Limp in, leap out

An even 10 soakers luxuriate in the hot mineral waters at Symes Hot Springs Hotel on a chilly Monday afternoon. Gray skies and large, plopping rain drops don’t deter them. They simply shimmy down a bit farther into the steaming pool, or tiptoe quickly from the main soaking area to an octagonal bath heated to a simmering 106 degrees. Water from this smaller oasis spills over a rocky lip into its larger counterpart, continuously flowing from the depths of the earth into the pools and back again, bringing with it a host of minerals that soothe, and some say, heal.