Upper Lillooet Provincial Park
Keyhole Hotsprings
December 15th
I felt really sick for the past two weeks. Therefore, I decided to finally do something about it. I really like being cured the natural way, without any help of useless pills and other prescriptions so I took the risk of asking the nature to help me out a bit.
The Keyhole Hot-Springs are located about two hours drive north-west from Pemberton, BC, out of which about 40km is on a very rough, gravely forest service road. I remember when we went there last year it was about 49km and a half an hour hike. Over the summer the plant construction did, however, change the conditions a bit and now everyone seeking the pleasure of bathing in a purely natural hot water has to hike for about another 2km down to the valley. Normally the hike would take about an hour but considering the icy conditions and snow, due to which the provincial park is actually "closed" to public since november, and the fact that we arrived around 5pm and had descent to the valley in the dark, it took us about 2 hours. But it was worth it!
We camped on the bank surrounded by hot pools, which made the freezing cold that we faced in the morning a bit less serious. It's very easy to get up and get out of your warmed up sleeping bag when you know that it doesn't take much to escape the shivers you get on an icy morning. There were about four pools, where 2 of them had an ideal temperature. Not too cold, not too hot. The soothing feeling of defeating the cold, cough and getting an experience that anywhere else in the world would be hard to get. I remembered Yellowstone National Park, where none of the hot-springs are actually open to public to bathe in so would probably ended up with a fat ticket for attempting to dip yourself in a pool there. Good thing that not many people know about this hidden gem and that it actually takes an effort to get here so that only the determined and nature loving people can enjoy this.
On our way back, after the strenuous climb back to the service forest road, we got an unpleasant surprise of a flat tire on my wandering machine. Luckily, it was still half inflated and I decided to take the risk of driving it to Pemberton, where I'll get a chance to inflate my spare wheel to actually be able to use it. We made it safe and sound and this only added a little more adventurous finish.
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