Keyhole Hot Springs | An adventure of poor judgement & some BEAR safety tips
Trail Name: Keyhole Hot Springs, British Colombia
Distance : ~ 4 km Round-trip
Time: 2-3 Hours Round-trip
Difficulty: Medium
Trail Conditions: Trail Currently Closed (Gov BC)
I got up bright and early that morning. We had a bit of a drive ahead of us, but we were all super excited to visit Keyhole Hot Springs in the Pemberton area of British Columbia. We packed our belongings, picked up our friends and we were off.
But.. the warnings started early into the trip. On our 2 hour drive from whistler, we encountered about half a dozen signs clearly marked in big block letters “DANGER AGGRESSIVE BEARS IN AREA.” We brushed off these warnings, our minds set on soaking in some toasty hot springs. Driving the dirt roads past Pemberton, we past the “avalanche zone”, the “rock-slide zone,” the “forest fire zone” followed by a single lane “construction zone” and then finally a construction worker who warned us of the dangers ahead. It’s as if the universe was trying to tell us something. Still, we continued on. Soon enough we made it to the the mouth of the trail at Keyhole Hot Springs. Excited to be out of the car, we packed up our bags and some travel essentials. We were off on our adventure but of course, one final sign…
“Black bears aren’t too bad” and “slim chance we will run into a grizzly” we all discussed. We carried on down the trail, but instead of our usual jolly and humorous demeanor, the four of us were silent. I could tell that fear was starting to creep up on everyone,and i wont deny it, I was feeling pretty scared. We all tried discussing and bringing up different topics but all conversations trailed off into silence. Rob picked up some rocks and began clanging them together. “Lets make noise, it’ll keep the bears away.” I sang as loudly as i could, unfortunately the only two songs i could remember were “Midelko Fa” [a hilarious polish tune], and “Beacause I Got High” by Afroman.
For a moment I glanced over at the river, the trail was truly beautiful. There were waterfalls and patches of snow in some low lying areas, a glacial melt river along side us; it felt like a little piece of Alaska right here in BC. I walked peacefully through the forest, and for a while the fear of bears fleeted away from my mind.
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We approached the end of the trail and we scaled down to the rivers edge in search of the hot springs. We stuck our hands in and we could feel the hot water trailing along the sand into the main vein. We knew we were just a few feet away from the hot springs. My friend and I headed a little further up the river and as we made our way around a few trees along the bank…my friend whispered “bear”. I looked up and staring right back at us… a bear. And not just any bear a GRIZZLY bear.
That was the fastest u-turn i ever made in my life.We did not run, we walked swiftly to the rivers edge [You must NEVER run from a grizzly bear, running away in their minds just means you are prey]. The landscape was in our favor due to the steep hill decline to the river and the cliff/boulder like rocks along the rivers edge. We were literally meters from worst case scenario. We climbed over and into the river at some point, sinking in sand, getting scratched by overhanging branches and sharp rocks. I swear i think you could hear everyone’s hearts pounding. Looking up we could see the bear just walking and stalking us amongst the tree line. Bear Spray in hand, we treaded carefully. About a half hour past, we could no longer see the bear, I’m assuming it lost interest and retreated back into the woods, since we did not encounter it again.
Legs and arms tired and soar, we continued along the shore. The boulders eventually gave way to a flatter pebble shore. Battered and beaten up from the all terrain excursion by the river, we finally made it to a familiar welcoming site; the waterfall close to the beginning of the trail. The last final steps uphill were the final thigh blaster quad workout we’d have to endure for the rest of that day.
On the car ride back to whistler all I could think was “That was the stupidest decision i ever made” followed by a reluctant “I have a great story to tell my kids one day.”
As of May 10th 2017 – Keyhole Hot Springs is CLOSED due to bears for the next 2 YEARS. And you may be fined! Please Avoid this area. Read more at BC gov and CBC.
We were lucky to have a friend who taught us some safety tips prior to our endeavor [he works as an RCMP officer in the Squamish area and has to deal with bears often]. Here are some great tips about bear safety given by our friend.
A Few Bear Safety Tips
(as per verbatim from our friend)
- Three Main Types of Bears in BC: Black bear, Grizzly and the more rare Kermode bear. Grizzly being the largest and most aggressive.
- Bear spray is a must.
- Bear Flare Gun (bear banger) is also recommended. Although some caution to this one, most bears will be scared off, but grizzly’s may become more angry (apparently this happened) and can be likely to charge at you. Do not shoot it behind the bear because he may come running at you from fear (also has happened to someone).
- Banging Rocks can deter black bears. Most of the black bears do not want to interact with us and if they hear us coming they are likely to scurry away. This will not work with grizzly’s though [as we so attempted in our adventure].
- Avoid bringing Snacks, because who doesn’t like snacks.
- Do Not Feed the bears. Bears should not assimilate people with food. This is exactly what happened at Keyhole Hot Springs. Bears were chasing people down and stealing backpacks regardless of contents. Prevent the problem, do not feed them please.
- Avoid the Situation, If the area has had incidents with bears please avoid it.
- Do Not Run if you encounter a bear. Bears will chase you. For black bears make yourself look big and make lots of noise. Stand tall and face it forwards. For grizzly bears the opposite, play dead. I know this sounds terrifying but they will loose interest since they enjoy the chase when hunting a meal.
- Spring Time – Female bears with cubs will be aggressive regardless of situation. If you see a cub in the distance turn around and leave. Mom will be close and she will be protecting her young, and can very likely charge at first sight of you.
- Travel in Groups. Bears are less likely to attack if they see a group of people.
- Dogs can deter black bears but NOT a grizzly. Keep your dog on a leash if a bear encounter happens. A Grizzly may attack and try to kill your pet [to the bear, it’s an easy meal].
For more tips Parks Canada has a great article as well.
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