The Forecast: Snow in Hot Springs

“The forecast is for snow in Hot Springs,” Adolfo read on Weather Underground.com.
“You think we should go?” I asked, wondering if we were ever going to get out of Texas.

We were bound to have to face snow somewhere. Why not now? So, with jackets and snowcaps on, we hitched the trailer in the rain and headed to Arkansas. In Texarkana we waved goodbye to Texas and set out for Hot Springs, the childhood home of William J. Clinton. Dark clouds followed us much of the trip, and it was raining steadily by the time we got here. But what could be better in cold weather than a city famous for hot baths?

Hot Springs seems to wind around the huge Lake Hamilton. At the end of the city is Hot Springs National Park where people once came from all over the country to cure their ailments in the bathhouses that line Central Avenue. Today only two bathhouses are operational, and the most luxurious bathhouse, the Fordyce, has been converted into the National Park Headquarters and museum. The place is amazingly beautiful with huge stained glass skylights and room after room of pampering splendor. The Fordyce Bathhouse opened in 1915 and must have been something else to experience. Although the National Park Service no longer claims to cure ailments with the ancient waters, we saw people at every water fountain in the park filling up gallon containers. Not sure if they just wanted good-tasting 4,000-year-old water or if they still believe the water has curing powers. We’ll just have to fill up our water bottles and find out.

It’s plenty cold here, but no snow yet—just plenty of rain. It rained all night and has rained most of today. Still, Adolfo couldn’t resist a two-mile hike to the waterfalls at the mouth of Lake Catherine—after all, the sun wouldn’t be too bright for photos. I wasn’t completely sold on the idea since it was cold and wet and I hadn’t planned for a hike. By the end, I had warmed up from the exercise, and the trail was beautiful, so I couldn’t complain. The trail followed the stream most of the way providing a beautiful scene and the sound of trickling water falling all around us. Since it was sprinkling the whole time, drips of water decorated the tips of tree limbs like diamonds. The entire trail was covered with leaves, and it was clear that this area must have been breathtaking in the fall. Finally, the waterfall was small, but gorgeous. Silt in the water gave the pool below the falls an unnatural blue color like you see in glacial areas. When we looked away from the waterfall, we looked into the mouth of Lake Catherine. Beauty all around.