We arrived at the library at 10:00 to set up our presentation. Fairly easy, just ran some lines and used clothes pins to mount Jo's handmade paper and prints. Jo lined up her collection of daily collection jars, put out her sketch books with prints and pressed flowers and then checked the TV connection to Jo's laptop. Jo had put together a really good PowerPoint presentation with four of our videos embedded.  At the presentation, about a third of the way through the first, and longest, video, PowerPoint froze.  So, with a little bit of scrambling, Paul covered by reading his essay while Jo rebooted the computer and we decided to present the videos separate from PP.

It all worked out but Jo is a little bummed that the great PP presentation wasn't able to be shared - perhaps we will turn it into a video - the audience were very receptive, knowledgeable and, as Toni Marich would have said - "our people".  It was quite enjoyable and we received some wonderful feedback and appreciation.

After a leisurely lunch (tuna melts) we decided to take a walk but - as we have taken walks around the Village the past two days -we wanted to have it more hike-y than stroll-y.  The highlighted hikes in the area (off Hwy 4) have been closed due to the fire so, with a little internet research we found the Rio Cebolla hike out of the Seven Springs Hatchery (they are working to recover a native trout to the local waters), and even though it was late go for a very short hike.

The mini-hike took us up a beautiful valley to a lake with an incredible view of cliff faces.  On the water we saw a swimming otter (of course we didn't have our binoculars with us). We couldn't linger long as the day-use area closes at 5:00PM.  Back down the hill to the truck and towards our temporary home.  Saw smoke from the fire - which increased in size last night due to high winds - sat in a different part of the yard for our evening libation and relaxed and began to relax into the enchantment of the land that the locals all talk about.

The Cerro Pelado fire - 7 miles east of us but not a serious threat here because the prevailing winds are to the east - continues to not be contained.  Hwy 4, which is the route we would take to all the fun trailheads to the north has been shut-down.  So the past couple of days we focused upon our art making and getting our presentation ready.

The sky wasn't smoky this morning. We feel like we are in a good place with our presentation so we packed up the bikes and drove up Hwy 4 to turn west on 126 right before 4 is closed to find a trail to San Antonio Hot Springs. The first bit is on private road and, right before getting on the trail we had to pass by a property with a sign saying "Trespassers will be shot and if you live you will be shot again" and a couple of loud dogs barking behind a fence.

The trail was mostly pretty easy with a few hike-a-bike uphills. It has been awhile since we have ridden in the Rocky Mountains and so we were cautious in a few places that we probably could have handled if we were in shape for this kind of riding. As we neared the hot springs Paul started having some  minor symptoms of altitude sickness so we stayed for awhile and then headed back down the hill (over 8,000'). The clouds were starting to be threatening so it was a good idea anyway - it started sprinkling a bit when we got back to the truck. Felt great to be riding again.

Friday afternoon the wind really picked up, with gusts up to 75 mph. The windows of the old house shook and creaked.  The mountains above the valley were covered in a haze that looked like a deep fog. We heard several sirens of emergency vehicles, later we heard of the wild fire that was not far away (though headed away from us).

Saturday we woke up early and went to the town plaza to receive our safety vests, gloves, bags and assignment for Earth Day clean-up of Highway 4.  We found some rather odd and interesting debris as we trolled for trash along mile 18. Back to the plaza where the first Farmers' Market was happening.  It is too early in the season for any produce but we bought some homemade yogurt from the Bodhi Manda Zen Center. We strolled near the Jemez River and noted the wonderful clouds and sky that had been created by Friday's wind.  In the afternoon we went to the Artisan Gallery and across the street to the Fine Art Gallery - where there was an opening reception for a group show.

On Sunday we joined Jemez Historic Site Instructional Coordinator Marlon Magdalena, his son, five other adults and one couple's small dog for a hike up the Oak Canyon east of the Site. We enjoyed the opportunity to explore this area however we were reminded why we prefer to go hiking by ourselves. We couldn't set our own pace, some folks like to talk more than we do, and, though the dog was well-mannered, it still made its presence known.

We drove up to Fenton Lake State Park, wanting to spend some time paddling and perhaps hiking on the short trails there. When we arrived, access to the day-use area won't open until May 1 so we drove to the camping entrance. We were less than whelmed, it is a small man-made lake and the hillside above it hasn't recovered from a fire so we headed back.

We stopped at the San Antonio Campground (again not open) but we parked at the entrance and decided to take a walk along the creek. Enjoyed hearing/seeing three stellar jays, did a set of tai chi (rather poorly as the ground was uneven and we had to go back and do a section we forgot) and then forage for rose hips.

Once back in town we stopped at the Jemez Historic Site with museum and ruins of the Gisewatowa Pueblo and the remains of the San José de los Jemez Mission that Spanish Franciscan priest forced the People to construct atop the original settlement and sacred grounds.

 Yesterday morning (4.20) we worked on our projects before deciding to take a walk along Hwy 4 with the intention of getting some information from the NPS Ranger Station. Unfortunately it is closed to the public and the NFS Ranger Station being built across the road isn't finished yet so we checked out the Jemez Historic Site When we walked up to it, it was clear that it would take a long, luxurious time to fully appreciate these ancient ruins and Jo had a phone appointment in the afternoon so we strolled down past the historic bathhouse in the town square.  Then onto the library where we bought six used paperbacks fo $3 from their "Book Barn" and met the head librarian who, after hearing what Paul is working on for his essay made several suggestions of titles and let us check out three under the name of one of the Mission Street Arts owner/directors. So only one photo from that day.

Today we drove up to the Jemez East River Slot Canyon trailhead and took a very pleasant, if not spectacular hike to the East River and East River Box. The Forest Service has been doing a great job here - the facilities at the trailhead/picnic area are in great shape, the trails have been maintained well (except for some fallen trees on the downhill section to the river), and the forest is being well managed.  Even so, we saw too many dead snags indicating some problems with the health of the forest due to drought and/or disease. We enjoyed a light lunch near the river and Paul recorded the sound of bees in the blooming pussy willows.

Because our last hike provided few birding possibilities we decided to forego the extra weight of our binoculars - big mistake - several birds perched above us for long periods to allow us to gaze at them. We were hearing a woodpecker pecking away near a very large and impressive snag but couldn't see it. Jo put her ear against the snag and confirmed that this was the tree.  A little while later we saw a bird fly out of a hole in the snag and then another head poked out and drew back in. For several minutes we watched this bird stick its head out and drop off some sawdust from its beak repeatedly as it was cleaning up the nest after doing some demo to expand the place.

On impulse as we were driving back we stopped at the Soda Dam,  a grouping of fifteen hot springs which have formed a unique calcium carbonate and travertine formation creating a bridge over the Jemez River just outside of town. The rock formations are fascinating.

"A Sense of Place" is the title of our project while in residence so it gives us good reason to go out and explore. We woke early, had coffee and Jo began working on two different responses to flora she has collected: making paper with the plant remnants implanted and using a Gelli pad to create prints with impressions of those found objects. Paul, perhaps influenced by his current reading of Rebecca Solnit's 'Field Guide to Getting Lost' has begun working on an essay connecting his impressions of the area.

Battleship Rock Picnic Area and Trailhead is four miles north of Jemez Springs and, based on the size of the parking lots, an immensely popular site.  The picnic area was closed but just up the road we could park in the trailhead lot.  The trail skirted the very large picnic area and was unfortunately full of recent garbage of recent use. The trail climbs under the prominent Battleship Rock. The trail starts gray, then turns a cinnamon red like the plentiful Ponderosa Pine, before returning to gray. There have been several slides over the years, bringing down massive trees and basalt boulders - winter avalanches are clearly a major event on the hillside.

Our pace up the trail was "art hike", constantly exploring what we saw and heard and stopping to take photos. This fulfills our artist residency intent and is rather sensible for flatlanders from Florida hiking up to 7,600 ft. After two miles of moderately difficult trail we arrived at three McCauley Warm Pools. Unlike the hot springs throughout the area, there was no detectable odor of sulphur and the water was body temperature rather than hot. We enjoyed a pleasant lunch, Jo noticed wild roses full of rose hips and Paul began harvesting - most likely for use in one of his fermentation projects when we get back home.

Wonderful little hike along the Red Rock Trail followed by an exploration of the Walatowa History Museum within the Walatowa Visitor Center of the Jemez Pueblo. We also saw some wonderful art in the gift center and disciplined ourselves to only purchase one painting by a local Jemez artist.