Mountain Spirit Resort & Spa

So far I’ve visited quite a few hot springs from our base in Kimberley: Radium, Halcyon, Ainsworth & Lussier hot springs. My hubby told me stories of cross country skiing to Ram Creek as a teenage but hadn’t been back since. Being a fan of the natural and odourless hot spring BC has to offer, I was pretty excited to experience another hot springs close to home.

One of the creeks we passed on the way from Moose Lake to Ram Creek.

Before you drive off in a regular car, here are some tips:

First of all, don’t attempt to go to Ram Creek hot springs unless you have four wheel drive. Seriously. That’s probably one of the reasons why there was no-one else there when we visited on a sunny Wednesday in July.

Also, don’t attempt to go to Ram Creek hot springs from the Moose Lake direction. The road is closed. Well it’s closed unless you have the guts to want to check out what “road closed” means… and drive over a couple of barricades, drive across a creek, drive through a large pond… need I write more. Just take the road from the Premier Lake direction if you don’t want a major 4×4 adventure!

The road that was “closed”

Do bring a camera. This location is spectacular and the pool itself looks almost too good to be true. If Canada produced it’s own version of “Irish Spring” soap, the commercial should be shot here! These hot springs aren’t as hot as the usual so it was the perfect way to while away a couple of hours on a sunny day in July!

Directions from the Hot Springs in BC website: http://www.bchotsprings.com/

Ram Creek Hot Springs
From Lussier, you can reach Ram Creek Hot Springs by way of back roads in approximately 45 minutes (Spirit’s comment – this road is closed!). Alternatively, you can travel to Skookumchuk and watch for the sign to Premier Lake. Head up Premier Lake Road and pass the turnoff to Premier Lake after 8 km. Continue travelling straight, now on the gravel Sheep Creek Road North. Following the main road for approximately 12 km, the road curves right and up the hill. There is room to park on the left hand side. You will see hot springs trickling towards the road, and a path up a slope to the springs, which are located in an ecological reserve. The luke warm Ram Creek Hot Springs are clear and odourless, with an average temperature range from 30°C to 35°C (86°F to 95°F). The pools are not accessible by vehicle during the winter months – snowmobile or cross-country skis required.

This year Kimberley welcomed 198 bocce teams, 62 soccer teams, 41 parade entries, 21 runners in our Nature Park Race, dozens of volleyball players, many brave skateboarders, dozens of kids of all ages at the KidsFest with Rainbow the Clown and of course hundreds of homecoming reunion participants and countless additional folks who just came to enjoy all of the activities!

The Bocce Pits were alive with music featuring: The Hollers, Surf Dragons, Counterweight (shown above), The Moonshine Reefer Band and Slackjaw.  Thank you as well to our intrepid MC Hushton Bryant.

The Saturday Night Disco extravaganza with Billy Jive and the Funktastics had everyone dancing and cheering as their images were projected on the big screens.

Congratulations to all winning bocce teams and a Huge Thank You to the draw-masters Brock McClure and Jeff Kiever and their team!  The skies opened up during the final play-downs on Sunday afternoon but the teams and referees valiantly played on through the rain and hail to complete their games.  Only at JulyFest!!!!

Photo credit Francesca Royall and Steve Blake.

What an exhilarating way to spend a day. My hubby and I got our towel and change of clothes ready and met the rest of the rafting adventurers at the building with the fish on the roof – the home of Kimberley Raft Company. We clambered aboard their big blue bus and set off at around 9am, driving past St. Mary’s Lake and onward into the pristine wilderness of the Purcell Wilderness Conservancy. When we arrived at Dewar Creek, I didn’t realise just what all would be provided as the guides fitted us out with wetsuits, jackets, wet boots and helmets. They even packed lunch for everyone.

Next, everyone grabbed a paddle and we had a thorough briefing prior to setting off to ensure everyone was prepared to follow the commands together and make sure our adventure would be as safe as we could make it, regardless of what the river willed!

Setting off, the guides ensure all commands are practiced on the water, not just on land. Everyone was confident and prepared for the whoops of the gentle rapids, and those to come later. We made our way down Dewar Creek, sticking close enough to the other raft to allow us some laughs at their expense: getting their raft stuck on a rock for a few seconds allowed us to sneak past and lead the way at one stage!

Lunch time came and we had time for a break and devour some tasty wraps and delicious chocolate chip cookies. The guides got everything ready and served up the buffet on an overturned raft – perfect. We ate perched on the edge of a spectacular canyon and watched the water crash against the rocks.

Energy levels topped up, we were now ready for the 2km of Class 3 rapids we’d been building up to. We boarded our rafts and got stuck in, attacking the rapids in the centre of the river and hitting all the “niggies” we could! Our guide Dan steered us into the best rapids, almost too well at one point when he was catapulted out of the boat! The pre-departure training paid off as we stayed calm and had him back on board and back in control within seconds.

After the adrenaline of the rapids, we enjoyed some beautiful natural scenery until we reached the end of this trip. But all was not over – the guides offered us the option of “swimming” across the river in what looked like fairly gnarly rapids to me. Again, training was given on which direction to swim to start, when to go from front crawl to the “defensive” position on your back with feet in front. Over half the group gave it a go and gained one more final thrilling experience before relaxing on the big blue bus and returning back to Kimberley. Thanks to Craig’s team and having another awesome experience with the Kimberley Raft Company!

We’re delighted to share with you our latest news – the award of four green keys in the global Green Key Eco-Rating Program. The Green Key Eco-Rating Program is a graduated rating system designed to recognize hotels, motels and resorts that are committed to improving their environmental and fiscal performance.

Unique Achievement:

Mountain Spirit Resort is the only accommodation provider in the Kimberley area to have achieved the four Green Key status.

A Conscious Decision:

The road to achieving this standard started with the design of the building. Environmentally conscious decisions were made, such as incorporating geothermal heating and cooling for the entire resort building, including the year round, outdoor pool and hot tub. In the construction of the building, more environmental initiatives were adopted including automatic lighting in common areas, energy star rated appliances and low E windows.

A Team Effort:

Bellstar Hotels and Resort’s local team has been working hard to build upon this foundation. Bellstar has achieved this Green Key Eco-Rating in less than 12 months as Rental Manager for Mountain Spirit Resort. Nigel Hamacher, Guest Services Manager commented: “We’re very proud of what we do to consider our environment here. Every member of staff is doing their part. It’s a great team and a great resort.” Nigel’s team has come up with ideas such as donating toiletries to the homeless and elderly and carrying out a wide range of recycling internally.

Own Green:

Mountain Spirit Resort is now open and available for ownership and for rentals. For more information on ownership opportunities of suites or commercial spaces contact me today.

Stay Green:

For reservations call 1-877-432-6006 or visit MountainSpirit.ca.

Meet Green:

Plan your organisation’s next meeting in Kimberley and book the new Kimberley Conference Centre for your meeting and Mountain Spirit Resort for your accommodation.

As construction of the Kimberley Conference Centre and Athlete Training Centre gets close to completion, the website for the Conference Centre has been launched. “Accessible” and “Incomparable” are the taglines – definitely appropriate for such a beautiful location for organisations to meet, or couples to tie the knot. Check out the site here. Meet green at the Kimberley Conference Centre and stay green at Mountain Spirit Resort.