Wednesday, October 06, 2010

Cliff Jumping in the Jemez

A beautiful August day in the Jemez Mountains with friends. We hiked about 2 miles in, winding back and forth across a stream. We all had a fabulous time, and I wish I'd taken more pictures. There were cows and cold water crossings, and slippery rocks and just so much I forgot my camera as we hiked in.

The water was freezing! Not cold enough to stop the kids, tho. Andy didn't jump from any cliffs, but he spent hours (really, hours!) in the water in a pool that we estimated to be about 15' deep.

Dan did jump, from a few different spots, climbing up the rocks like a pro.




Andy had a great time getting acquainted with a cousin of the friends who led the hike. As we hiked back, Dan and his buddies wanted to catch fish. By the end of the hike out, Andy, Kale (the cousin) and I had fallen far behind and were walking out alone, when the herd of cows decided they were not going to let us cross the stream the final time to get back to the trail out. We thought about climbing up to the road, but really didn't want to go the extra distance. I considered letting Andy be our ambassador to the cows, since he's the only vegetarian. After a few minutes, the cows moved on and we finished our hike.

We'll definitely make this hike against next summer, and bring Gary along.

2 comments:

tysmoochy said...

Hi,
I was looking at going out this way next summer. Is it tricky to figure out how to get back to the place you can cliff jump?
Thanks!

Sylvia said...

Actually, the trail was pretty easy to follow, and well traveled. It was wet, tho, and crosses the creek several times. Water was never more than knee-deep, but the rocks can be slippery so I recommend river shoes (or barefoot). We parked at the area on the side of the road, just downhill from Redondo Picnic Area on Rt 4 (north of Jemez Springs Village). Just follow the other folks who've parked there and hiked in.