Searching for hot springs

and killing time waiting for snow  

We rolled west toward the rockies but certainly felt no rush whatsoever since there was absolutely no snow in the forecast anywhere in the west. 

We pulled quickly into the town of Revelstoke to hop online and then called an audible and decided to drive south toward Nakusp in search of unexplored territory and the hope of discovering a few hot springs.

Wasn’t until after leaving town that we realized the drive required a ferry so we sped up a bit trying to catch the next boat rather than waiting around for an hour and ferrying across in the dark.  Turned out to be the best decision as the ferry provided one of the best sunsets possible without sitting on an ocean. 

Was a quick and chilly 20minute ride across, but the view of the mountain backdrop and the the colorful sunset made this drive well worth it even without a hot spring. A truly gorgeous half an hour!

Luckily we didn’t have to settle for that.  Just a quick drive south of the ferry terminal is the Halcyon Hot Springs resort, which has one of BCs many developed hot springs (essentially meaning they take a natural hot spring and build a modern pool or three to hold the waters for guests’ use). 

It isn’t our preferred type of hot spring experience…we far prefer the natural/primitive pool along the side of the river or hidden in nature, but it was getting dark and the promise of the soak was too great.  It ended up being a great experience and one we’d easily repeat when we find ourselves in the area.

The next morning we headed south looking for more natural springs, but the snow kept getting the best of us.  All of the forest service roads that our research told us might deliver primitive springs kept proving to be impassable (even to the sprinter) and would have meant minimum 18km hikes/snowshoes in. 

We love an adventure, but only had a few days before we had to be in Banff to meet friends and theres no way Karma would make that long of a hike in and out in one day (though Im certain a night winter camping next to a hot spring is an experience we need to have at some point in the future).We checked out a few other possibilities, with pretty much the same results and eventually decided to head back into Revelstoke to enjoy our evening. 

We continue to love the town of Revelstoke…and could easily see us staying here for an entire season (if we stayed anywhere for an entire season), but right now were scouring the snow forecasts and seeing nothing in the next week, so we decide to save our passes and head on for other adventures on the way to Banff.