Week 10: I started my residency!
(And overcame my fear of ladders!)
Hello, friend! I’m so glad you’re back here for another update on our grand adventure! This week was really special since I started my Artist Residency at Valles Caldera National Preserve.
Without further ado, here’s the weekly recap:
Sunday: Valle Vidal > Rio Grande del Norte National Monument > Bandelier National Monument
What a day! We broke camp at Valle Vidal in Carson National Forest and headed down the mountain, stopping to soak in the views of the Rio Costilla along the way.
We can’t wait to come back someday and camp along the river — just look at this view:
Then it was on to Rio Grande del Norte National Monument since it was just a few miles off our route. RGDN, at an elevation of about 7,000 feet, is run by the Bureau of Land Management.
The Rio Grande River cuts a gorge 800 feet deep, and of course we had to see it since we’ve been visiting the Rio Grande in Big Bend National Park for years.
The Red River meets the Rio Grande here and it’s so cool to see — and hear! Next time we come I want to hike down in the canyon and see the confluence up close.
After leaving RGDN we stopped in Santa Fe to pick up more packages at the Amazon counter at Whole Foods that were delayed from last week, and then I just had to stop by Trader Joe’s again to top off our supplies.
We arrived at our camp spot at Bandelier National Monument around 9:30 pm and went straight to bed — what a day!
Monday: Overcoming Fear
The last time we were at Bandelier National Monument was in February of 2018 and the trails were closed due to snow. So we woke up early so that we could get plenty of hiking in this time.
We caught the shuttle to the visitor center and set off to hike the Pueblo Loop Trail. It was so cool to imagine people going about their daily lives here.
I just love all the colors in these photos — the greens by the creek contrasting with the peachy tans just makes my heart sing.
Then it was on to the main event: climbing the ladders to Alcove House!
I didn’t get much sleep the night before because I was both super excited about this and super nervous — all at the same time.
I’ve had a fear of ladders since high school when I fell off a ladder almost 2 stories up while scraping old paint off the side of my parent’s house in East Palestine, Ohio. I scraped a little too hard and pushed myself away from the house — and landed on the ladder! Luckily I walked away with just a few bruises, but I’ve had a fear of ladders ever since.
Here’s a photo from the Bandelier website so that you can get a feel for how tall these ladders are:
Note: there’s one more ladder not shown in the photo!
I wasn’t sure I was up for this adventure, but I knew I would always regret it if I didn’t try!
So with the Dune motto “fear is the mind killer” on repeat in my mind I took a deep breath and stepped up to the first ladder.
I made it up that one, then continued on the next, and the next, and the next — 140 feet total.
The ladders were HOT from the sun and I put on my sun gloves to help. One part of me was screaming “Don’t look down! Don’t let go of the ladder!” and the other part of me was like “Yikes! This is HOT! Lets go lets go!”
But I did it!! YEAH!!
Going down was even scarier than going up — having to turn around and take that first step down to the top rung was the worst. But I did that too!
When I got to the ground my hands were trembling and my legs felt like jelly!
I’m super proud that I did it — and I was glad that J was there to encourage me!
Tuesday: Los Alamos > Valles Caldera!
Tuesday we left Bandelier and headed to Valles Caldera National Preserve to start my artist residency! Woo hoo! I’d been dreaming of this day for months and can’t believe it’s finally here!
We had a little extra time so we went through Los Alamos, home of Los Alamos National Laboratory. We had the van inspected for the first time at the guard stop, where they told us not to take ANY pictures of the lab — so I don’t have any photos to share from there.
Then it was on to the caldera! It was so different from the last time we were here when everything was covered in snow.
Several people asked me questions about what an Artist in Residence does — each residency is a little different, but for my residency at Valles Caldera I get to stay in a cabin (!) for one month, and in exchange I will teach two workshops on nature journaling and host an open house, and donate one work of art to the park.
I’m considered a member of staff and I even have access to a park vehicle.
If you’re in the area, I’d love it if you joined me for one of the nature journaling workshops — here are the details:
Dates: Sunday, August 18, and Saturday, August 24
Time: 10:00 am to 12:00 pm
Location: Meet at the Ranger Station
Join artist-in-residence Lisa Spangler (that’s me!) for a nature journaling workshop on either August 18 or August 24! Through presentations, demonstrations, and guided practice, participants will learn the art of documenting discoveries in nature on paper with words and sketches. Take home what you create! All supplies will be provided. Click here for more info.
Wednesday: Morning Mist and Tour of the Valley
We woke up this morning to the sounds of elk calling and scrambled out of bed. We saw them head off into the trees, and then noticed that mist filled the valley. It was pure magic.
I can’t wait to paint these! And can’t believe this is the view from the road to the cabin!
Next we walked to the Ranger Station to meet with Ranger Lauren to go on tour of the Caldera. The road to the Ranger Station goes past Walt Longmire’s cabin — yep, the one from the TV show Longmire! (If you haven’t watched this series yet we highly recommend it — and the books are even better!)
Ranger Lauren took us on a driving tour of the park. It took 2 hours to drive the backcountry roads — whoa! She also showed us where to take our trash/recycling and oriented us to the workings of the gate.
Feeling pretty lucky.
Thursday: Chore Day
The cabin has a washer and dryer in the basement, so we took full advantage of that today and did laundry — such a luxury compared to going to the laundromat!
It was a great day for doing it as it rained most of the day.
Needed a day like this!
Friday: Geology Tour and Elk!
This morning I met with Ranger Lauren and talked about the art needs of the park — can’t wait to get started on this!
Then Dr. Bill Sayre, geologist extraordinaire, took us on a geology tour — it was so cool to learn more about the park and surrounding area from him and seeing the landscape through a geologist’s eyes.
It started raining when he dropped us off at the Ranger Station — and there was ground lightening — so we hopped on our e-bikes and rode back to the cabin in a drizzle.
After dinner we heard elk again and went out on the porch to see what we could see — I captured this photo through the drizzling rain.
It was so amazing to see them — and watch the young ones at play! They kept cavorting around — it looked like they were having so much fun!
Saturday: Kitting for the Workshops
Today was another rainy day, so I started kitting for my two nature journaling workshops, answered some emails, and did some cooking.
The rain cleared up this evening and we were treated to a beautiful sunset.
Sunday: Hiking, hiking, hiking (and more elk)!
It rained this morning — but then it looked like it would be clear for the rest of the day — so we hiked up to the Ranger Station and checked out a truck — and not just any truck, but a Ford F-150 Lightning electric truck!
It’s so fun to drive y’all — doesn’t even feel like driving a truck.
We hiked Cerra La Jara, out to the lake, and even took the truck to the backcountry for a bit. I got to do a ton of sketches — more on those later!
We spotted so many prairie dogs (so cute!), 2 coyotes, mountain bluebirds, kestrels, and even a herd of elk off in the distance.
When we were here the last in February of 2018 everything was covered in snow — and I swear I stepped in half the prairie dog holes lol!
As we were eating dinner on the porch we heard more elk come through and saw another coyote, then a big ole owl swooped through.
Jason commented how Valles Caldera is like the Yellowstone of the Southwest — it’s so true.
That’s it for this week — thanks again for following along on our adventures — we’re so glad to have you along for the ride! — Lisa & Jason
What a wonderful adventure, pictures are amazing!!! Thanks for sharing 😊
Absolutely awesome adventures! The ladders to your Artist in Residence to the cute little prairie dogs! Thank you for sharing! So fun!