Meager Creek Hot Springs is a beautiful hot spring pool that lays towards the north end of the Pemberton Valley. A very well-developed site, it is (was) easily accessible by car, and purportedly used to see up to 30,000 visitors per year. On August 6, 2010, at 3:30am, initial failures began, with the secondary peak of Mount Meager collapsing 45 seconds later, releasing ~48.5million cubic meters of rock. The rock travelled at an estimated 240km/h down Capricorn Creek. This was one of the largest landslides to occur worldwide and one of the three largest landslides in Canadian history. This landslide took out the bridge that people would use to access the Meager Creek hot springs, and they rarely see any traffic these days due to limited access.
In the last few years, the Varsity Outdoor Club (VOC) has established a hiking trail that accesses the Harrison backcountry hut. An awesome side note: it also gives hiking access to the hot springs without having to cross the river. Sara and I had planned to do this hike for about a year, and we were excited to finally get a chance to do it in such great weather - sunny weekday, with a full moon to boot.
With very little net elevation gain (actually a loss once you descend into the valley to reach the springs), we expected the hike would be a breeze. That idea was soon thrown out the window though, as we found the trail had some aggressive side-hilling with lots of ups and downs. After a 4 hour jaunt, we found ourselves at the springs, with not a soul in sight, and our sore muscles found great relief in the soothing tubs.
Thinking about this trip beforehand, I had a vision of a nighttime portrait of Sara and I in the springs, with stars in the sky. Given that we had the full moon, I had to slightly change my original idea. I ended up getting a shot of us I will treasure for years to come, and it proved to be worth hauling my damn tripod and flashes in on the 10km hike!
