Hot Springs, Cold Fish, No Rings

So we'd been in Canada for over 2 weeks.  We visited Kokanee Provincial Park, Bugaboo Provincial Park, Mt Assiniboine Provincial Park, Mt. Revelstoke National Park, Kootenay National Park, Glacier National Park, Nelson, Revelstoke, Kaslo, Golden, Radium.  We even splurged on a night at Fairmont Hot Springs.  It was amazing!  But we couldn't deny that the weather was wet.  Wet and cold for most of that time.  It was time to head south and seek out sunshine and warmer conditions.  What better place than Idaho, which is always sunny and littered with hot springs!

Well, almost always sunny.  As we drove into Stanley the peaks were covered in snow and the clouds hung low.  So much for alpine hiking.  Fortunately, our next destination was in the bottom of a valley and we held onto hope that the clouds would lift.  I also had a secret weapon tucked in my back pocket.  Our next destination would be a base camp and it included the perfect soaking pool right alongside the river.

Every time I come to Idaho I become more enamored with this place.  Past trips have included hiking and fishing.  It's really the fishing that I come back for.  I just can't resist those beautiful Westslope Cutthroat.  This time I can add another reason to why I love Idaho - the hot water.

Our fishing trip didn't turn out to be epic as I'd hoped for.  The cold weather put the fish in a slump and it took a bit of work to get them out of hiding.  We did catch fish and some very nice ones but they were not the voracious eaters I'm used to in this part of the country. The hot springs on the other hand were just perfect, a great temperature for lounging and we even had them to ourselves a few times.

I wish it would have ended there but this story has a sad ending.  On our last morning beside the river, slightly upstream of our epic basecamp, we lost something.  Laurel had placed her wedding rings (attached to a silver chain) into the tent pocket.  While we packed up they never made it back to her neck.  They were shaken out of the tent onto the beach. We must have missed them in the final sweep of camp.

We believe they have been picked up by rafters because this beach is normal scouting location for Sulfur Slide rapid just below.  We were back to the camp within hours and turned over every stone but found nothing.  So if you know any rafters with a new set of rings please have them contact us.  There's a certain young lady that would very much like to have them back.