Over the Mountain, and Through the Woods... to Pagosa Springs We Go...

Tuesdays are locals days at the The Springs Resort & Spa, so, most Tuesdays, we head over Wolf Creek Pass, through the cool tunnels...

 Over the top of the pass (Nate wants me to tell you this is also the Continental Divide)...

And into the town of Pagosa Springs (on the map in the last post, for you geography buffs).

Once at the springs, we get in for $8 each (!!!), instead of the walk-up price of $24.50 each-- quite the discount.  The picture below shows just a little part of their facility: the building at top left is the main entrance and shower building; the pond you see is warm and has small koi swimming around in it; the walkway is actually under the water by a few inches and leads to an isolated hot pool to the right of the frame; extremely hot water is bubbling out of the top of the volcano-looking structure (made of mineral deposits that have built up over time); and there are a couple of very hot pools (108-109 degrees F!) to the left of the "volcano."

Of course, it was Laurie 2 Dogs who told us about this, too!  Truly, I think if we hadn't met her, we'd just be sitting in the cabin, home alone with the cats, twiddling our thumbs.  ;)

The springs are bigger and nicer than any we've been to before!  For reference, here's a map of the pools (the pic above was shot across Golden Pond toward the main Bath House:

 

The pools range from 87 degrees (Blue Lagoon swimming pools: mostly to keep the kids occupied while parents soak, from what we've seen) to 116 degrees (Lobster Pot soaking pool).

If no one had developed the hot springs, they would still look like they did in 1874:
 

The Ute Tribe, who were here before white settlers came through (and we all know how that went...), gave the town its name: in Ute, "pah-gosah" means healing waters.  Happily, there is still a large Ute population living in this region today, though we never see them soaking at the springs.  :(

Perhaps the coolest thing (no pun intended... hehe) is that the San Juan River runs right next to the springs (Nate is looking at it, above), and you can actually get in the river: sadly, you have to slowly, painfully immerse yourself into the just-above-freezing water, as there is no deep spot to jump in).  Nate has gotten in-- fully-- twice!  I have gotten in-- up to my waist-- twice.  Man, I have turned into such a wimp when it comes to cold water!  To think, a Florida guy putting an Ohio girl to shame like this.  :(

We usually go in the early afternoon, soak for a couple of hours, moving from pool to pool to vary the temperatures (and sometimes, to avoid having to share a pool with anyone else).  And then-- the best!-- we dry off, and head over to Riff Raff Brewing Company for their happy hour (3-6pm). 

We enjoy really great beer-- two each-- (though my Russian Imperial Stout: "Weapon of Self-Destruction" was only a winter seasonal, that's been taken off the menu... boo hoo!  Nate's favorite "HopGoblin" IPA is available year-round.) and fabulous nachos, and we're always out of there for about $20, including tip!

Once, on New Year's Eve, we went to Riff Raff first, and then to the hot springs, to soak in the dark.  While the evening ambiance could have been lovely, Texas and New Mexico (we're pretty sure it was the entire state population of each) were already soaking, when we arrived.  Listening to twangy, overly-confident, dufus teenagers hit on each other kinda, well, ruins the hot spring vibe for us.

After a less-than-relaxing soak, we dried off, walked across the bridge taking some pictures of all the beautiful holiday lights,

 Visitor Center, next to The Springs

Bridge across the San Juan River, with hot spring steam visible at left.

... then we headed up and across the pass again, in time to watch the New York Times Square festivities on TV, which happens at 10pm here (Mountain Standard Time is really great sometmes).  Too bad Ryan Seacrest just ruins it for us every time: we miss Dick Clark!  :(  Fortunately, someone put together a montage of every New Years Eve hosted by Dick Clark, starting back in the 70s, so we watched that afterward to sort of cleanse our palate of Seacrest.  ;)

And thus ended 2013 for us: what a crazy year it had been!  We were very excited to turn the page to 2014 and wish each other a Happy New Year.

Up Next: Durango: The Town That Gets "Snowdown"