San Antonio Creek - May 8, 2015

We are off to the San Antonio Creek for a fly fishing and photography expedition.  The San Antonio Creek is accessible from multiple locations in the Jemez Mountains.  It parallels State Road 4 from La Cueva, NM to Battleship Rock where it merges with the East Fork of the Jemez River then turns into the Jemez River.  There are multiple pullouts along SR 4 for picnicking and fishing.

Fishing the San Antonio along SR 4 is easy, get out of the car, walk a few hundred feet and wet a line.

We don’t do easy.

Instead we jump into Mark’s 4x4 for an adventure taking SR 4 to SR 126 then SR 144 to our chosen location along the western border of the Valles Caldera National Preserve.  SR 144 is a ‘road’ in description only.  We have to weave our way from side to side to avoid ruts, pools of muddy water, and naturally occurring speed bumps.  Most of the way it’s wide enough for two vehicles to pass side by side.  Byron and I visited a few years back so we know this is a gorgeous location for fishing and photography and worth the effort.  The San Antonio Creek above La Cueva has few access points.  There are a couple other Forest Roads that run parallel to the San Antonio Creek; one is private and the other closed to motorized traffic.  The west valley walls are steep; hiking may be closer to climbing when approaching from the west side.  A several mile drive combined with hiking down several hundred feet is our preferred way to get to this location.

As we ascend in elevation the signs of spring; tiny bright green leaves bursting from buds on the aspens are only buds, roadside flowers all along SR 4 are emerging as small bundles of green waiting for warmer temperatures before putting on their spring color.  The only colors of the valley are the green of the grass and the yellow of the dandelions.

This part of the valley is broad; lined with pines, groups of aspens, shear rock walls on one side of the valley and densely wooded volcanic domes on the other.  The valley; with pastoral stream meandering through ancient rock formations and wide meadows, completes the scene.

Once we start hiking down a former Forest Road the valley slowly reveals itself through the trees.  My fishing buddies have planned to hike some distance downstream, not defined, before breaking out their gear then working their way back upstream to our rendezvous point then back up to the truck.  We hiked along an old Forest Road better than a mile before I found a photo op, they kept with their plan hiking farther downriver.

After shooting my first series of images I pack up and continue downstream looking for my companions.  I found them about a half mile downstream; probably the longest time and farthest distance they have hiked resisting temptation to wet a line.  I continue on a short distance finding other unique rock formations to shoot.

I notice that the rock formations are very different between the east and west side of the valley.  The San Antonio Creek and Valley is actually the west edge of the Valles Caldera, a super volcano which erupted multiple times over the past several million years.  The geology constantly changes as I hike along the valley.  This link, one of many, explains the geologic history of the Valles Caldera.   http://vcnpearthsystems.nmepscor.net/geology/geologic-history-of-jemez-volcanic-field

After spending time shooting different parts of the valley I turned back with the idea of catching up with Byron and Mark to see how the fishing is going, have lunch and plan the rest of the day.

Ancient gateway

I stick to the forest road paralleling the river but the river is not always visible with all the vegetation between the road and river.  Long story short I passed them without seeing them.  I knew where they were in general, but not their specific spot on the river.  I looked for them and they watched out for me but we didn't connect until sometime after 3.

In the mean time I wandered between the side of the valley and the river looking for unique images.  Reflections on the river were abundant until early afternoon when the wind started kicking up, causing ripples on the surface disturbing the reflections.  Great patience is needed for these images.

I kept moving up river to the point where it is closed as it runs into the Preserve.  Knowing they can’t be any farther upstream I turned back and looked for more river images.

When we caught up with each other I saw smiling faces; both of them had a great fishing day.  They caught so many that they lost count, always a good sign.  We were all fatigued, each of us has been on the go from 10 – 4, but we are ready to do it again.

Throughout the day we came upon only five other people.  I’m sure it’s partly due to our tradition of going on Fridays to avoid the weekend crowds and partly due to the effort needed to get to this special place.

Thank you for stopping by,

Mark