Spence Spring

About twenty years ago, I was traveling in New Mexico, and I was trying to stay at some of the lowest-rent places, like a hostel in Albuquerque and another one up a mountain outside of Albuquerque. This trip was a sequel to one I had taken years before that in which I stayed at the House of Jesus in ABQ for three days. I couldn’t stay there longer unless I became committed to Jesus, and then I could stay as long as I liked.

At that time I was more into Hinduism and mescaline and not so much into Jesus. This time I was going purposely to visit the site of a former Trappist monastery and the present site of Pecos Benedictine Monastery. Besides the religious scene and the Santa Fe scene, I was going to Taos, Los Alamos, Bandelier National Monument, and Jimez Springs, the site of an interesting entry in my guide to hot springs (Spence Spring). I found the following description on TripAdvisor, written by “Dr Dude 777”:

This was my very first time in a hot spring. There were three of us...a good friend of mine, my wife, and myself. When we arrived, tourists from Austin, Texas, were there...two guys and two gals, all in their twenties and all naked. My wife had worn her bikini under her clothes, but my friend and I found separate areas right in the woods and changed into our trunks.

When I first got in, I almost slipped on the slimy rock I stepped on. Beware that it is very slippery. Another step and I was in gravel that didn't seem slimy at all. Then my friend got in. He had no troubles, now that I had warned them of the slimy rocks. My wife took one step in and got grossed out from the slime. She decided not to get in, and she sat on a nearby rock outside of the spring for the remainder of the time.

The couples from Austin got out, dressed, and left. The hot water felt awesome in the twenty degree temps. The view was amazing!

The next day, only my friend and I went back and hopped into the hot water. There was an older couple there from Minnesota...both totally nude. They were very friendly, and we talked with them for awhile. When they were ready to leave, my friend was sitting right next to the only exit. As the woman was stepping up to get out, her privates were very close to his face. It was kind of awkward, but not a huge deal.

We stayed in there for hours, drinking beer, laughing, and talking. It was comfortable and very peaceful. Lots of different people came in and left. 90% of them would go completely naked, though we kept our trunks on at all times.

I share this experience in detail because it's a great place to go, but probably not a real "family" place where you would want to bring your children. They also have other hot springs in the area that we did not visit, but I hear they are more family friendly.

If you're a college guy looking to get naked with some girls, this is the perfect place to go. Or if you just want to enjoy nature naturally, this the place to go. My wife and I are going back there this month. I have two goals...to get my wife to actually get in and ignore the slime and to get my courage together and get in there nude.

By the way, there are numerous microorganisms inside hot springs, including the brain eating amoeba. They can't hurt you unless you sniff water up your nose or drink the water untreated. So keep your head and face out of the water. Source: Hot Springs, Jemez Springs, NM - TripAdvisor.

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Jimez Springs was not only the first pace I visited, but the last place I visited before departing New Mexico. I had a rental car that I picked up in ABQ and drove to Jimez, some 75 miles north of Albuquerque off Highway 550. There was a youth hostel there - now gone, I believe - as well as a biker bar that sold Fat Tire beer. Jimez has probably grown up and spread out a little since I was there. There was also a retreat center for Catholic priests in trouble - St. John the Paraclete: “A Pennsylvania grand jury found that a center run by the Servants of the Paraclete was a ‘laundry’ that allowed sexually abusive priests to return to their parishes to abuse children again. (Rose Palmisano/Albuquerque Journal)” Source: Pedophile priests and Servants of the Paraclete That certainly wasn’t my destination; I was headed for the hostel.

Once at the hostel I met a young kid who had recently driven himself and his girlfriend from the East Coast to California. He had then chosen to drive back to continue his own vision quest, but he was stopping off in New Mexico. This guy was pretty impressive for a kid: very humble and saintly, he carried a copy of The Return of the Bird Tribes: