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| Jen on the hike in. I over-doctored this photo a bit. |
Last weekend Jen and I took a Saturday night and hiked back in to Stanley Hot Springs. We've been wanting to hit Stanley for a long time, but it's a 5-6 mile hike in and the trailhead is 15-25 miles beyond our usual hot springs haunts, Weir and Jerry Johnson. Also, the kids are much more on their own, so we find ourselves alone on weekend nights more often than not. We have more time, and on this particular weekend, we decided to make the most of it.
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| Me at the start. |
The hike begins at Wilderness Gateway, which is a large campground and Selway-Bitterroot trailhead about two hours drive from Missoula.
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| Beautiful fall colors off in the distance. |
We got a late start, not leaving Missoula until 3pm on Saturday and setting off on the trail at 5pm, so we walked in the late afternoon fall light.
At about the five mile mark you come to the first fork in the trail, where you take a right (we met a family going in that had kept going straight and missed the springs) and within a quarter mile cross a sizable stream. Just on the other side, we set up camp, because it was getting dark, and made a quick freeze dried food dinner.
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| Heating up dinner. |
After dinner, we hiked the remaining way to the springs, and found them to be packed with people. It was surreal, with many camps all with fires, and one with an enormous bon fire. We soaked in the upper pool, which was empty but hot, and were soon over-heated. The next morning, when we returned, we found out that there were 25 people camped at the springs, so if you go be prepared to see people. The next morning we returned for more soaking. It's a wonderful springs. I highly recommend it, even if it is crazy-busy.
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| morning coffee and breakfast. |
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| soaking in the upper pool. |
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| Jen in the upper pool and other folks in the lower. |
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| Pudge |
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| Crossing the steaming heading back. |
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| Jen near the end. |
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