Panic Ensues

Craig and I went camping at Kirkham Hot Springs on Friday. We’ve gone there several times and it is different every time. The pools vary a little in size, depth and temperature with regularity, but it is always enjoyable. This time, however, was altogether shocking. We started the little hike down to the springs. I was paying close attention to my footing and little attention to my surroundings when suddenly Craig said “they’re gone!”

For those of you who have never been to Kirkham, there are two tiers of pools and the lower tier (normally) borders the Payette River. Currently, the river is running “120% full” (whatever that means…it wasn’t flooding, so how is it more than full?) and the lower tier was quite literally gone. It was so bizarre—like a building being torn down overnight. There were two pools partially remaining in the upper tier so we took full advantage of those; and Craig tried to make a dam to block the river water.
(FYI—the little hike at Kirkham is fun if you are ever there and are tired of swimming/don’t want to swim/ there are no hot springs in which to swim.)

The next morning, we went to Bonneville Hot Springs because 1) Craig has been wanting to for quite some time and 2) we thought maybe they might be more separated from the river. We found them to be a little disappointing. People have used several tarps over time to try to keep the pools warm and at this point it looks really trashy. Also, the river has taken over this hot spring as well.

We also visited Pine Flats Hot Springs. These pools had a huge nerd filter on them because normally you can walk on the bank of the river to get to the pools. As you’ve probably guessed by now, the river was really high here as well leaving no bank. We “billy goated” it as best we could to get a good view of where the main pool normally is. Nothing but river.

Also, every time we drive the road to Lowman, I try to find Staircase rapids. I have consistently missed them so we made a point of finding them this time. We found them, and it is my non-professional opinion that if you want to run Staircase, but are a little chicken, this is the time to do it. It was really quite flat and nothing like the videos I found on You Tube yesterday.

Long story short—hot springs campsite camping is still great right now…just don’t expect much from the actual hot springs.