Valley of the Hot Springs

Last weekend my girlfriend and I travelled to the Kootenays to enjoy some hot springs and Kootenay hospitality. We had a wonderful time! Our day started early saturday with a drive down the winding Highway 6 fron Vernon to Needles, then across the short cable ferry and up to Nakusp. There, we stayed at the rustic, "seasoned" and full of character Leland Hotel, the oldest functioning hotel in BC. While in desperate need of a makeover, we had nothing but a wonderful experience at this fine place, with a warm, comfortable queen size bed and a view of the Arrow Lakes from our bay window that would charm the most hard-hearted of persons. We paid $60 for our night, and look forward to another wonderful stay in the future! Here's hoping though that they'll get some investment to do more work on the place. It is getting rundown, which is a terrible tragedy, as it is such a beautiful place.

That night, we drove up a winding, 8 kilometre road to the Nakusp Hot Springs, a beautiful pool in a valley setting, nestled in the deep woods. Before jumping in the pool we took the back woods trail acorss an old, rickety bridge over a roaring mountain canyon and climbed up a short trail to view the source. Not astoundingly impressive, but the woods were deep, dark and mysterious, and the hike put us in the mood for a soak. The Nakusp Hot Springs themselves are warm, soothing, and very relaxing. There are two pools - a large warm pool for comfortable relaxation, and a hot pool for draining away your stresses. We spent a long time jumping back and forth between both, enjoying the mineral spring water.

The next day found us travelling further south to New Denver, then across the pass to Kaslo. A more beautiful pass in the fall I have noy yet seen. Yellows, reds, shimmering golds and green treated our eyes as we drove, and still ponds and lakes invited us to stop and admire the rocky crags reflected in their waters. We visited Sandon - an old little historic place up a winding gravel road, famous for an old silver mine. Now, it appears to be not much more than an odd collection of rusting automobiles and the largest collection of vintage Vancouver Trolley Buses I have ever seen. I wouldn't put it high on my list for targetted sites, but to each their own.

Passing Kaslo (a cute and pretty town, perched above Kootenay Lake and with a wonderful view of the Purcell range), we arrived at Ainsworth Hot Springs. This pleasant springs is just off the highway and affords an expansive view of Kootenay Lake and the Purcells while you soak. Of particular interest is the horseshoe cave, whose dim interior you can swim through, if you can stand the heat and humidity, and brave yourself against the dark! A challenge is to paddle to the very far back corvner of the cave, where you can climb onto a hot ledge and stick your toes into a scalding waterfall. Unfortunately, Nakusp Hot Springs had spoiled us, and Ainsworth, while a worthy contender, couldn't quite measure up. So off we went to Nelson!

We stayed at the Dancing Bear Inn, a HI Hostel in the centre of Nelson. Nelson is a funky and very cool town, filled with character and characters, and a collection of architectural features that had me strolling everywehre looking at the lampposts, plaques, sidewalk ornamentation, terrace patios, and other features of note. Laid out in a rectlinear gridf pattern without concern for topography, Nelson's streets are guaranteed to pose a significant obstacle during the winter months! The Dancing Bear Inn, however, was a wonderful stay for us, and extremely comfortable. In fact, I will say it was the finest hostel I have ever been in, wonderfully restored and with friendly, helpful staff.

Our trip back home took us through the Slocan valley, where the highway climbed its way up to the edge of rocky cliffs and sheer embankments, affording us views of the lakes and valleys of the area. We passed through small towns, running linearly to the highway, some clusters of occasional development popping up around a coffee shop for no discernable reason - but we were glad to see them, and to say hello on occasion when the urge struck us.

Past Nakusp, we turned onto the Halfway Road where the highway crossed the Halfway River Delta, and slowly pressed up a long, windy and rock-strewn forest service road. For 11 kilometres we drove, until finally pulling over. We hiked down a long, steep mountainside, following the occasional blaze glimmering blue or orange in the moody light of the forest, until finally we stumbled out onto the Halfway River. There, where the river turned a dog leg and crashed headlong into a sheer cliff, we found several large, simmering pools of crystal clear hot springs which demanded our attention. We quickly leapt in to our delight, and spent several wonderful hours enjoying the beauty of nature and a refreshing soak.

Our final destination before home was Halcyon Hot Springs, about halfway between Nakusp and Revelstoke, on the Galena Bay side of the Arrow Lakes. The newest hot spring resort, it was a little more expensive, but we found a wonderfully enjoyable setup awaiting us when we came out of the change rooms. One large pool simmered with warm, soothing water, while a hot pool curved its way across the deck, inviting healing. A cold plunge pool stood off to the side, inviting a quick polar bear dip. We climbed into the warm pool and allowed a strong current to tug us around a slow course, while floating on handily provided foamies. The view looks west out over Arrow Lake, with the Monashees dominating the horizon. I can't wait to see what happens with Halcyon in the future. A wonderful new addition to the hot springs circuit, this is one resort I am sure I will visit time and time again. Three hours later, we were back home, rested, and looking forward to our next trip to the Kootenays!