We went on a beautiful hike yesterday up to Bagby hot springs. It's about an hour and a half outside of Portland. Once you park, you have to hike in about 1.5 miles to get to the springs. The hike is gorgeous. It follows the Collawash river the whole way. Although there were quite a few snowy/icy patches along the way, the hike was very easy. I really enjoyed the hike more than the hot springs. Here are a few pictures:
My hiking companions on the snowy trail
The river - so beautiful and grounding
There were lots of little waterfalls like this along the way
There are 3 bathhouses at the springs. The main bathhouse has "private" rooms with these ceder tubs. The other bathhouses have bigger community tubs. The water from the springs flows directly out of the ground through a series of wooden pipes into each tub. The water is so hot you have to carry buckets of water in from the river to add to the tub to make it bearable. It was a fun experience, but honestly, it grossed me out a little bit. I am kind of weird about public places like this (pools/hot tubs/etc.). I just feel like they are icky. Like I said, I enjoyed the hike much more than the hot springs. I'm glad I tried it, but I doubt I will be going back any time soon:)
