Meager Creek Hot Springs Update

From Mike Sato,On Oct 10, 2007, I visited Meager Creek Hot Springs with a Recreation Officer from BC Ministry of Forest. We were doing an assessment of Meager Creek’s current conditions in order to determine what improvements would be necessary before opening Meager Creek Hot Springs to the public. In fall of 2003, the Meager Creek Bridge was washed out due to heavy flooding. Since the site had

Scenic Hot Springs Update

From the property owner:Scenic is still not open to the general public. The only people allowed to use the springs are those who have a permission card or have been given permission for a visit in advance. Permission cards are only issued to those who have two or more involvements in past clean-up parties. Any visitors who do not have permission or a permission card are trespassing. If you are

Snow Plows have blocked access

The snow berm across the entrance of FS850 - image courtesy a friendly WSP trooperWe got a good dumping of snow in the Cascades on Monday . . . up to 14 inches in some places. You can expect snow from Skykomish on up. The pass cam shows US2 unplowed of several inches.FS850, the access to Scenic Hot Springs, is well within the heavy snow zone and according to one report there is a snow berm in

Why you should care . . .

A few of the many 38cal(?) cartridges we found scattered around the base of the Monster TubI won't go into why firing guns from the hot spring pools is such an incredibly stupid idea. I've had guns fired in my direction on two occasions up at Scenic. I don't like the idea of an errant bullet whizzing past my head on the trail downslope.Irresponsible gun usage is one of the reasons we have rules

Snowtime at Scenic

A dusting of snow near the main springs at 3,500ftNot much yet but it's coming as a new weather system with high winds and a lot of moisture is due in Monday. The freezing level is down around 2,400ft.

Why no Sulphur Smell at Scenic . . .

A question I often get from those who have been to Scenic is "How come there is very little rotten egg smell like other hot springs?" Often the pungent smell of Olympic Hot Springs is brought up in comparison. Scenic Hot Springs barely has any smell, whatsoever. Why?That rotten egg smell is the result of H2S, or hydrogen sulphide. As ground waters percolate downward and heat up, minerals are

Last Chance This Year: Clean Up Party Oct 27th, 2007

An ounce of prevention . . .The snow's not far behind us and this is our last chance to join with Mike to clean-up the springs area in preparation for the winter season. We need to do a substantial bit of winter erosion control and cleanup.Dress for the weather and be prepared to get dirty. It's hard to predict where the snow will be so dress in layers; have good, sturdy boots; and work gloves.

The Hot Springs Guy: YouTube Western US Hot Springs Player

Well, my friend Josh over at Idaho Hot Springs (also known as TheHotSpringsGuy) has given us a great new resource in the form of a video tease of a number of natural hot springs in the Northwest. Check it out and pay Josh a visit at his great website. Rick

Impromptu Clean Up Party Sept 9th, 2007

An impromptu cleanup party is being held at Scenic this coming Saturday (Sep 8th, 2007). This is short notice. What we will be doing is moving some of the trash from the upper levels further lower on the trail to where it can be more easily picked up during later cleanups. As a result of the winter and springs weather much of the garbage pile of odd construction materials got scattered and is

Anon Poster Wants Springs Given Back to Government

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Minor Cleanup Party this coming Sunday":This site used to be great until all of this legal crap. Maybe the owner should just sell back to the gov and let them try to regulate.This really should be open to the public and left to be natural without wood boxing, fake rocks and all this effort to caretake.I guess the anonymous commenter just cannot

Minor Cleanup Party this coming Sunday

Where: At the gate on FS850When: Sunday, June 3rd at 11amHere's a chance to visit Scenic Hot Springs and do a little tender-loving care to the property and the adjoining areas of the litter and erosion from the winter and spring months. Afterward, we will have an opportunity to enjoy the springs. This cleanup party will not be a major undertaking and we will simply hike on up to the hot

Another Black Bear near Scenic

A black bear roaming the lower areas of the clearcut (near where FS850 enters). Seen near dawn grubbing for it's breakfast of bugs, it wandered on up the slopes into the heavy canopy above the clearcut, seemingly avoiding the human-made bypass trails.Although the bear knew I was there and less than 100 feet away, it paid me no attention other than glancing my way every so often to see if I'd

Memorial Day Weekend and the Springs

The Memorial Day Weekend has always been a difficult time for the hot springs so this year, as with last year, we are going to enforce the NO TRESPASSING rules at the springs.Starting Friday afternoon, a representative of Scenic Hot Springs will be present on the property (including overnight) and TURN BACK those who attempt to visit the springs. Anyone who doesn't cooperate will be referred to

Scenic Hot Springs Conditions, May 11th, 2007

The pools after cleaning and refilling. KEEP THEM CLEAN!!!!Pool Temperatures as ofMay 11th, 2007 @ 4 PMConditions: Clear skies, 68F @ Pools; Patches of snow on the upper trail above Main Creek crossing. FS850, BPA Road and lower trail are snow free. As predicted, some enterprising soul has chainsawed the tree blocking access to FS850.Spring SourceEast #1 (Lobster Upper): 78.3F, Flow: 18 gpm

Scenic Hot Springs Conditions, April 5th, 2007

Conditions: Clear, sunny skies, 50F @ Pools; 68F on the Upper BPA Road. Snow is still 2-4 ft deep, wet & heavy. Melt is accelerating. Snowshoes are not required as snow will support boots. Some icy areas under shade. Spring Source East #1 (Lobster Upper): 96.1F, Flow: 15.35 gpm (measured) East #2 (Lobster Lower): 68.8F, disconnected from feed tube Feed was back in place supplying the pool.

Olympic Hot Springs Update - Mar 31st, 2007

The road up to Olympic Hot Springs remains closed at the dam due to winter storms. That leaves a hike of around 14 miles round trip.There are a large number of downed trees across the trail, all navigatable. There is one large one right before the last (highest) springs that is difficult to get over. The stream crossing is navigatable but don't expect to keep your feet dry. There are still

Scenic Hot Springs Conditions, March 26th, 2007

In a nutshell, the snow is melting but there is still plenty of it. FS850 is undriveble with unstable snowpack from three to six feet. Erosion on the slopes is typical for the spring melt, with a few new wrinkles but no major sliding. Snowshoes are still advised but they will go on and off, as there are plenty of bare patches. The air temperature at the pool was a cool 39F when I arrived at

Scenic Hot Springs Snow Conditions Update

I must apologize to my lack of posts regarding Scenic. It's not that Scenic has been forgotten, but more of that there is little of a public nature that can be posted and a certain desire on the part of Mother Nature to make it difficult at best to visit Scenic. Weather in the Cascades has been pretty brutal these last several months. In a nutshell . . . there is still lots of snow up at

Showshoeing to the Springs

Kimba was kind enough to share these images of Scenic taken Dec 26th, 2006Someone built a snowman at the gateThere were tracks that went about up to the first bend right,but then they ended. There were no tracks above that at all.It took almost three hours to hit the springs.The pools were dirty, they emptied it as muchas they could and gave it a good cleaning.