Hot Springs and Hail!

Since our main purpose in going to Jemez Springs was, well, the springs... we tried out several that were nearby.  Our ratings:

(1) Most Convenient & Grossest (as in, so nasty we didn't dare even dip a toe in for fear of a microscopic lethal toe-eating pathogen): Spence Hot Spring. 

Here is Nate checking out the lower pool at Spence (note the sopping wet discarded towel... blech): 

 

 There is a nice big paved parking lot right on Highway 4 between the towns of Jemez Springs and La Cueva, which is apparently how Spence went from being one of the best hot springs in the area to the most crowded and disgusting.  Note to self: NEVER provide parking to any free, wilderness hot spring!  We hiked up from the parking lot one very chilly morning, only to find the springs littered with broken beer bottles, caps, cans, plastic bags, and even a left-behind (how, I ask you, HOW?) bikini bottom, pathetically floating in the lower pool (yes, the one in the pic above: we just couldn't bring ourselves to take a picture of it).  Blech.

(2) Coolest Mineral Formations, but not for soaking (the pool was way too tiny and fragile to even think about getting in): Soda Dam.

Here is what it looks like from the highway:

 You can see the river that flows through the right side of the dam, which creates an incredible roar that you'll hear in the video that follows.  The long gap right in the center of the dam is the entrance to the cave that contains the tiny warm pools and beautiful intricate, scalloped mineral formations.  Here is a closer view:

And, now, let's go inside for a little video (that gets cut off at the end... meh):

And just a couple more pics of the formations around the pools inside... because they are gorgeous!

(3) Easiest, but Most Expensive: Bodhi Mandala Zen Center.

For a suggested donation of $20 per person, the Zen Center's hot springs are nice, but they were just a bit too much for our budget line item entitled "Soaking Our Buns."  ;-)  We went twice.  Here are the pools, which ranged from "lobster pot" in the tiny one to the right of the statue to "too cool" nearest the river (at center top).  The two large pools in between them were, as Goldilocks would put it, just right!  You definitely come out stinking of sulfur, too... but in a nice sort of way.  :-)

(4) Perfection, if your car can handle 7 miles of rough forest "road" (each way) or you can handle a 7-mile round trip hike:  San Antonio Hot Springs.

Our first foray to San Antonio was by car.  Honda Civic, to be specific.  A tried a true 4WD vehicle.

What?  The Civic is *not* 4WD, you say?

Whoops.

The forest road to the spring is seven miles long and took us 49 minutes to cover, and apparently we were lucky to have missed Donkey Kong lobbing boulders at us!

We made it in one piece, and thought the car did too... though, after we had to replace the front right axle in December, we're not quite sure.  :(

Here we are, basking in the sun, and soaking in the natural springs that cascade down the mountain, starting with the hottest pools at the top and gradually cooling as they flow down through each successive pool.  Can you tell Nate was happy?

We made it to San Antonio one more time, the "honest way," as we like to say: on foot.  Going was great, soaking was fabulous, but the return trip left us wishing there would be another hot spring at the other end of the hike... if nothing else, for our weary feet.  ;)

 Yes, yes, we know: total Corona commercial.

After all our lovely soaking throughout August and September, we got a wake-up call on September 22nd that fall was abruptly ending and winter would be fully upon us sooner than we thought:  a hailstorm!  Time for some sensible RV footwear!

Here's a sample of the hail (it was so big and loud, we covered the Civic's windshield with a tarp to protect against cracking!):

Rather than having another month to laze about in hot springs, we suddenly found ourselves in a panic over things like winterizing Baba G for the first time ever... while we were still living in her!  You see, the geologist from Arizona who was living in the little cabin we were going to move into (at least temporarily) had not moved out in mid-September, as was his usual schedule.  So, we were about to be up the creek without a paddle...

Up Next: It's All Fun and Games Until Somebody Puts An Eye Out...