Goldmyer Hotpsrings May 4-5, 2013

We finally got a sunny weekend, unfortunately the mountains had super high avalanche danger leaving us with few options. Luckily we were able to score a reservation at Goldmyer hotspring for a weekend of relaxation.  Sam, Sarah, Derrick, and I headed out of Seattle after a lazy morning and out to the Middle Fork of the Snoqualmie River.

Goldmyer is a privately run hotspring on the edge of the national forest. It's not very far from Seattle, but involves a fair amount of dirt road driving to really get there. We parked at the Dingford creek trailhead (same place we departed for Derrick Lake) and headed along the road.

Things are starting to melt fast in this area as you can tell from all the roaring creeks. It was so nice to be out in the sun and looking up at the beautiful mountains of the Cascades. The hike in is about 4 miles and relatively flat. We decided to do some luxury backpacking which meant we had some pretty loaded down packs. Sam even hauled in a giant frying pan.

We arrived at Goldmyer around 3:00 and were greeted by the grounds keeper who lives on site. He check our permits and gave us the low down and we headed to pick out a campsite along the river. We set up our tents, suited up and headed to the hot springs.

The springs are about a quarter of a mile from the camp and well worth the extra walk. There are four pools. The hottest one is in cave that has been blasted out of the rocks and goes back for about 20 feet. Below that is a second small pool that is the perfect temperature. Below that is a larger slightly cooler pool. Lastly there is a small cold pool. I will note in case anyone is interested in going that the hot springs are clothing optional so you might want to reconsider if your shy about nudity.

Enjoying the pools

It was great to soak and relax and enjoy a sunny day. It was cool enough in the trees that the springs were very pleasant. Sam and Derrick spent most of their time jumping back and forth from the cold pool to the hot pool. There were a few other folks enjoying the water, but the limit the visitors to 20 per day so it never felt crowded.

Sarah in the second pool

After some soaking it was back to camp for a stir fry dinner. Then back to the pools for a night time soak. In the morning we had pancakes and egg scrambles. We packed up our gear, got in one more soak and then hit the trail. It was hard going back to work the next day after such a beautiful relaxing weekend. Derrick and I agreed this is our favorite hot spring in Washington.

The river which runs right by the hot springs

Under the big log is the cold pool