In October I had the opportunity to enjoy the natural water pools of
Fairmont Hot Springs. It was very relaxing and a nice break from the heavy remediation project I was involved in at work. Fairmont is located in British Columbia (BC) just SW of Calgary AB and is south of
Radium Hot Springs. Though many of the other attractions in the area were not open the cool temperatures and lack of snow made it a perfect time to visit. October is a slow time of year for the resort and so we virtually had the whole place to ourselves. I'm not much of a tourist and do not enjoy crowded areas and so this was perfect timing not to mention the reduced rates.
Up slope from the resort is a small ski hill that I would have really liked to have taken advantage of but the snow was not yet sufficient. The resort is surrounded by a golf course, Campground/RV facilities and a large lake for other recreational activities is not far off.
This water fall and natural mineral pool below is a result of mineral water overflow and discharge from the resorts modern pools above. Approximately 10 feet up from the top of the water fall is a 6 inch pipe discharging the warm mineral water.
At the base of the falls is a pool formed from the minerals within the water approximately 8m long x 2m wide x 1m deep. The water is still pretty warm and anyone can access this area.
Here is the second point of discharge from the public mineral pools. I'm positioned in front of another pool slightly smaller then the one mentioned above but half a meter deeper.
Here is a view of the Fairmont resort looking west. The resort is quite old and the room we stayed in was interesting with its pink walls and rose pictured wall paper. There is a private pool for resort guests only which was quite nice. Not far from the private pool were sauna facilities and 2 natural inside mineral pools. One was regular ice cold water and the other scalding hot water. Much warmer than the outside mineral pools.
Dining room and restaurant facilities were nice but ridiculously expensive and the food was not that great. I know it is a resort but come on!!! Breakfast for two would cost on average nothing fancy approximately $ 30 and Lunch $ 30 and Supper $ 60. The hamlet of Fairmont does not have a lot when it comes to amenities. Their is one grocery store (expensive) a hick restaurant and a small mall full of nick nacs etc. We ate at the resort once and then traveled 20min. north to the town of Invermere to shop and eat. Our favorite spot was the Lakeside Grill and Pub. The food was good and the prices were less than half of the resort.
This is a picture of the traditional spa house when the resort was first established. It is located above the resort on the west side. Water temperatures are slightly less than the temperatures in the modern pools. Anyone can enjoy these facilities and we observed many locals coming and going. Not far from the resort is an LDS Chapel.
Here is an inside view of the stone tub traditional spas. The water is continuously flowing in and out of the tubs. The stone spas are approximately 2 m long x 0.50 m wide x 0.50 m deep.
This image shows the East side of the traditional spas and discharging mineral water.
While passing through Radium we encountered a herd of Big Horn Sheep. I think this ram and one of his girl friends would look great on my wall.
