Click on any image for a larger view
Today’s weather has nothing in common with the cool
temperatures, rain and clouds we experienced on Friday. High 90’s are forecast for Albuquerque, I’m
hoping for low 80’s in the Jemez Mountains.
Since this is a holiday weekend I am anticipating lots of
people. The drive is good, everyone is
doing the speed limit; no speeding through Jemez Pueblo or Springs. As we go over the last few passes before the
turnoff to our dirt/gravel forest road we see small puffs of smoke behind a
ridgeline several miles away. Having
just seen all the devastation from the Dog Head fire we make sure to look for
it on the way out; just in case.
There is dispersed camping along this forest road with
campers occupying most of the spots.
With a little trouble we find the turnoff with a ‘parking area’ and
trail down to the San Antonio. There’s a
family with small children camping next to the trailhead.
Today I am primarily interested in hiking but bring my DSLR
just in case I get inspired. The sun is
blazing away, with an occasional cloud providing relief. It is comfortable with a breeze but we get
warm when the breeze disappears. Biting
flies make an appearance as we get closer to the river. They follow us at least part of the way
towards the springs. I monitor cloud
movement hoping for them to continue building providing a nice backdrop for landscape
photos.
Once down the hill the trail is an old forest road that has
been blocked off. Hiking upstream takes
you to the western border of the Valles Caldera. Following the San Antonio downstream takes us
to the springs. I see foot, horse and
bicycle tracks as we make our way to the springs. Once I pass the areas I am familiar with I
start my wandering between the trail and the river looking for images.
The valley starts narrowing a bit as we approach the
springs. There is a wooden footbridge
crossing the river so I know we must be close.
The other clue is the dozen or so people coming and going up the path to
the springs.
The springs are a hundred or so feet above the valley
floor. The path parallels part of the runoff veering
away when the slope gets too steep for the direct approach to the pools. I stop at a small waterfall planning for a
long exposure image without my tripod.
Fortunately there is a tree lying near the falls that I can use as
support for my camera. I glance at the
sky yet again hoping for several minutes of cloud cover while composing my
image.
After I get my shot we notice a group of several early to
mid 20 year olds carrying a large container up the path. I don’t recognize it at first, then thought
it can’t be, but it was… A quarter barrel of beer carried by two guys. They are going to the springs to celebrate
the wedding of two of their group. They
said they had hiked about a mile from the parking area to the springs. If they weren’t thirsty when they started
they must have been at this point of their hike. I would not have wanted their head after
drinking beer in a hot spring then hiking back a mile or so. Too be young again, NOT!
On our hike back the heat continues to build. During the brief periods of still air the
biting flies make another run at us.
This is the first time on this river that I have had to deal with these
bloodthirsty insects.
Just at the start of the long climb back to the top of the
trail we run into the family camped at the trailhead. They are new to the area so I filled them in
on a number of different camping, and fishing areas mainly within the Jemez
Mountains. They have four kids, two of
which are old and strong enough to ascend the 300’ climb back to their
campsite. The other two needed
carrying. I did not complain about the
weight of my backpack!
It was another good day.
Thank you for stopping by,
Mark
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