Wearing my bathing suit, I gingerly tip-toed through snow and ice toward Yellowstone's infamous Boiling River. The temperature was 19 degrees. Steps carved from rock and leading into the water were probably as old as the National Park itself. My feet stung from walking on ice, but the promise of hot water became motivation to move quicker. In my haste, I slipped and tumbled in. This was not the hot Jacuzzi I was expecting! The water was as cold as any swimming pool in December. I wondered what the hell I had gotten myself into as I sloshed around looking for areas where inflowing spring water had been warmed by geothermal activity. I was really starting to shiver (and cursing miserable life because the car was a half mile down the trail) when I found a warm, underwater oasis. The water was absolutely scalding where it ran out of the rocks. I could only leave my hand in momentarily - any longer and I would be scalded badly. I shivered and maybe not entirely from the cold, as I recalled the 2 dozen people scalded to death after having fallen into such boiling pools.
Sitting on a rock, I rotated under the warm flowing water to keep warm. What fascinated me was that plants had found life in such extreme conditions. The water was painfully HOT and yet algae, moss, and other green slimy "things" were thriving in it. Life is found even in the most unthinkable of places. Give life a niche and it will adapt!
I finally became comfortable in my outdoor bath - surrounded by snow capped peaks and grazing elk. I felt like an Indian and wondered if they had felt just as content. Spiritually renewed, I climbed out of the water into the 19 degree air just as the sun was setting. It didn't bother me a bit.
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