Sarah sometimes says”This is an expedition not a holiday”, well today was a holiday! We’ve decided to take a couple of days to explore Inanudak Bay which is a hot spot of volcanic activity. Otters and seals saw us on our way as we headed for Geyser Bight where two steam jets fire out from the hills high above the beach. Scott in Nikolski had told us we could walk up the valley below these and find a hot spring “quite a long way up the valley”. We set our tent up on the beach and tromped up the grassy dunes. A few herds of several dozen reindeer munched on the vegetation, some of them started when they saw us and ran off, tiny brown calves trotting hurriedly after their mothers. Two eagles flew low over us as we passed the rocky outcrop they were perched on, their gentle continuously cry probably warning us away from their nest.

After 2 hours we were pretty deep into the lush valley, surrounded by jagged mountains spattered with snow, punctuated by ribbons of water tumbling down rocky slopes. Finally we crested a hill and spotted 3 areas where steam rose promisingly from the grass. The first pool we reached was a great size and shape for a dip. The green weed covering the surface was a bit off putting but wasn’t going to stop us. Sarah dipped a finger in and almost immediately pulled it out again. It was far too hot to get in.

We had to wade across a river to get to the next one. My knee high waterproof Reed socks did a great job of keeping my other socks dry. This steam rose from a small steam. At first it seemed like it was also too hot but it fed into a non-thermal cold steam. Sarah set about making a wall out of rocks and turf and we created a small pool where the waters of two different temperatures mixed. I tested it out and while I had to leap out twice when it got too hot, overall it was great. How fantastic to have a hot water bath up in the beautiful mountains. Even better to discover it ourselves and make it own little pool.

Tomorrow we’ll just paddle a few miles east to Hot Springs Cove where we hope to have a similar experience in some hot springs a little closer to the beach.