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Canada - British Columbia -
Hot Ideas for a Cold Winter
Sinking into the steaming waters, I let out a large, "Ahhh...." and then start to laugh as I realize my husband's deep sigh is in perfect sync with mine. We have just found another muscle-melting BC hot spring.
British Columbia has about 85 hot springs, most of them following the mountain ranges that run from Alaska to Central America. This "Ring of Fire" circles a major portion of the Pacific Ocean. The origins of hot springs start with the weather. Rain falls and percolates deep into the earth where, just like in a nuclear plant, the slow and steady decay of naturally occurring uranium, potassium and thorium heat it up. More rain and snow seeps into the earth, the hot water is displaced and pushed to the surface where we bask and loll in its warmth. However, unlike a nuclear plant, the radiation level is negligible and certainly not a health risk. In fact, because of how the water is heated, each hot spring has a slightly different mineral composition with different benefits attributed to each.
An easy place to start your new habit is Harrison Hot Springs. Head east out of Vancouver on the Trans-Canada until you see the turn-off for the village. This lakeside resort has shops and restaurants and the lovely Harrison Hot Springs Hotel where the steaming waters are piped into pools for hotel guests only. If you don't want to stay at the hotel, there is a large pool for the public where you can get the same warm benefits.
Better yet, grab your B.C. map and point your car east until you reach Radium Hot Springs. Smack up against a tight canyon, this outdoor pool is a great place to congratulate yourself on your clever plan to cover some fabulous public hot pools while traveling through mind-boggling scenery. As the name suggests, these are the most radioactive waters of any hot springs in Canada, though they are still quite harmless.
"I come here every day. That's why I'm so healthy and have no pain from my arthritis", the man speaking looks ancient, but seems flexible as he stands, steaming, to point up the hill to where his house must be.
Driving south will take you to Fairmont Hot Springs, the largest hot spring pool complex in all of Canada. All three pools of varying temperatures have great views of the Rocky Mountains.
For a soak that's a little closer to nature, head south on Highway 93/95 until you reach the Whiteswan Lake Provincial Park turnoff. Travel a gravel logging road for about twenty minutes until you see a sign marking the entrance to the Provincial Park.
Immediately after this sign, stop at the small change room. Whip into your suit, bundle a towel and jacket over yourself and walk down the wooden steps to several rocky hot tubs at the side of a roaring cold-water creek. Sitting on craggy rocks, foggy mineral smells rising around your ears, with the trees swaying above and the creek roaring beside you is completely and utterly divine.
Sink into the hot water... sigh... smile...and relax.
For more info: www.bchotsprings.com
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