The San Luis Valley has at least three established hot springs, but I suspect there are others hidden away on private lands here and there. Joyful Journey is located on the valley floor just off Highway 17 south of Villa Grove. Water comes from the spring at 140 degrees Fahrenheit and is cooled by water from other wells. It has three main pools set out in open space on a 500 acre ranch. The pools are oriented east, toward the eroding western slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.
In the afternoon, a sudden storm…harbinger of a cold front…rushed down the valley from the north. The rain and hail pitter-pattered and sometimes slammed on the canvas roof of the yurt I had rented. But when the rain (and hail) stopped, the earth was quiet. Large clouds (and probably some snow) remained on the high mountains…looking like vast wooly herds of sheep driven down to the valley pastures by an advancing winter.
Other travelers stopped to the ranch’s small cluster of yurts and teepees. A couple from Boston built a fire; another couple from Denver lit a bowl of “mother’s finest” and passed it around. Then folks went off to soak in the hot pools (open til 11:00). The moon came up from behind the clouds…looking for a moment as if it were caught in the teepee’s lodgepoles. The earth became very quiet.
