Exploring Miette Hotsprings and Hinton, Alberta
Both my son and his wife were off work for my free day in Hinton, and they suggested Miette Hot Springs down in Jasper National Park as the main destination. Any hot springs sound good to me, particularly one high in the Rockies on a back road.
I’m extremely pleased to see the kids in Hinton now. Although I’d love to see them come back to the Yukon, it does suit them perfectly.
There’s a fee for using any Jasper Park facilities, but Steve has an annual pass so we got waved through the Yellowhead Highway gates.
Ashlar Ridge dominates the view for a few miles on the climb up to the springs.
Looking up the Fiddle Valley. I love roads like this.
Especially in a car like this! 🙂
The setting of the hot springs pool is spectacular. The natural hot springs water flows from the mountain at 54°C (129°F) at a rate of approximately 800 litres per minute, then is cooled to 40°C (104°F) as it enters the hot springs pools. This is the hottest spring in the Canadian Rockies. As well as the 2 large pools seen in this photo, there are 2 small cool pools.
A closer look at the highest mountain towering over the pools.
Aftre spending an hour in the pool, we decided to make the short hike up to the historic “aquacourt” and the source of the hot water.
Construction of a road and an aquacourt, with facilities similar to those found at the Banff Upper Hot Springs, began in 1934 as a depression unemployment relief project. Several hundred men worked on the construction, which took 4 years to complete.
It’s great to be able to visit the ruins to see what was accomplished in this remote location almost 80 years ago. The original plans called for a much more elaborate complex, but this is still impressive. The trees at centre left of the first photo are growing in what was the pool.
It’s a short walk to the actual hot springs – as well as the primary spring, there are 2 smaller ones that you come to first.
The hot spring can be seen in the centre of this photo.
As we headed back to the car, we were caught in a heavy rain shower that was cold enough to have a bit of snow in it! Rachel had brought her towel, but Steve and I were just wearing t-shirts – brrr! 🙂
The area highways are very heavily policed, by 4 services – local RCMP, regional RCMP highway patrol, provincial sheriffs and a private contractor – as this guy found out.
The weather changed often during the day – this very heavy rain storm passed to the north of us.
I asked where the best restaurant in Hinton was, and Rachel replied that she dreams of the Overlander Mountain Lodge. Dinner (in my case, New Zealand lamb) was as good as the view 🙂
After dinner, it was suggested that we work off a bit of that food with a walk at the Beaver Boardwalk near their house. It is excellent!
There’s a total of 3 kilometers of boardwalk and trail winding around this large beaver pond, with has been created by many dams.
The main beaver dam, the largest of the beaver lodges, and one of 2 observation towers. Although beavers are often seen here close up, and I thought we came at the perfect time, we didn’t see any.
This large cougar warning sign illustrated the very real danger – only a few days before, a dog was badly injured by a cougar not far from this spot.
I like all dogs (well, most dogs), but have a particularly soft spot for Leah, Steve’s sweet old lady. We had a good cuddle or two just like in the old days.
The visit was far too short, but tomorrow I had to head up Highway 40 to the Alaska Highway.
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