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"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.
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.