James and I had been planning to go to the Bechler hot springs the whole summer, but it seemed we never got a good window when James would have had his two days off, so finally a weekend in October we decided we should go for it.

the weather forecast called for 70% chance of mixed rain and snow for sunday and the trail description detailed two river fords and a slough. ranger reports the slough being mid thigh. much the way that James and I both go about the things we do, it seemed like it just sorta happened. neither backed down from the plans. we are both more than capable, but still when we found ourselves at the trail head on saturday, packed an loaded, looking at each other ‘well, here we are’… we arrived with the knowledge that this was going to be wet, cold and unpleasant, but neither said as much as a word to back out of it. probably in the fear that if it was mentioned, we, once again, would be like two fish swimming in circles around each other, watching time go by. especially since the forecast had now changed from 70% chance to a 100% of 3-5 inches of snow.

we hiked in, forded rivers, crossed several on logs, it was a misty day. we took compass readings and verified our path for the way back in case we woke up to snow or had to hike back in a blizzard across the vast meadows. found some hot springs and laid in them for a while as it got dark, drank whiskey tea and I loved being there with him! all the while I thanked him for making me do this. he seemed baffled by me thanking him and said it was the other way around. it seemed like neither really planned for this, but neither really backed out either, so it just more or less happened, that we found ourselves there.

in the morning we woke up to freezing rain, in a pool of water and everything was wet and frigid cold. we packed up with numb fingers, bundled up and set out for the looming river crossings. after the last river crossing, I clambered to the other shore and with shaky numb fingers and chattering teeth pulled my back off, dried out what I could and got my pants and boots back on. nothing like a fucking hypothermia to set in. after that one I just couldn’t really get warm again, the cold set into my bones and creeped in to my torso. oh well. only a few miles out.

we got to the car, stripped naked, enter through the back and left wetness to the rear, turned up the heat and appreciated the warm woolly clothes we had brought along to change into when we got back, since we knew we’d be miserable. made a hot brew and drove to Norris hot springs and shook off the rest of the chill from our bones.

the whole weekend really reminded me of the pacific northwest. minus the hot springs.