The Springs

Once we had finished exploring the beach, we all got together and decided that the two of us were the only ones who would be able to make it to the hot springs, which mostly run along the far side of the marshy bay, as crossing over the many tributaries on the way back would be impossible without xtratufs. Since our pace was twice theirs, we said that we would catch up with them after a dip in the springs. We separated and went hopping, wading, trudging along the edge of the bay looking for the best spring as the other three in our party headed back over to start climbing the mountain to go home. The terrain was marshy, boggy, sticky, soggy, pillowy, muddy switching-this-way-and-that sort of ground, and we were moving quickly from one steamy pool to another. We leapt over narrow, deep tributaries and waded through the wider shallow ones.