"I've never seen New Mexico on fire like this," Santa Fean Yvonne Baca said while sitting by the pool at Buffalo Thunder Resort & Casino. She and her husband, Phil Baca, like to go into the wilderness. But he didn't renew his fishing license this year.

"It's too dry," he said.

Still, the resort's water provided some solace for those who usually spend their summer weekends in the hills, forests and mountains of Northern New Mexico. Visitors from the region, as well as tourists from Colorado, Texas and Southern New Mexico, crowded the pool area around noon Saturday.

With the Las Conchas Fire still burning (close to 115,000 acres as of Saturday afternoon) and most northern parks and trails closed due to extreme fire danger, Santa Feans accustomed to the outdoors had to find other ways to spend the holiday weekend.

Zack Varnado and his dogs, Milo and Penny, were biking on the Santa Fe Rail Trail on Saturday. He prefers the Dale Ball Trail system and the Atalaya and Borrego trails.

"I'm usually up in the mountains on Saturdays," he said. "This is a bummer, but we have to respect the forests, respect the authorities." His Jeep was just one of a handful of vehicles parked at the Rail Trail lot off Rabbit Road, and he was just one of two bikers seen there in the mid-morning hours.

Fortunately, Santa Feans and visitors alike could enjoy music and wine at the Santa Fe Wine Festival, held at El Rancho de las Golondrinas on Los Pinos Road. According to Joe Maes, curator of programs at the living history museum, 18,000 people had shown up between noon and 3:30 p.m. Saturday. (The event continues from noon to 6 p.m. today.)

Large "no smoking" signs dotted the fence posts at Las Golondrinas. One of the museum's mascots, Kuno the Dragon, wasn't even spitting out fire or blowing smoke — "due to Santa Fe County fire restrictions," he said during a very brief interview.

Patrons were lined up at Raymond Vigil's Casa Abril Estates Wine tent to taste the wares. "You can't go camping, you can't go to the river, you can't hike, and you can't have fireworks," Vigil said. "So people are probably thinking, 'Maybe we'll go ahead and have some wine.' " He was offering four different wines on Saturday and said business was quite good, with the Tempranillo proving to be particularly popular.

Santa Fe newcomer Christine Huerta was sipping wine with her friend, Scotia Perdue, at the fest. They were hoping to go hiking today, but when told that it was unlikely the trails outside the city would re-open for some time, Huerta said to Perdue, "It's the hot tubs then." Huerta said it breaks her heart to see the state's forests burning so rapidly.

Nearby, Santa Fean Barbara Griego said she's been volunteering at the Red Cross's Cities of Gold shelter and plans to be there again today. "It's been horrendous," she said of the fire. "This is the worst fire in New Mexico's history."

Monica Garcia and Desiree Larranaga said they are hikers and bikers who usually hit the hills on the weekends. Not this time around.

"The smoke is taking its toll on outside activities," Garcia said. Both women said they support the public closures of the forests and hiking trails, though. "They should ban activity out there until we get a good rain," Larranaga said.

There was little scent of smoke at Las Golondrinas in the afternoon, and overhead thunderclouds, some brief sprinkling, and a light wind dimmed the intensity of the heat. Many people expressed sadness over the fire and said the state and county are smart to close off public access to forests and mountains impacted by the inferno.

Santa Fean Bernadette Scargall, who was partying with friends at the wine fest, said she's a camping, fishing and hiking gal. She was depressed about the fire. "The wine helps," she said, probably speaking for a lot of people as she took another sip.

Contact Robert Nott at 986-3021 or rnott@sfnewmexican.com.