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British Columbia's Hot Springs
When explorer David Thompson of the Northwest Company was mapping the Columbia River in 1811, he liked nothing better at the end of a hard day's travel than to relax in one of the many hot springs lining his route in what was later to become British Columbia.
Actually, I have no idea whether Thompson tarried at any of the mineral springs, but given the cool nights in the Kootenay Mountains, it seems pretty likely he and his party would have taken advantage of a hot alfresco bath. Much of BC's interior is dotted with natural springs heated by subterranean magma, and I plan to sample some of them.
On a sunny Saturday in July, I meet up with my traveling companions, Steve (Moto Guzzi 1100 Sport), Jim (MV Agusta Brutale), Geoff (BMW R1200GS), and Dougie (K1200RS) at the Chevron station on the Trans-Canada in Langley, BC. I'm riding my classic 1982 Laverda 1200 Mirage. We'll follow Canada One as far as Hope, a former supply post for the Yukon gold-rushers, and then we'll switch to the Crowsnest Highway 3 as far as the fruit market town of Keremeos before turning north and over Green Mountain Road to Penticton on 97. Taking Westside Road, we'll avoid the strip-mall stop-and-go traffic of Kelowna before we turn east again in Vernon on Highway 6 through the Monashee Mountains to Fauquier on the Arrow Lakes, and the small resort town of Nakusp....
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