Week 15: Back to the forest!
Bandelier National Monument > Santa Fe National Forest
Hello, hello! Hope you had a great week! Me? I caught some kind of bug and have been taking it easy the past few days. Being sick in the van is no fun! I’ve been sleeping a ton and Jason has been taking good care of me.
Here’s a recap of what we’ve been up to:
Bandelier National Monument
We stayed a few days longer than we originally planned at Bandelier National Monument — but that was okay by us! The campground was pretty quiet and we had a few days of rain, including hail. Yikes! It sounded so loud on the van!
Luckily we came through it okay. The creek flash flooded and closed some of the trails for a while — most have reopened except for Alcove House — that’s the one with all the tall ladders. I’m so glad we did that when we were here in early August! (Read about it here.)
The rainy days finally gave me a chance to put together a palette to use with my perpetual journal — I’ve been dreaming about this for a few months now but didn’t have a chance to work on it until now. You can watch a swatch video of the palette over on Instagram!
This is a Folio palette with 2 extra large mixing pans and I’m keeping it in a Duotone Forest Art Toolkit. I love the green for using with my botanical journal!
This is way more colors than I need — but it will be so fun to use — feels so luxurious, y’all!
Art Toolkit Discount Code
I’m honored to be a Brand Ambassador for Art Toolkit and they’ve given me a code to share with you: Use code LISAFAN10 for 10% off your purchase of an ArtToolkit, palette, or mixing pans.
When you make a purchase using the code I’ll receive a small commission at no charge to you. I truly appreciate your support! Reviews here are my own, and I purchased this palette and toolkit.
Tyuonyi Overlook Trail
Tuesday we hiked the Tyuonyi Overlook Trail that starts right from the campground.
The trail is really interesting as it goes past several archeological sites. I wish I had the words to express it what’s like walking past these places where Ancestral Pueblo people lived and worked.
There are many tribal communities that call Bandelier part of their homeland.
It makes my problems seem smaller somehow. It’s hard to explain. Like humans have been here for thousands of years — and we’ll (hopefully) go on for thousands more.
I wonder what it was like when they lived here. Was it this hot and dry?
Were there cacti and yuccas?
It amazes me that they were able to grow crops here. Growing up, my Grandpa had a big garden and I used to help him with it — then help my Grandma can and freeze everything for the winter. So much hard work — and we had a tractor and electricity!
The Frijole Canyon Trail is in the left part of the photo, which we hiked down last week to meet Melissa, the current Artist-in-Resident at Valles Caldera — you can read more about that here.
The paved trail in the middle is the Pueblo Loop Trail that starts from the Visitor Center, and it goes through Tyuonyi, the round circular archeological site. We learned that it was once two stories tall with over 400 rooms, most of which were used for storing food. Can you imagine storing your food this way? Life was so much harder for them!
I feel pretty lucky to have our relatively big fridge and freezer in the van!
And even though shopping is our least favorite thing to do, I’m so grateful that we don’t have to grow our own food — and then try and store it through the seasons! We have a goal of having enough food to last 2 weeks before making a grocery run — it really gives you a different perspective thinking about having to make food last until the next crop comes in!
Town Day: Los Alamos
Speaking of shopping, Thursday we went to Los Alamos to do laundry and get groceries.
The laundromat was the best one yet! It was a combination laundromat, coffee shop, and movie rental place called Film Festival at Home.
The movie rental place took me back to when we were kids and we’d go to Blockbuster and rent VHS tapes, lol!
The drive back to camp was stunning — I couldn’t stop taking photos.
Elk at Valles Caldera
Friday we broke camp at Bandelier National Monument and headed to Santa Fe National Forest to find a dispersed camping spot — and Valles Caldera was on the way so of course we had to stop!
We were lucky enough to spot 2 herds of elk! Can you find them?
I was amazed at how much the montane grassland has changed since the start of my residency there in August. All the yellows, faded greens, ochres and browns are so beautiful.
Santa Fe National Forest
It feels so good to be back dispersed camping in the forest.
Don’t get me wrong, campgrounds like at Bandelier are great for easy access to established trails and services like fresh water and a dump station. But there’s something really freeing about camping in the forest.
The best way to describe it is like backpacking — only instead of having to carry everything we have it all in the van!
Here’s the Forest Service’s definition for dispersed camping (in Carson National Forest — always check to see if there are additional rules for where you are, and be sure to check the Motor Vehicle Use Map (MVUM) since motorized dispersed camping is usually restricted to specific areas marked on those maps:
Many people enjoy the solitude and primitive experience of camping away from developed campgrounds and other campers. Dispersed camping is the term used for camping anywhere in the National Forest OUTSIDE of a designated campground. Dispersed camping means no services; such as trash removal, and little or no facilities; such as tables and fire pits, are provided.
We found a spot with an opening in the forest so we could get solar power, and an amazing few of a canyon to the west.
Here’s the view down the road a bit — can’t wait to go hiking when I’m feeling better!
Here’s the view from the window by my desk as I’m typing this. Just so beautiful!
I can’t wait to practice painting these trees.
It’s starting to feel like fall, y’all! A few of the aspens near camp are already decked out in their autumn splendor.
We’re at 8,850 feet with temperatures in the 60’s during the day and 40’s at night — although later this week the forecast is calling for 30’s!
I’m kinda hoping we get a light dusting of snow but Jason thinks I’m nuts - lol!
Ask Me About My Artist Residency!
I’m still working on editing photos of the paintings I did during my residency at Valles Caldera National Preserve — I’m about halfway through, woo hoo!
I’m working on a special post all about it and hopefully have it up soon. In the meantime, please feel free to ask any questions you may have about it.
Well, that wraps it up for this week! I’m off to make another bowl of ramen noodle soup — it’s really been helping my throat. Hopefully I’ll kick this cold to the curb soon.
Thanks so much for following along on our advantures — it’s so great to have you along for the ride! — Lisa & Jason
Thanks so much for all that you share! I truly believe that New Mexico is the Land of Enchantment and I hope you are able to fully enjoy it's magic very soon!!!
Get well soon.