Ideas for wandering can come from a number of sources. They usually start with your interests. One of mine happens to be natural hot springs. To that end I have bought hot spring guides, ordered data bases of springs, and even subscribed to the now defunct Hot Spring Gazette.
The Gazette was a true guerilla publication. It didn’t care where the springs were located; even if the spring was on private or tribal land. One of its tips was a place called Swimming Pool spring on tribal land in New Mexico.
Their tip was to look at a particular Forest Service map for a place called Swimming Pool on adjacent tribal land. You’ll need an old map because Swimming Pool and other off limits places of interest have been removed from the current maps.
Since I had an old map, I found Swimming Pool and thought it would be worthwhile to check it out. Getting there would require a cross-country hike of a little over three miles each way. That seemed like a reasonable challenge so my dog Lucky and I decided to do it.
Our hike started by following an arroyo that surprisingly had running water. Because the running water was far from the source, it was cool. It was also full of minerals and very salty. Before I could pull him away, Lucky was lying spread-out in the water and drinking it up. Within five minutes all of the water was passing out of his body. So if you’re looking for a quick weight loss program, I know some water you can drink.
This is the arroyo we followed to reach Swimming Pool spring. Don’t drink the water.
