Granite Hot Springs

Before getting into the main activity from yesterday, I wanted to update our big hike to the top of the Snow King Mountain on Josie's Ridge behind our campground. I wanted to show this shot of Josie when we reached the top of the mountain on the Ridge:

At that point, we assumed we had reached the top, but actually, we had another 500 feet to go. The total gain in elevation from start to the top for the hike was almost 1800 feet.

The combination of having a nice, warm day and having some aching muscles from our hike the day before, we took a trip to the Mineral Hot Springs at Granite Falls. We had visited this spot last summer but did not have our bathing suits with us to take a dip at that time. This year, it was our goal to swim in the pool at the Mineral Hot Springs.

The drive to the Springs is a 10 mile drive on a dirt road off the main highway (US191) south of Jackson. The views are terrific and the road runs through the valley along a branch of the Hoback River. Here are a couple shots of the pretty drive:

There is the famous Granite Falls - where the river  boating scene was filmed in "A River Runs Through It":

 

just before reaching the Mineral Springs:

We paid our entry fee - $6 per person - and enjoyed about an hour of "soaking" in the pool:

We found out that the reason there was no odor similar to the hot springs at the pool we visited in Thermopolis, WY, when we worked at Cody, is that this is a mineral hot springs versus the Sulphur hot springs in Thermopolis. Of course.

Our ride home from the hot springs was not without a little bit of excitement. We saw some young mountain sheep along the side of the road and took these shots of them coming down from the hillside to get some food and water:

Our two days off this week were filled with fun activities and lots of exercise. We are hoping that the haze from the wildfires goes away so we can plan some more activities in the Parks.

It's back to work today at 3 PM, and we will probably mow the grass before heading out for day one of this new work week...