Wednesday, June 25 – Eucott Hot Springs

We wake up to clearing skies – at least enough to see the tops of the high mountains surrounding Ocean Falls. We walk a mile or so with Shirley and Grahame and friends to Martin Valley, the residential community of Ocean Falls. Several homes are maintained and lived in. At Audrey’s Greenhouse we buy some fresh lettuce and chives, and on the way back we pick beautiful bouquets of wildflowers. As we prepare to leave the dock, we realize the flowers are dropping a carpet of bugs in the boat, and we quickly donate the bouquet to the outdoor windowledge decor of The Shack.

On the advice of Grahame’s friends, we decide to detour up Dean Channel to have a soak and spend the night at Eucott Hot Springs. On the way we stop to take pictures at Alexander McKenzie Rock. A monument stands at the place he marked his arrival at the Pacific Ocean 235 years ago. Surprisingly, his inscription is still quite readable.

Eucott Bay could be set in Banff National Park, with glassy water reflecting the surrounding snow-capped mountains and glaciers, and right by the shore is an odor-free hot spring which has been roughly encased by concrete and boulders.

We sprint into our bathing suits, throw on jackets and pants because the air is still cold, and dinghy over. Two young men from Bella Coola fill us in on some local detail, then take our pictures, with our boats in the background, for their sailing charter business

brochure. As we soak in the warm water, we all agree that we have arrived!