Four days ago (or was it five?), I traveled northwest from Santa Fe on small state highways. I stocked up on vegies. ice and beer along the way. I arrive in Abiquiu to sign up for a tour of O'Keefe's winter home in the pueblo. She bought a ruin of a compound that had been built in the 1690's. It took 3 years to rebuild it with several rooms, two courtyards and a large garden. She lived there most of the year, only moving out to her even more rustic compound at Ghost Ranch for the summer. She lived there from about 1949 until just before her death in 1986. She collected rocks and people brought her rocks to decorate with. Each collection carefully arranged (although her gardener would mess with her and move a rock or two every once in a while. Usually a few days later she would see the out of place rock and move it back without a word to the gardener). I got some ideas for my rock collections at home.
I gave up my 11:30 tour to a couple when there was only one slot left. I used the time until my 1:15 tour to travel 13 miles up to Echo Rock. It sounded like a coyote was yipping in the echo chamber, but when I hiked in there was only a couple. After a moment the woman burst out laughing. "Its good you arrived after I shape shifted into my human form." We then tested numerous animal noises in the amphitheater.
After my tour of the house in Abiquiu, I had an early green chili cheeseburger dinner at Bode's. Bode's is a grocery, merchantile, diner, pub and gas station just down the hill from the Abiquiu pueblo. The store has been in operation for over 100 years. They are famous for their green chili cheeseburgers and rightfully so. The local NM beers are good too. I had an Elevated IPA with my burger.
I camped then for three nights at Ghost Ranch. Now a Presbitarian Retreat center with camping, rustic cabins and not so rustic rooms spread across the facility. The scenery is fantastic and one can see why Georgia O'Keefe was enchanted by the place. Many dozens of her paintings including the Pedernal mountain series were painted there. She would hike around with a sketch pad capturing the forms and colors of even the smallest of hillocks and trees. She would sometimes take years to finish the paintings in the studio, but one thing she would do is take samples of the rocks back to the studio to capture the original colors to match in the studio. She had hundreds of pages of colors and recipes for the colors in her notebooks.
On my second evening, I sat on the porch of the lodge and watched the setting sun and clouds change the colors on the cliffs. I felt like an amature Ansel Adams waiting for just the right textures when by time I turned on the camera, the light changed and the shot was gone. I still took a couple of dozen photos.
The next morning the water jug on the picnic table was frozen solid. As the sun came up it warmed up enough for a couple of 4 mile hikes on the ranch. That evening it was too cold to sit on the porch again, so I finished the book The Emerald Mile (about the 1983 fastest oar powered wooden dory run through Grand Canyon when the Glen Canyon dam was desparately spilling all the water it could to keep from overtopping. 31 + hours for over 200 miles through the canyon.
Yesterday I packed up and drove 13 miles down a dirt road (not any worse than going to trailheads in the Teanaway). I followed the Chama River to Christ in the Desert Monestary. I participated in Sext (prayers before noon) that the 40 or so monks chanted. Snow started to fall while I was there. I do not have off road tires, nor 4 wheel drive and so I headed out before the clay roadbed got slick.
After a late lunch at Bode's (green chili cheese burger again.), took the back roads north and east to Ojo Caliente Hot Springs. There was 3 inches of snow on the ground as I came over the hills into Ojo. As evening fell, I sat in 102 degree water, watching the snow fall and the steam rise. There are about 9 or 10 different hot pools from comfortable 100 degrees to hot 108 degrees. There are several different springs that feet the different pools - lithia, iron, soda, arsenic, and others if forget. Many couples were there enjoying the relative privacy afforded by the darkness and steam rising off the pools to be discretely intimate. Very nice, quiet, peaceful relaxation.
I am shortly heading to Chaco Canyon. A three hour drive west into Navajo lands. Hopefully the dirt road in is passable. It promises to be cold again. I will be out of cell phone range for the next several days. The photos again are double downloaded. oops
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