Adventures during quarantine

I know I know, we are supposed to be locked at home. I do that most of the time, but to stay sane I have been exploring and hiking a lot. I have seen so many beautiful places I haven’t had time to explore until now (some of them). Getting out into nature has been a life saver for me this past month. It is what I have to look forward to. It also allows me to take landscape photos which is helping with the disappointment of not being able to work and take portraits for all of my clients.

First adventure I had was hiking to Gilman tunnels. I love this place so much and shocked all over again every time I go by how beautiful it is. It feels huge and unreal when you are walking around it. If you haven’t explored this area yet, you probably should!

A couple days after that I went camping at American Springs with a select group of 5 friends. All people I had been around already. The boyfriend, my sister and then Wendy and Ryan, who we had continued to be around anyways. We were careful with social distancing and used sanitizer a lot. It was amazing and made it feel like life was back to normal, even it it was only for 1 night.

Our next adventure was off roading deep into Rendija Canyon. We went back to a spot called the cow pond. I remember this spot from being a well known party spot in high school. I have have attended a few parties there myself. It was a nice relaxing day to get out. We packed our lunches and some beer and drove out to have a picnic. We ended up sitting around taking for about 3 hours and we all left super sun burnt. Also, the guys couldn’t leave with out driving through the pond first. Can you blame them, it looks like fun!

The next adventure was my favorite by far! An awesome friend told me about this abandoned place in the Jemez called Sulphur Springs. It has so much history and you can see it all when walking around. You can see different buildings that were built at all different times. So much to explore. Please, if you go here, be respectful. Leave things as you found them. Don’t take anything. Don’t disturb anything.

May latest adventure was yesterday. Turns out if you keep walking past Sulphur Springs, a couple of miles you will find this beauty. I have seen photos of this place but never knew how to get there until now. It is a beautiful hike and gets you to some amazing places. The water here is crystal clear, pictures don’t do it justice.

I can’t be stuck in my house all day every day and not go crazy, and I know a lot of other people are like that as well. Get out, hike and explore, just be smart while doing it. DON’T go to the popular hiking trails with 20 other cars already parked there. DON’T be disrespectful. Remember, the Jemez is home to a lot of people. It might be a fun place for you to just explore and mess around for the weekend, but it is a lot of amazing peoples permanent residence and that needs to be respected. Don’t litter, don’t speed, don’t walk off trail, don’t do anything you wouldn’t want done in your own back yard. Most importantly have fun and take lots of photos! If you find any cool spots share the photos with me, I would love to add to my list of places to hike.

Thanks for reading. Hope you’re doing well and staying safe.