
”The mud story,” as a large sign outside one local mud-bath establishment calls it, tells visitors the basics about what they are about to experience in this valley near Mt. St. Helena.
Several thousand years ago, the sign says, erupting volcanoes deposited a thick layer of fine ash around the area. Locals quickly discovered that when mixed with naturally heated mineral waters, the ash provided deep penetrating heat and ”a wonderful poultice fomentation.”
The Wappo Indians made pilgrimages to what they called ”the Oven Place” to bathe in its mud and waters, finishing with a sweat wrap. They called the valley ”Ta-La-Ha-Lu-Si,” or ”Beautiful Land.”
Later, author Robert Louis Stevenson would observe that ”the whole neighborhood of Mt. St. Helena is full of sulfur and boiling springs. . .and Calistoga itself seems to repose on a mere film above a boiling, subterranean lake.”
The mud bath and blanket wrap developed here ”increase and purify circulation, leaving skin and muscle tissue clean, refreshed and greatly relaxed,” the sign says.
A sales pitch, to be sure, but an effective one, as the descriptions still hold true. The first task is picking a place to take the cure, a tricky matter when one considers the myriad mud baths and spas that line the main street of Calistoga.
Some spas here, like Dr. Wilkinson`s Hot Springs, are known as far away as Japan and Europe. But for the basic, no-frills treatment after a couple of days amid Napa`s toney vineyards and wineries, locals vouch for Nance`s Hot Springs.
A nondescript motel, the family-owned establishment has been dipping its guests into black mud and hot water since 1923, turning them back out into the world healthier of heart and mind.
At $55 for a mud bath, hot tub, steam bath, blanket wrap and half-hour massage, a trip to Nance`s is not an everyday occasion. But it is a lot of pampering for the buck, especially amid the rarefied prices for everything from meals to hotels to local vintages in the California wine country.
The routine is simple enough. First you leave your valuables in a lobby locker, then step into spartan dressing rooms with plain curtains dividing stark beds, one area for men and another for women. It is like stepping into a movie set for a World War I military hospital, at least until you strip down, shower and enter the baths, at which point you might be forgiven if you swear you just entered a spa in, say, Moscow.
The bath attendant in the males` facility this day was Bob French, a northern California free spirit who emigrated to these parts 22 years ago from suburban Chicago. French has been working the baths for the last 12 years, taking newcomers and regulars alike through their naked paces.
One note here: Like all good things, there is a downside to the baths, and that is the acrid smell of sulfur that fills the air and the nostrils from beginning to end. But more about that later.
Beckoning, or threatening, depending on your point of view, are a row of brick vats along the left side of the room, each filled to near the brim with jet black, oozing mud.
Entering a mud bath is a delicate matter. First the attendant places a wooden board along the edge, then he asks you to slide toward the far end of the tub feet-first, but be careful to hold yourself up by your hands at the sides and not let your feet or any other part of your anatomy plunge into the mud.
The reason is simple. The mud is hotter near the bottom-real hot, hot enough to burn your bippy. So the trick is to extend yourself across the tub, feet on the brick sides, before gently lowering yourself into the middle of the tub. If you do it right, the mud serves as a cushion and keeps you suspended over the real hot stuff, which is close enough to notice. Do it wrong and you`ll know, right away.
After making sure a roasting is not imminent, the attendant helps cover your chest up to your neck and leaves you for 15 minutes or so, adrift in nature`s gift and your thoughts, returning from time to time only to wipe the sweat off your brow. The mud is surprisingly coarse, until you remember it is nothing more than wet dirt, not the creamy dark foam of the mind`s eye.
Even if you liked to roll in the mud as a child, believe this: You have never been as dirty as you will be when you get out of the mud bath, being careful to slide your way back out the same way you slid into the tub.
So you lug your caked limbs across the tile floor to a hot shower, a long shower, in fact, the longest, most frantic shower you probably ever have taken to make sure you wash away all the mud. It is not easy. Then you shower some more and hope for the best.
From there it is across the room to one of a long row of plain old-fashioned bathtubs filled to the top with bubbling, hot mineral water. By now, the mud is supposed to have loosened your muscles and opened your pores to set you up for the rest of the treatment, the attendant says. What muscles, you think.
From this point you are at their mercy. Fifteen minutes or so in the hot tub, sipping cold water from a paper cup with a straw. Then, slam-bam, it`s into an ancient brick mineral water steam bath. Carefully, you sit on a board placed for your protection.
Five minutes in the steam and another quick shower to cool off and you are led, barely nodding, back to the beds in the outer room, where the attendant wraps you tightly in a blanket, mummylike, in the aptly named sweat wrap. For about 15 minutes you lie there, contemplating the poisons escaping your body and wondering when you will be able to feel the air again.
It seems like an eternity, but the attendant returns, smiling and bearing more drinking water as he unwraps the blanket. For about 20 minutes you enjoy the coolness of the air on your skin-that is, if you are superhuman and don`t drift off into a blissful snooze.
Now it is time for the coup de grace, the half-hour massage that is the climax of the afternoon. The owner, Frankie Hughes, is so renowned in Calistoga that the town`s other masseuses all come to him for their mud baths and massages.
On this day, alas, Frankie is out of town, but an amiable Pakistani named Calvin works his magic. Calvin likes to talk while he applies his oils and his skills, and you want to be polite, but it is all you can do to nod and grunt occasionally.
Then, all too soon, Calvin says thank you, and it is over. You trudge, a little disoriented, back to the shower, then dress and step out into the world, remade in the likeness of your basic soggy linguini.
The sun seems brighter and this pleasant town even more inviting, all the burdens of whatever might have ailed you seemingly a planet away. Nearby, the Petrified Forest beckons, or you can go a few miles away and see Calistoga`s own Old Faithful geyser, which scientists believe can help predict earthquakes by changes in its regular 50-minute intervals between eruptions.
But if you choose this moment to return to a winery for a little late-afternoon tasting, or, as I did, to an upscale outdoor reception for winemakers gathered from around the region, don`t be surprised if you get some strained looks.
Your soul might be salvaged, but your very core, it turns out, is still stained by the smell of sulfur. Nothing that standing downwind, and two or three additional showers, won`t fix.
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Nance`s Hot Springs and Motel, 1614 Lincoln Ave., Calistoga, Calif. 94515; 707-942-6211. Nance`s Works (mud bath, mineral whirlpool bath, mineral steam, blanket wrap) is $55 with a half-hour massage, $30 without massage; the Ultimate, which includes all of the above with a one-hour massage, is $75.
For information on other local mud baths and hot spring spas, write the Calistoga Chamber of Commerce, 1458 Lincoln Ave., Calistoga, Calif. 94515;
707-942-6333. –
