A Sunday Visit to the Jemez Mountains

Today was quite a mellow day. Slept late and went on over to the Real food nation in Clines Corner for some lunch. It is all locally grown organic produce and is quite popular. I had some quiche, spinach soup and lemonade and everything was delicious.

An older woman was sitting next to me at the communal table and she was holding a tiny baby. She asked me if I would like to meet the baby since she said I seemed to be very interested in the little guy. His name was Atticus (yes like in "To Kill a Mockingbird")  and the parents were Greek and Roman scholars so they picked an unusual name all right. My table mate said she was going home to work in the garden where she raises food for the restaurant. I also told her about my pilgrimage and she was very interested to hear about my work at Habitat.

Later on I decided to head over to the Jemez Mountains where I was hoping to find some hot springs. Passed thru Los Alamos where all the high energy physics research takes place and where the Manhattan project was brought to life during World War 2. The drive thru the mountains was really spectacular and I passed by the Valle Caldera which is the remains of an extinct volcano from millions of years ago.  It is similar to the one in Yellowstone but not nearly as big. The area is filled with wildlife and is a national wildlife refuge now so it is protected.

On to La Cueva where I looked for the San Antonio Hot Springs. Alas the road was barred by a gate due to snow and the only way in is a five mile hike thru the snow uphill of course at 8000 feet. Decided against that plan right away and headed back south toward Jemez and found the Spence Hot Springs by the road. It was very busy and required a hike to get to the pools but it was worth it. The crowd was mostly 20 and 30 somethings from the local area. Some young physicists from Los Alamos were there and they were discussing their research projects which were impossibly complex.

I asked if it would be OK to go without a swimsuit and no one seems to mind so I jumped right in to a pool. I had no suit with me anyway, oddly the rest of the people were clothed even though it is clothing optional.

Got to talking to a girl from Minnesota and she asked what I was doing and she was interested in my pilgrimage and gave me some pointers on meditation. She is a runner and uses meditation to prepare for a long run and to put aside non- essential thoughts. It is just what we are taught in yoga I realized.  So it was great to meet a like minded person at the springs. I felt everyone at the springs was very friendly and mellow so it was a great experience to finally find a wilderness spring.

On the way back I got lost in Los Alamos. The place is very strangely laid out and there are no signs and I missed a key turn to get home. All roads went in circles or were dead ends. Thought to use my GPS but it produced a funky blank screen with just a couple of words on it.  It is being blanked out due to secret research at Los Alamos Labs. Finally found a gas station and got directions to escape from town. What and experience! I came back to my hosts place where we had an interesting discussion about world history, geological curiosities and the effects of European hegemony on third world countries in the 19th and early 20th centuries. I am very impressed with Peter as he is well grounded and has traveled a lot to cool places.

Getting tired will go to bed soon,

Good night all..