Soothed & Relaxed at Hot Springs Cove

Hot Springs cove is a "must experience" place on the west side of Vancouver Island. The provincial park there has a wooden boardwalk that is most impressive and worth a visit even if it didn't lead to those wonderful hot springs. It is the longest boardwalk (and nicest too) that Brad and I have ever seen. It is 2km (1.3 miles) long and many of the boards have boat names and artwork carved into them from previous visitors. It's an interesting memorial in and of itself. (Brad and I wished we had known about this tradition in advance so we could have brought a board of our own.) And the forest the boardwalk wanders through is definitely worth the trip as well. I found it amazing how some of the trees there have grown up in such convoluted ways. Impressive!

Some of the many boat names along the boardwalk.

Mind if I grow on top of you? Of course you don't!

The springs themselves are HOT, as advertized, and truly delightful! There are several shallow pools and a nice waterfall shower too. And the rocks surrounding the springs are solid and scrambleable. Unfortunately, since it is inside a provincial park, bathing suits are required here (unlike many of the other hot springs we visited along the way.) But the scenery here makes up for having to carry wet swimsuits back with you on your way out.

Brad getting a hot shower. No hot water heater required!

Two dogs were laying in the hot sun snoozing while we were at the springs. The did not appear to have any owners watching after them. Guess they were just enjoying the springs themselves, just like we were. (Who said you had to follow your owners anyway???) When we were drying off and preparing to leave, these two dogs, one black part Aleutian and one white mongrel, came over and watched us. Whe we left, they ran out ahead of us. After a minute or so, they would stop and wait for us to catch up. It was weird! They would run ahead and then wait for us over and over again. We were beginning to worry that they were expecting us to adopt them (or maybe it was the other way around?) Were they guide dogs who just didn't know how to take a proper vacation, or did we just look lost? Was this a park service? Several passing bsathers going in commented how much they liked our dogs. After explaining that they weren't our dogs a few times, we gave up and just started saying "Thank you!" with each compliment. (What the heck?) Kind of made us wish we had a dog of our own.

We never did find out where those two dogs came from but by the time we returned to the start of the boardwalk, they had run off for the dock and were being petted by the folks there. We suspect they belonged to one of the boats tied up there. At least we hope so...