The Road to Miette

After the morning at Pyramid Lake we could finally answer in the affirmative to Adele's constant queries of 'Are we going to the Hot Springs now?"

The road to Miette goes past some of the best Bighorn sheep viewing spots in the whole park, so we were hopeful that we would be able to knock another of the big mammals off our checklist.  After the near-bear encounter in the morning, why not?  And we did indeed get a nice herd of sheep, just off the side of the road near the Miette turnoff.  Fiona and Adele got out of the car to take a picture.  The little ones posed nicely and the picture was soon in the bag.  But one of the ewes must have thought the hot springs sounded good as well, because she followed Fiona and Adele back to the car.  She must have realized the only room left in the car was in the boot so she eventually lost interest and returned to the herd.

The hot springs were a welcome attraction to people who had been covered in fire smoke and hard earned hiking sweat.  The showers you use before entering the pool seemed like enough to justify the trip until you first set foot in the hot pool. It was heavenly.  Muscles you didn't even know were tense instantly relaxed.

The only thing better than sitting in that pool was a quick dip in one of the cold pools - one 14C and the other 22C - followed by getting back in the hot pool.  The cold was shockingly cold, not refreshing or any other kind of good cold.  But your whole skin would come alive when you got back into the hot pool.

The location of the springs is also source of wonder, especially for those with any kind of appreciation of geology.  The mountainside were alternately a mix of structured layers and massive, homogenous blocks.  It was really quite fantastic.  We made one more stop at some small falls on the way back and I snapped the last picture in the group on the post.  I think it's one of my favourites.

You'd figure that we saved the grandest dinner for the last night in the park, and you'd be right.  A couple of fire-roasted hot-dogs, along with leftover brats and burgers really hit the spot.  It was nice and relaxed without being melancholy.  The badminton smashes were a little less severe, the Tick was a little less cut-throat and the company of family that we don't see nearly as often as we would really like was thoroughly enjoyed.  It was the kind of scene and evening that you would go back to when you need your 'happy place'.