SAN ILDEFONSO, NEW MEXICO -- At dawn, January 23, the sun spread a pale yellow glow along the horizon. The winter air was still and bone cold. San Ildefonso Pueblo residents and visitors alike stomped the ground to keep warm. Everyone kept their gaze on the Black Mesa, a dusty brown hill to the east. A line of costumed Pueblo men chanted and drummed in the same direction.

At last from behind the hilltop, several figures appeared, silhouetted against the sun. They walked upright on thin, stick-like forelegs and waved heavy antlers in the air. These deer-men slowly made their way down the Black Mesa's slope to the Pueblo village, replying to chants from the drumming chorus with sharp cries of "Caw, caw!"

Feast Day In Winter

In New Mexico, 19 separate Pueblo communities are located. These native peoples speak five distinct languages (Tewa, Tiwa, Towa, Keresan and Zunian) and all celebrate a distinct Pueblo "feast day." The majority of these feast days, which are almost always related to each Pueblo's Catholic patron saint, fall in the harvest months from August to November.

At San Ildefonso, however, the pueblo's feast day is marked in the dead of winter, beginning in the evening of January 22 and continuing through the next day. For travelers heading to New Mexico on skiing vacations, this San Ildefonso Feast Day is the season's only opportunity to witness Native Americans ceremonies whose origins fade into prehistory.

San Ildefonso Pueblo lies 24 miles northwest of Santa Fe on the road to Los Alamos via Route 502. The small community of one-story, adobe-style homes is focused around a large plaza with a Catholic church at one corner (designed in an old adobe style, though of modern construction), and a kiva, a kind of adobe temple associated with the native traditions.

Incense And Vespers

As sunset fell on January 22, smoke from juniper wood fires hung like incense in the night air. We watched as San Ildefonso residents climbed ladders to their homes' flat adobe roofs in order to light rows of "luminarios," paper bags filled with sand and a single votive candle. Soon after dusk, fiesta vespers were celebrated in the Catholic church.

The first of the night's native dancers would not appear for many hours yet. In the meantime, after mass, visitors gathered gratefully around small fires ablaze in the San Ildefonso plaza. In observance of the Feast Day, the Pueblo visitor center was closed. No announcements were made or handouts distributed to explain what would happen or when.

The suspense and the crowd grew together. Flickering luminarios gave dim, dotted outlines to the darkened adobe homes. Hours of patience were rewarded at last when an elderly man descended a ladder from an adobe building on the plaza. Calling and singing, this medicine man was attended by a small band of women, who circled the plaza as if preparing the way for others. This group then disappeared back inside the adobe, and all was quiet again.

No doubt, the dancers and other San Ildefonso residents were prepared to stay up the night to celebrate their Pueblo feast day, but at least two visitors were not entirely willing to go along with such a sleepless tradition. We are morning people, whether on a Pueblo or anywhere else; we returned to our Santa Fe hotel and set a five a.m. alarm in order to arrive back at the Pueblo for the sunrise activities.

A New Understanding

Looking back, I believe we made the best of a difficult choice. The early morning deer dance was thrilling, from the moment we first glimpsed the San Ildefonso deer-men silhouetted on the Black Mesa hilltop to their noisy procession through the Pueblo in the company of dozens of bare-chested dancers, painted and feathered. The deer-men figures were especially unforgettable, their image seeming to bring forth in the mind unfathomed memories of ancient hunts and dances made to ward off hunger. The drum beats and songs, too, were tremendously evocative. We watched all the ceremonies with hushed reverence and any interpretation given here is both instinctual and highly personal.

We left the San Ildefonso Pueblo not only having encountered a tradition greatly worthy of our respect, but also having met within ourselves the common ancestor were share with the Pueblo people.

Next, A Sleigh Ride

Red River -- Dashing through the snow, a one-horse open sleigh made for a mighty chilly way to get around. The driver, thankfully, brought plenty of heavy wool blankets and we were easily distracted from the cold by the picturesque scenery of Red River's woods and valley streams. High above our heads, the snow-capped peaks of the Rocky foothills provided a majestic backdrop.

To an Easterner on his first visit in the Southwest, such a landscape was as invigorating as the red chili pepper salsa served with a breakfast burrito. Northern New Mexico, particularly from Taos to near the Colorado border, boasts incomparable vistas. Twisting roads threaded through fir-lined mountain passes. From sunrise to moonrise, an ever-changing spectrum of colors painted the scene in plum purples, corn yellows and, inevitably, chili pepper reds.

Highest Town In New Mexico

For someone who had skied previously only in New England, where "mountains" can hardly claim the name if stacked against those in New Mexico, the scene from the slopes at Red River was equally breathtaking.

Nestled in the Carson National Forest, Red River's mountain rises to 10,000 feet from a base of 8,750 feet, making the town the highest in New Mexico. The ski area operates 30 trails almost equally divided among beginners, intermediates and experts. I rank perhaps as a shaky intermediate, but I was able to ski comfortably from the highest station, enjoying the splendid view and rarified air.

A popular enough spot with West Coast vacationers and even day-trippers from Santa Fe, Red River was also refreshingly uncrowded on the slopes and in the lift lines.

Our visit to the Red River ski area in late January coincided with the resort's annual Western Winter Carnival, a weekend-long program of snowshoe races, a snowmobile parade, bonfires and free sleigh rides.

The small town of Red River today resembles only in passing the frontier outpost it was in the last century. The red light district has gone the way of the gold, silver and copper mines. Undoubtedly, too, several saloons on Main Street (the town had 15 at its Gold Rush-era zenith) were demolished to make way for a supermarket and the massive Lifts West condo/hotel development. Bartenders and waitresses in period costume at Texas Red's "steakhouse saloon" contribute, if somewhat stagily, to a Wild West atmosphere.

Chili Pepper Wreaths

The protected wilderness of the Carson National Forest, which covers nearly 1.4 million acres of northern New Mexico and almost entirely surrounds Red River, lends the area a soothing peacefulness and sense of isolation. Ongoing development here has apparently not overwhelmed the quiet natural beauty of the region.

We were eager to taste whatever the restaurants offered in blue corn or green chili. We were not disappointed either by tasty breakfast burritos or hearty evening meals. Indeed, we were also delighted by the unexpected discovery of several well-rounded and flavorful New Mexico wines. Another charming and distinctively Southwestern element were the commonly-seen holiday wreaths fashioned of enormous red chilis, which is certainly one good way to warm up a winter.

Watchful Spirit

On the Red River trails, we enjoyed two days of exciting skiing in sunny but cool weather. Throughout our stay, waiting was limited both on the lift lines and in the resort's slopeside facilities. This alone made the time spent a contrast with resorts back East. The weekend's Winter Carnival's events added an appealing touch, especially the sleigh rides, which we took near twilight and found both relaxing and romantic.

Entering and leaving the Red River region through Carson National Forest, we were struck by the imposing presence of the native trees, mostly douglas fir and blue spruce. They seemed almost to watch over us from the roadside. For miles, we drove alone, climbing then falling, just as we had skied on Red River's trails. All around presided the great spirit we had earlier met among the San Ildefonso Indians.

If You Go to New Mexico

San Ildefonso Pueblo is a half-hour's drive from Santa Fe via Route 84/285 North to Route 502 West. The Pueblo is open daily 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and visitors must register on arrival. Normally, a $3.00 entrance fee is charged, though when we arrived on January 22 in the late afternoon, the Visitors Center was closed for the Feast Day observance. Thus, we entered the Pueblo without being stopped or charged. Photographers usually must also pay a $5.00 camera fee, but cameras are not permitted on the Feast Day except at an afternoon performance of the deer dance on January 23.

San Ildefonso Pueblo Museum opened in 1979 and includes displays of native crafts and artifacts as well as a special exhibit of work by San Ildefonso's most-famous potter Maria Poveka Martinez (1887-1980). The museum is open daily, though like the Visitor Center, it was closed for Feast Day observances.

For further information, contact the San Ildefonso Pueblo Tourism Center, Rt. 5, Box 315-A, Santa Fe, NM 87501 or telephone (505) 455-3549.

Skiing

For general information about skiing in New Mexico, contact Ski New Mexico, PO Box 1104, Santa Fe, NM 87504-1104, telephone (505) 982-5300.

For information on Red River, dial toll-free 1-800-348-6444 or contact the Red River Chamber of Commerce, Box 868, Red River, NM 87558, tel. (505) 754-12366. On the web, Red River information is available at http://taoswebb.com/.

Information on activities in Carson National Forest is available from the Supervisor's Office, PO Box 558, 208 Cruz Alta Road, Taos, NM 87571, tel. (505) 758-6200.

To order a copy of the New Mexico Vacation Guide, call 1-800-545-2040.

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