Hike, Camp, Soak, Repeat

There is something so satisfying about getting completely naked in the forest on a Monday morning with absolutely no one else around. Our hike up the East Fork trail in Jemez Springs National Recreation Area leads us to the McCauley Warm Springs. Stashing our clothes on the edge of the upper pool, we ease in to the warm mineral bath. The sun shines through the Ponderosa Pine canopy sending rays of light through the understory as we relax into the moment. Soaking in hot water, in the middle of a beautiful nowhere, on a perfect day strikes a chord with me that goes all the way down to my DNA. This is precisely why we came to the southwest and to this little canyon in New Mexico.

We used to have a house, with 3 bedrooms and a mortgage. When people ask us what we miss most about home ownership, we always answer immediately and in unison, “Our hot tub!” It is in fact the only thing we miss. Hamlet provides us nearly everything we need, including a sense of being home wherever we may be, but it doesn’t provide a space for a soak.

After a long, wet, and chilly autumn in the Northeast and Midwest, we were more than ready to enjoy warmth – any warmth that didn’t involve propane, thermal underwear, or a hot drink. As we traveled west, and south, we gradually thawed as each day brought a little bit warmer daytime high, until finally in the panhandle of Texas we went cycling in shorts! But our goal wasn’t just short’s weather, we weren’t stopping until it was time for flipflops.

The only campground open in the winter in the Jemez valley is Vista Linda. Just a short drive into the quaint village of Jemez Springs, and about an hour from Sante Fe and Albuquerque, it provides a beautiful and convenient location. The Jemez Springs Recreation Area abuts up against Valles Caldera National Preserve, which is connected to Bandelier National Monument, and just across the Rio Grande lies Sante Fe National Forest. This area is an outdoor enthusiast’s dream for year-round outdoor fun.

Back in Jemez*, the chance to get out on a trail and then into some hot water is abundant. The local hot springs have been famous among European settlers for more than a century, but well-known to Native Americans for millennia. Modern visitors can enjoy the benefits of traditional in-town spa treatments as well as enhanced naturally occurring pools far from the roads. We opt for both.

The short hike up to Spence Mineral Springs is as stunning as the view. We catch our breath just below the pools, feeling the elevation in our lungs. The springs bubble up from a boulder pile on the southwestern slope a few hundred feet above the river. We follow the upper-most pool back to its source, finding a small cave filled with water. It is our first cave soak, and it is fabulous. At this time of year, the water is warm enough to relax, but the cold rocks steal some of the heat.

A short 30-minute drive up the valley offers the chance to play in the snow. We hike uphill in the soft snow slowly melting from this winter’s first serious storm. Okay, so we just spent the last two weeks driving away from this stuff, but the attraction of ascending into winter and then descending to a hot springs in the same afternoon is just too tempting. The trail is deserted but we see tracks of coyote, elk, and jack-rabbit, as well as that bipedal animal who dons skis. The Coyote Call trail winds up the southern rim of the ancient caldera offering expansive views of the wide valley below.

After the chilly hike up at nearly 9,000 feet, the waters of the Giggling Springs Resort call to us. The resort sits on the site of the original sulfur bathhouse that operated from the 1880 to 1940’s. The remains of the building frame the parking lot of the modern resort offering stone-lined concrete pools filled with varying temperatures of hot mineral water. Decorated in a southwestern pan-spiritual tradition, Kokopelli dance around statues of Dionysus, Buddha, and an assortment of hippy garden gnomes, with a small sanctuary to Mary of Guadalupe rounding out the mix. The tranquil vibe provides the perfect setting to watch the sun recede over the western rim of the canyon.

But we aren’t going to find that flip flop weather at 6300 feet in December, so we cruise south following the Rio Grande to the quirkily named Truth or Consequences, NM and find a campsite at South Monticello Campground in Elephant Butte Lake State Park. The park surrounds a reservoir which, judging by the size of the boat launch parking lot, is a popular place in the high season. In December, the lake is reduced to a shallow pool many miles downstream from us. All we can see is a small trickle of the Rio Grande winding its way through the muddy lake bottom. Boating is out, so we opt for a hiking and biking adventure along the western shore of the lake by crossing hilltops, arroyos, and lots of sand.

The day before our departure, we grab one more dip in Riverbend Hot Springs along the banks of the river. This resort offers private pools, but we prefer the flexibility of the 8 outdoor public pools which vary in temperature. The sun goes down just as we enter our first pool, casting pink-orange light on Turtle Mountain. On this winter solstice night, the nearly full moon rises from the desert landscape like an alien spacecraft. We soak it all in – the surrounding, the view, even the tiny LED lightshow at the resort, but most of all the warm mineral water.

*Note: Other long-time Jemez institutions include two restaurants whose neon signs reflect in each other’s windows, The Stage Stop and Los Ojos. Seriously, you could walk out of one, cross the street in three strides and open the door to the other. Entering the bar of Los Ojos is like walking onto a Hollywood set of a bar exactly like this set in the mountains of New Mexico, only the decorations and cobwebs are real. Bear skins line the wall next to the largest bull elk trophy I’ve ever seen, hung above a roaring fireplace big enough to roast a steer. The cowboy hats of former regulars line the wall above the door in silent benediction to all those who pass through. The bartender, a young blonde woman, moves in between Spanish and English effortlessly as she pulls bottles for delicious hand-made margaritas. I recommend Olga’s Famous Chile Rellenos, they’ve earned their title. We discovered later that Olga, who served us, was once an Olympic distance runner, and held the world’s fastest time for the 10,000 meters in 1992. As impressed as we are by her running career, it does not overshadow her achievements with chilies.