I have a sliver of two weeks to do a quick road trip before starting the next quarter in the healing art of massage, I'm taking advantage of it to take a quick road trip of visiting friends and hitting as many hot springs as I can. And I am in hot spring HEAVEN here in the Pacific Northwest.
I do love them so - how is it possible not to love being naked in hot water usually with stunning nature all around me? I defy the one who says they can't stand hot springs. It's like going back into the womb. And in some ways, we are when soaking in water heated in the earth.
My first hot springs experience was years ago at Indian Hot Springs Resort in Idaho Springs, Colorado. I was with a couple of friends from college and in an extremely irritated state of mind with one of them. Kelly was one of those people who always had to make everything hard. She was irritated I invited Kristy on a camping trip we planned because she wanted to practice her Wicca rituals and didn't feel comfortable with her there. Since I was visiting from Seattle and taking a break from an ass-hole boyfriend, I was pissed she put such a spoiler on it. Kristy had told me years before she didn't really like Kelly and on that morning I completely understood why.
But the three of us went to Idaho Springs and parked outside this old time 1920's ramshackle resort with underground caves where the springs were. There were signs everywhere detailing the history of the place and the people who came for the healing waters there. Of course, we had to confer in the car. Kelly was debating the cost of 7 dollars, and for a few minutes of drama, said she could pick us up later perhaps after practicing her Wiccan rituals. But ultimately, she had heard the caves were amazing and decided to come with us.
And amazing they were. All of us were from fairly conservative backgrounds and public nudity was not something we were used to. The caverns were gender segregated which made it easier, but we were still pretty self conscious going through the waiting room where there were a bunch of naked women taking a break, drinking some water, journaling and reading magazines. It was very mysterious to enter the cavern of pools with the Silence sign over the door. And it was a cave all right, carved out of black rock with a narrow path with small pools of various temperatures on each side. I'll never forget the woman sitting lotus on one of the tile benches above one set of pools. She was a female buddha with her eyes closed, meditating on the crystals in her hand. It definitely was an alien environment for me, and probably for my friends as well.
But as soon as we got into the pools, all the unease, tension, and the total aggravation I felt towards Kelly just melted away. We checked out the different pools and found that the temperatures got hotter the further we went to the grand finale pool at the end - which was HOT! It was Kelly that made the comparison that this was like being back in the womb, and it was. We took a few breaks, hanging out naked in the waiting room with the others and went back in quite a few times. Kristy said she never imagined being able to do that and feel comfortable, but we did. The experience was both earthy and spiritual at the same time. Sharing this with Kristy and Kelly who had never done anything like this before really connected us. All of us marveled at how nice it was to be comfortable in our bodies around strangers. Needless to say, the rest of the camping trip was a lot of fun. I remember we slept in Kelly's VW bus, but made a fire (thus it was a "real" camping trip), and talked a lot about sex.
I have since found many other hot springs that I love and enjoy - Breitenbush being my current favorite - but that is where my passion for soaking began. I have since had a falling out/growing apart (whatever you want to call it) with both women I enjoyed that with, but I still have that awareness with me. And where Kristy and Kelly are concerned, I'll bet neither of them soak on a regular basis. A friend of mine from Alaska just moved to Denver to go to school. I may have to take Shadow there where it all began...
By the way, for those who are interested, check out my other blog by going into my profile and clicking freedom junkie fables or go to freedomjunkiefables@blogspot.com.
Either way, thank you for reading.
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