I'm glad you asked...it gives me a chance to dish up a nice steamin' plate of crap.

If you're going to Hot Springs...I'd get a nice All Mountain bike that can climb a freakin' hill or two, man. They have 'em. I don't know what they offer for "lift assist" (slim to none?) but when I rode down there...I had a blast but climbed alot.

Any bike w/o "a lick of XC roots to it" may just wear you out enough that you decide MTB'ing isn't your bag.

You can build an All Mountain bike that's burly enough to handle some abuse and still light / efficient enough to allow you to climb all day.

If I were you, I'd build:
SantaCruz Heckler with a Fox DHX coil rear shock (coils are smoother and tend to work better for heavier dudes like me [200#])
Rockshox PIKE coil U-Turn fork
XT crankset, Front/Rear Derailleur, cassette, shifters
I9 / EX5.1d wheelset (just google Industry9)
Gravity Dropper descender seatpost - gives you plenty of height to pedal uphill, hit a button and drop it to shred down
Sunline v1 65-70mm stem
Sunline V1 mid rise bars
Avid Elixir CR brakes 160/185
Kenda Nevegal 2.35" DTC tires
WTB Rocket V Team Ti saddle
Odi Lock-on grips


This won't be a $10,000 setup, but maybe 1/2 that.

Just go to your local shop and buy a Specialized Pitch Pro.