Probably the closest place to Nirvana this side of death. Located near Snoqualmie Pass, these are privately owned hot spring that are maintained but a couple of Greeners. The main spring is a tunnel drilled 50 feet into the side of a mountain, with the water temperature 120+ degrees. This cascades out into smaller pools, and if you are brave (and fear not the dreaded shrinkage and acompanying pain),you can dash over to the roaring creek, jump in, jiggle back and be filled with icy hot needles.

This weekend I drove in there, in a friends 4WD that was conveniently away, listening to the Melvins, and making 15 foot waves as I roared through the puddles. I saw a bear. A big brown bear, all muscle and fur, hauling ass up a hill.

I also saw a bat in the cave, s/he was just hanging there, black and mouselike, upside down, kind of twitching around with it's little radar. Far more scared of us than us it. It made me think of my soft exposed flesh. there is not much you can do about bats when you are naked.