My personal perspective

Terwilliger Hot Spring is great.  Rather than fight its popularity, the forest service helps to maintain the spring.  A mandatory $3 day use fee helps pay for cleaning and upkeep. 

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Missing person report.

Next: Some of many people I met.
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See Cougar Dam

Terwilliger has a high flow rate so the water is quite pure; not as stagnate as other hot springs.  One meets lots of interesting people there.  As I ride, I am in solitude, much of the way, so I enjoy the socialization of the spring. 

There are many good looking naked men there; I notice that being a gay man myself.  Most of the people are not gay, but people tend to be mellow and fairly open minded at places like this.  There are both men and women at the spring.  Even if one were totally blind, and couldn't see all the attractive people, the conversations, around the pools, are far more interesting than what one would likely hear in a bar. 

One of the attractive people, I met, was a young city council person from back east.  He was out west visiting friends.  Too bad he was just leaving as I got there, but it's all in the role of the dice.  There were many other interesting people and topics tumbling around in the fresh air.

It seems easy to join in to any of several conversations taking place around the pools.  Find out where people have been traveling, who is planning to move to Oregon, what someone thinks of their career plans, why someone decided to quit their high profile computer job. 

I even met someone from Bellingham there; someone I haven't seen since even though he lives near me.  Interesting how one can meet at a hot spring, but not in normal life.

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