Cougar Updates June 23, 2006
Recently, there have been rumors of drastic changes to the Cougar Hot Springs. These rumors stemmed from one person who was invited to join in a conversation about problems with cleaning, deciding to take it upon himself to "alert" others giving them the impression that the pools were about to be concreted in. There are not now, nor were there ever (at least that I know of from the last few years) plans to make this "natural" treasure into a concrete hot tub. The discussion possibly was going to include information from one of the Friends of Cougar who has spent many years in the past cleaning the pools. She had suggested in the past that it might be helpful to improve the dam walls with concrete grout. This concrete would not be apparent to users, but would help keep the walls from falling apart as they are now. Many people wrote in response to that alert saying that they were appalled by the idea of a concrete hot tub (as am I ) and that they didn't see the need for any changes since things are fine now. However, what they don't see is that the springs are in a constant flux as the walls fall and are constantly repaired.
The real problem though is not about the repair of the dam walls, but rather about how to best keep the pools clean and that is what the meeting, held June 22 was about. Also, people need to know that this is not about algae, we are not having a lot of problems getting the algae out, but rather about the mixture of hot water and humans. As can be imagined in a situation like this where the pools have no way to drain, the amount of human waste in the pools keeps getting more concentrated. Once a week Hoodoo has three people who spend about four hours scrubbing the rocks, siphoning the water from the pools, and then repeating the process several times more for each pool. However, there is no way to drain the pools, only to either siphon it or just allow it to overflow as it does normally. We do not consider this to be a high priority problem yet. However, in these days of human diseases that are spread from human waste, we believe it to be prudent to consider possible options to make the pools cleaner, such as by installing hidden drains so that the pools could be cleaned more often and more thoroughly.
As it turned out the meeting yesterday didn't include any discussion of concrete except wondering why the person who sent out the "alert" would want to mislead people like that. I have had many emails asking why Hoodoo wants to make changes when the "Friends of Cougar" are handling things just fine. In truth the main Friend of Cougar who has been helping is a person named Maria, and the concern for the cleanliness started with her and then to the Hoodoo employees who are now doing the cleaning. Below is a letter written by her over four years ago to the then Forest Service District Ranger, John Allen.
"I am writing to you to express some ideas that I think would make the hot spring safer and easier to clean. I have been a regular user of the springs for almost 30 years. I have seen the spring grow from a small outlet to a rather big cave and the area around the cave change from a creek bed to a much wider area. I see things change from week to week. Rocks are moved, some tear it apart and others put it back together again. The dam that was recently rebuilt was quickly rearranged and I think that it is hazardous. (editor's note - this has been improved since four years ago) The walkway is an improvement and will hopefully, discourage rock moving in that area. The cleaning also has an impact in eroding, especially in the top pools where the rock is soft.
The upper pool area and the dam need to be rebuilt using cement or some joining compound. The dam should be permanent with a drain pipe for emptying and cleaning. The area between the pools and the creek should be sound, there are times that so much cold water gets into the pools they are cool. There has been much volunteer effort to build the area.
The pools are hard to clean. In the second pool there are crevices that I can reach my whole arm into with a brush, this is where the black gunk settles. We splash it out with buckets of water, but I can't really get it clean.
Some people like to crawl into the cave and this has caused major erosion. I think it is dangerous. I am not sure what can be done to keep people out. I have talked with folks at the springs about these ideas and have received positive response. I would like to meet with you to discuss these ideas.
Sincerely,
Maria Jensen"
Since then the Forest Service has tried to make some improvements, but without funds and time, it was difficult. This is what led to Hoodoo being asked to take over the management. Now, I, as the owner of Hoodoo, have been approached by Maria with the same concerns. I feel this is important and would like to at the very least do some investigation. At our meeting yesterday it was decided that Maria and I would talk with a rock worker that she knows who feels that he can help rebuild the walls so that drains might be able to be included and without the use of any compound. The Forest Service is investigating about the level of environmental studies that should be done if changes were to be made. I will keep you updated. If you know of people who are concerned about the future of the springs, please let them know about this site. You can reach me by clicking on my name below.
Thank you,