Go paint, hike to the hot springs. Go paint, hike to the hot springs. Go paint, hike to the hot springs.
Why am I even having this conversation with myself, am I an idiot for having such a conversation with myself? No need for you to answer. LOL … Okay, I’ll knock that nonsense off and go to the hot springs today.
I’ve written about one trip to the hot springs….
Sept. 1, 2005
A Journey to
The Elwha Hot Springs. (Actually they are the Olympic Hot Springs, but you go up the Elwha river to get to them) By Billy B. Cook.
Having heard about the Elwha Hot Springs for years I went there for the first time last month with a friend and upon our return to 'civilization I proclaimed it to be like heaven up there. Mostly because there is no road into the place and you have to hike to it, that keeps a lot of people from going there and screwing the place up and commercializing it.
So I decided to go again yesterday, be at one with the universe, and here are a few facts and interesting notes about my journey. Well, interesting to me anyway.
It's a 21.7 mile drive from my home to the parking lot, then a 2.3 mile (one hour) walk to the Hot Springs. A park pass is ten bucks but I now have a Golden Age Pass so it's nothing for me and anyone with me, age brings a few advantages.
On the way to the springs I was thinking that it is the kind of area like where I came from in Eastern Washington and there should be grouse here. Sure enough, soon one walked across the trail about ten feet in front of me acting as if I wouldn't be thinking about having it for lunch. Lucky grouse as I wasn't packing a weapon.
Further on I thought I heard a rustle just off the trail and looked that way to see a bear following me, now a bear is something to worry about when it's only about twenty feet away. I hollered HEY !! and waved my hat around some and kept walking, but keeping a sharp eye on my back.
And then............ And then........... It.......It..... wasn't seen again.
Arrived at the pools at 9:00 AM and checked them all out and settled on the one used last time as the best one, it's about twenty feet higher than the trail and pretty private. Spent an hour and a half in it, what luxury to be in such a peaceful beautiful place in a warm pool of mineral water being at one with the universe. I could live there.
The day before a friend gave me a book "The WORST-CASE SCENARIO Survival Handbook" So sitting in the pool I first read what to do around bears and I had pretty much done the right thing. Maybe old forgotten training had me do the right thing.
No cell phone signal in that area so a person is definitely dis-connected from the rest of the world and that is just fine with me. As a youth I spent a lot of time in the mountains of Northern Idaho and often was away from home for a week so I'm okay wandering around in them. Picture a skinny fifteen year old kid in old clothes with a bag of rag tag items, maybe a little food, a blanket and a fishing pole and that would be me.
I've purchased a back pack and have equipped it with what I think I might need on day trips, or if by some chance I get stuck overnight somewhere as I plan on going to the springs as often as I can make an excuse to go. I went early so I was the only one at the springs but passed others on their way up there on my return down the trail.
Not that I would mind if others where there, I note that only nice and peaceful (mostly)people bother to go to places like that. There isn't even any litter in the area. But by 12:20 I was back in 'Civilization. A word I'm not sure is correct.
Billy B. Cook. SAA
Meldonna ….. Way back when the man that started New Orleans wanted to build there he was told by engineers not to, but he did anyway. Seattle isn’t the same as New Orleans, at least they built Seattle up instead of building a seawall. It doesn’t matter how many generations someone was somewhere. Staying stubborn and stupid is still just staying stubborn and stupid. Nature needs the use of that area, just as she needs the Amazon rain forest to keep this planet alive and working properly. Just how much do you think man can keep screwing with nature and keep getting away with it? There is some risk in living anywhere, but stupid is still stupid. Or lets put it this way, had I been born there I wouldn’t have been stupid enough to have stayed there. I’m a citizen of a planet, not a place.
Hey, check out the neat map at this blog.
http://ptcruiser292.blogspot.com/2006/08/two-more-things-to-love-about-canada.html
A funny quote
I can win an argument on any topic, against any opponent. People know this, and steer clear of me at parties. Often, as a sign of their great respect they don't even invite me. - Dave Barry
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1 comment:
Dear Billy,
Thanks for the Dave Barry; I'm still smiling.
I do hope you realize no offense was intended in my playing Devil's advocate, and I happen to agree with you wholeheartedly on the concept of mankind's arrogance in trying to force Nature to succumb. It's so easy to sound far harsher than intended in print.
My concerns are centered on people displaced, as I'm fairly sure the area that is the Ninth Ward will be redeveloped, one way or another. I don't see the area being allowed to go back to wetland...not with developers salivating to build resorts and casinos, and no leadership stepping up to protect the interests of the working poor who lost all when the levees collasped. I'll just be sad to see the peoples' homes condemned, their properties repossessed or bought up for pennies on the dollar, then turned into a theme park (which, in turn, the taxpayer will inevitably have to bail out from a future storm). This is why I see this issue from an economic displacement view, instead of a primarily ecological one. Had we better leadership in this country, both issues would adequately be addressed.
You are also correct that Seattle is a vastly different place, although I will point out that we do have a seawall. Its purpose is not to keep the sea out as much as to prevent erosion of the landfill that is our waterfront -- we wouldn't want Pike's Place Market falling into Elliot Bay! In fact, Seattle's seawall is in serious need of a rebuild, as the timbers shoring it up are failing.
And not that I have anything against Seattle; I love living here! I do doubt there's any urban area in the country that doesn't defy nature in one way or another. I suppose I'm a bit miffed that folks are suggesting the Ninth Ward in NOLA be bulldozed, but I hear very little clammor for the same solution for the surrounding suburban sprawl.
Can I offer a cyber peace pipe? You have good reasons for feeling the way you do, and I appreciate you listening to mine. The best outcome to any argument is when it makes both parties think...
Oh, and a few weeks back I had Jesusland up for my wallpaper -- I first saw it right before I started blogging, which is where my blog's name came from. Folks do seem more sane north of the border.
mahalo,
*mel
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