Hot Springs in Idaho!

We had a very tame Friday night here in Boise. After dinner and a couple of drinks at Reef we decided to head back to the B&B to turn in early. Kate was up and out of bed early this morning, 6:30 to be precise. I was up and jogging on the Boise Greenbelt by 7:30am. My run was only about 30 minutes, but it was enough for me. I ran down to Broadway, headed downstream on the Greenbelt to 9th street, then through downtown Boise back up Idaho street to the B&B.

During breakfast Kate and I decided we would head north up Idaho 55 to check out the North and South Forks of the Payette River. I would say it wasn't 30 minutes in the car until we could see the river. I was lost in the scenery very soon after we were out of the city limits. Less than one hour from Boise and we were met with views such as this:


Here we are near swinging bridge on the North Fork Payette about 6 miles north of Banks, ID.

We drove further north to see Jacobs Ladder (yes, it is that scary in person), then we turned around and headed for the South Fork. We were in search of natural hot springs. About 4 miles up the South Fork we pulled off the road and began our hike.
We went up..........
Way up, our car is so small from this distance...........

The hike was very steep but the views were worth it. The views around the hot springs definitely held my attention more than any view of the day. Did I mention the name?


There is an elaborate network of trails, pipes, and concrete pools maintained by the regular users. I didn't understand why in the world anyone would bring pipe and concrete up to that altitude until I found the "headwaters" for the spring. Luckily, I barely touched the water when I realized how hot it was. Yikes, 149 degrees! If it were not for the pipes and pools the water would be far to hot to enjoy, unless you're making soup.

It was a great hike, the water was very theraputic. We enjoyed it very much. Cheers!


This was the view east up the canyon.


Kate was, by far, the winner of "most stunning view of the day".



It's hard to believe we've accomplished so much before 6pm. My only regret so far today is that we didn't have a trashbag with us during our hike to the hot springs. No matter where you are you'll run across the tracks of those stupid humans that haven't figured out how to "Leave No Trace". Next time we trek up to Skinnydippers Hot Springs we'll be sure to make our mark by removing the mark left by others.