Lussier Hot Springs

Invermere is sandwiched between Radium Hot Springs and Fairmont. Both nice spots and as nice as i is to sit in the hot pools at Radium it always seems to be over flowing with tourists ... oh and did I mention the cover charge to get in!? Times 5. BOO. Instead of the over crowded, over priced Radium we went au natural and made our way to Whiteswan Lake Provincial Park to Lussier Hot Springs. It's a small group of hot pools located at the base of the river. The top pool being the hottest and each pool getting cooler the closer you get to the river. We've been before when Brayden was 7 months old but shortly after that they got flooded out and destroyed. Thankfully they've been rebuilt and ready for the public to enjoy ... for free and far better scenery!

We parked off the road and made the kids use the freezing cold porta-potties before carefully making our way down the ice covered path to the pools. Once at the pools we quickly stripped down in the freezing cold to our suits and jumped in the stinging hot water. We went early enough in the day there weren't a bunch of people there (I think at most 2 other vehicles) and we had a pool to ourselves pretty much the entire time. The only bad thing about finding a place off the beaten road is the getting out into the piles of snow in your bare feet, dripping wet, drying off as quickly as possible and trying to run up that semi-steep path covered in a shiny sheet of ice as quickly as possible without falling face first into the snow. This was not what I wanted to be doing 5 minutes after getting into the water and settled into a semi state of relaxation when my beautiful little girl looked up at me with those big clear eyes of hers and told me she needed to "pee real bad."
Looking at her, quickly looking up the snowy hill towards the porta potties and back to Madison I desperately tried to negotiate with her:
"Just go in the water"
Her eyes start to get frantic "NOOOOOOOO" and I can tell it goes against everything she's been taught since potty training.
"Please Maddy, it's ok. This is a special kind of pool."
Again, "NoooOOOooo." She's not budging in her decision.
What do I do!? I know, I'll tell Ryan. Maybe he'll take the hike up the hill with her if I'm lucky. "Ryan, Maddy needs to pee real bad."
He just kind of rolls his eyes as if to say sucks to be you.
Finally he takes her to the tiny warm pool off to the side making it the potty pool. He has to take her swim suit bottoms off and sit her in it as if she's sitting on the toilet and off she goes. Crisis adverted!
After sitting in those hot pools for a while you start to get over heated and there were a couple of quick fixes: jumping into the ice cold river or just dumping big chunks of ice from the ice cold river into the hot pool with you. Trust me, it works.