hotsprings

 The last few months have provided the opportunity to visit some new hotsprings, a favorite pastime of mine. On the way back from Oregon we stopped for a few days at a lovely place called Avalanche Ranch. A small working farm, antique barn and cabin rentals complete the experience. Although I very much enjoy the springs lost in the mountains, the uniqueness and beauty of the many pools at this place are quite welcoming.

The newest pool at Avalanche Ranch; a cedar tub in the old barn

 

I've been to a number of "natural springs" and yet every time I travel through Idaho it never ceases to amaze me. The springs here have an appeal unlike anywhere else. Generally clean, without hoards of people and surrounded by beautiful forests make Idaho's hotsprings an unbelievable experience.

And finally onto the most recent find and one of my favorite yet. The hotsprings along the Verde River in Arizona. This place is remarkable. It was a historic lodge from the 1920's that burned down in the 60's. What remains is this: the springs, the old foundation and a lot of care from some hotspring loving locals. The springs themselves are a bit terrifying in depth. Something like 9 feet that crawl under the stone structure only to open into caverns. Not somewhere one would choose to venture but indeed a pleasant soak assuming you stay on the surface. The catch to this place is that it requires a decent wade through the river to get here. We opted to hike above the spring and then blow up the packrafts and partake on a bit of squirly ride to the springs in lew of the immersion. A smart choice in November.

life is full plates

 Sometimes the best places come after the longest excursions. Maybe this is what I am on track for? I found myself telling C the other day that I cannot wait until my life slows down again. Sure it has always been long hours (I think this is what I am destined for in life) but it is different these months. I never properly learned to balance a dinner plate on my arm, being oh so graceful that I am. While my other AK ladies could carry three or four, I only carry two. I just chalk them full and it all balances out I suppose. It keeps me on my toes. My repose these days found in the oddest of places; making yogurt, tending to my composting bins, or enjoying chicken on a stick with a Hamms beer. It is amazing how any food item can be transformed into a source of innovation if you just jam a stick into it. This particular weekend a long journey in search of hotsprings (which turned into an even longer journey because of closed roads and snow) turned up the relaxation I think my body craved but my brain wouldn’t let me admit to.  My inner hot spring junkie was fulfilled. The hot water is piped in from the springs via carved out logs.  Piped through a series of tubing, it is then filtered into a bath-house style building. Larger logs have been whittled away to form tubs and are filled by each user by diverting the hot spring water and mixing it with cold buckets of water from a streamed source.

warm waters

I compare hot springs to treasure; they are nothing less. To find a place in the mountains or along the rivers where warm water pours out of the earth, not much beats the experience. I have recently been notified of my visitor center junkie status- undenied; but even more than the braking for national park visitor centers, I drive out of my way for hot springs. The best hot springs of all are the ones with broken down signs, found only in guide books or lost all together save for the word of mouth. These are the waters in which you find the hot springs junkies; the ones that have been coming to that very spring for 20 years because they know the secret of the place. Springs make sense to me, my body is at peace. I can sip coffee and let the new sun of the day light my skin or drink wine under the stars- this is the treasure of the springs. Geothermal activity is responsible for the warm waters, heated by magma deep inside the earth. The ground water picks up minerals present in the rocks or surrounding soils to make each spring unique. Where there is volcanic activity or plate tectonic motion there is bound to be a spring. Some hot springs have been developed, meaning turned into pools or soaking areas that are privately maintained and operated. Undeveloped springs are tended to only by the visitors that frequent their waters and are often times a shallow pool formed from strategically placed rock.

I can not take credit for the find on the Takhini hot springs; my eyes tired after a 400 mile stretch across the Yukon I never saw the posting. Fortunately my mother possesses the radar for hot springs, spotting the sign as I blew by at 60 miles in hour. Sometimes these signs are a bust, but we took our chances and drifted 20 miles off course down a bumpy dirt road just outside of Whitehorse. We were rewarded by warm waters to wash away the miles, a place to pitch a tent and second morning soak before continuing down the road. The goodness of the springs.