For Christmas my wife bought the family an overnight at Ojo
Caliente, the hot
springs and spa in Northern New Mexico.
We went there with our son, Hunter, who was visiting from Los Angeles.
I believe there is a certain amount of mysticism and faith
necessary to fully appreciate the healing benefits of hot springs, but that
belief has lasted through many centuries and maybe there is something to it. The forefathers of the Tewa Indians who live
in Northern New Mexico today all believed in the healing powers of the waters and even when there were
warring factions in the neighborhood they would come in peace to the springs at
Ojo Caliente.
The baths are
below the cliffs where underground lava warms the pools. Different
springs are rich in different minerals. Here is the iron
spring right below the cliffs
and in this hot pool is
yours truly with his baseball cap covering his ever balding and sun susceptible
pate!
Hunter is in the mud spring, or mudpot as it is sometimes
known. It is supposed to be good for
skin texture as well as to ameliorate arthritis and soft tissue injury
In the 16th century the Spanish came up from Mexico
through New Mexico in search of gold and the fountain of youth and discovered
the springs. With such a history and
being so important to so many peoples it is not surprising that the springs
have been designated as a historic site. Three of the original buildings have been listed on the National
Registry of Historic Places) This is one of those buildings, the hotel built in
1916.
There they sit in a valley in the high desert. On our way to the springs we had some pretty breath-taking
views. To our surprise, the Rio Grande
which can look like a dry riverbed at
times was actually flowing as were a few creeks.
As I did some research for this Missive I found on the Spa’s
website 10 pages of references to article written about Ojo Caliente in the
last couple of years. There are even
more pages of videos on Youtube.
New Mexico did not become a state until 1912 but already in
1868 we had a territorial representative to congress, Antonio Joseph , and he
built the first bathhouse at Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs and they became one
of the first natural health resorts in the country. I am sure even then there was a realization
of the importance of tourism in the state, and what better way to attract
visitors than saying we have the next best thing to the fountain of youth!
The valley with water was a natural place to build overnight
lodging, a post office and a general store.
Ojo is quite close to Taos where Kit Carson and his family lived. The
general store’s ledger shows that Carson made frequent visits to buy supplies
there.
Only Hunter fully partook of the offerings of the place, which include night-time soaks in
the mineral baths. Penelope and I were not anxious to head back to our rooms
from the baths soaking wet in
below freezing temperatures. We plan to
go back in another season.
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