It was a beautiful sunny morning of March when our two helicopters departed the grounds of Whistler. We elevated above the trees and traveled amongst curious birds in a clear blue sky. We headed northwest towards the Meagar Creek Hot Springs, flying over the majestic volcanic peaks and expansive ice fields of the Pemberton Ice Cap. This enchanting and scenic flight above towering mountains made me feel so impossibly small, yet so alive.
The day before, my girlfriend Julie, called me with instructions: “I’ve got the perfect Sunday Funday adventure for us tomorrow. Just bring a bag with a bathing suit, a towel and a nice bottle of champagne.”
She was right: flying to natural hot springs aboard a helicopter was the ultimate adventure, bringing Sunday Funday to a whole new level. It is a privilege to have friends with good connections.
Meagar Creek Hot Springs is situated in the southern Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains of British Columbia, Canada. The constructed pools are fed from the geothermal vents of the Mount Meagar massif located on its north side. The road access to the hot springs have been closed since the bridge was wiped out in 2009 due to a massive mudslide, the second largest landslide in Canadian history.
As we approached the hot springs, I could see the heart shape of the main pool as we slowly descended to the valley. We landed on a narrow patch of grass, beside the creek in the midst of a beautiful green forest.
We walked the sand path towards the pools, through heat steaming from the ground.
The water was hot, but soothing and rejuvenating. We popped the champagne, bottle after bottle. It’s Sunday after all.
As the sun slowly arched down behind the mountains, we packed our belongings and boarded the crafts. There was one last stop before returning home: To land on a beach and watch the sun set over the ocean.
We flew southwest towards the water, following a retiring sun. As we approached the Strait of Georgia near the head of Jervis Inlet, we flew over the granite-walled gorge and applauded to spectacular views of cascading waterfalls and snow-capped mountains erecting dramatically from the water’s edge. There we found the gem that is Princess Louisa Inlet. We landed the helicopters on the deserted beach and put our toes in the cooling sand.
We opened the last bottle of champagne, and as we gazed at the sun shying away behind the Pacific Ocean, we reminisced about our day, our new friends, and our adventure, processing the impressive beauties we’ve seen and the glories of life we fully experienced.
We may be tiny grains of sand, but we live a life so significantly grand.
