it was the end of a long day
she whispered
as the light began to fade
and the final rain showers ceased
I walked with her
my lover
towards the end of the road
I looked off into the distance
an endless sky
with a touch of pink and purple
my favorite colors
the mesh of the two
in the high desert
touch each other
Its been months since I last wrote about this place,
and driving back home after a long poetry sojourn
I am full of joy and happiness
the crops out in the field await me
each day I greet them
each day they smile
each day green spectrums
are fulfilled
Highway 70 going east from Phoenix quickly changes from HOT to cool and mellow. The big city is left behind and Hwy 60 blends into Hwy 70 at Globe.
The ride into Globe passes through Superior, a small town east of Phoenix up in the foothills. Its a stark transition. At 8am I hit Phoenix on June 30, 2010. Its 96 degrees. Its hot, real hot. My shirt is already off and the windows are down. Up at 12:40am, leave Pasadena at 2:00am.
LA is quiet at 2am, but not that quiet. At 4:40am on the Gold Line platform a simple car count is about 60 cars a minute, mas o menos. So, I am thankful to be leaving LA without lots of traffic, but even at 2am its not free and clear. I arrive in Indio about 2 hours later. The wind is howling, summer winds lead from the ocean back west, and the pressure differential causes motion.
As I climb out of the desert floor on I10 I look behind me to see the Palm Springs Valley, lots of lights and the final chapter in this leg of my south land journey. I am sad, but not too sad, it was a good time, with lots of good friends and lots of good poetry and wine.
The plateau on I10 narrows and soon the first light of day is upon us. Its 4:35am, and at this time of year we have light early. Off in the distance is Blythe. I am not sure I will ever see Blythe the way I did on this morning. She is off in the distance quite a ways, but the Colorado River and the irrigation ditches of Blythe can be seen from miles away.
Its amazing, really, but I finally now understand the Colorado Plateau. It happens just east of Blythe oh 30 miles or so. Everything transitions, gone are the harsh deserts and stark beauty loneliness of the pristine California desert and home is the southwest. The transition happens almost instantaneously.
its the mesas
the southwest
is defined by them
the monument valley
of red rocks and
austere cliffs
the feeling of knowing
that this place is familiar
but not there yet
just the beginning
of what will be a
soothing of understanding
that home is close
I drive for awhile and Phoenix is not really that far away. A calculation is made that going straight is the way to go. South to Tucson is out of the way, plus I like back roads any way and this will be my second drive on I60 to I70. The first one was back in early November 2009 after visiting Prescott and heading back to Silver City after a five night stay in Prescott.
Phoenix is a pretty nice place, if you like the desert and the heat. I don't like air conditioners and so I prefer climates where you don't need them. New Mexico cools off at night and so does LA. Phoenix on the other hand its a necessity. And so I will have to avoid this place, even though it could probably be a nice place to live.
For some reason I missed the traffic this morning. Or maybe its just a light day before the big 4th of July blow out. Or maybe the job market in Phoenix is causing more people to stay home. In any case, I fly through Phoenix happy that I missed the traffic.
Its really past Globe that things mellow out and become really quiet. East of Globe its Native American land all the way to the town of Safford. As you meander on the highway you are paralleling the Gila River whose headwaters begin in New Mexico in none other than the Gila National Forest. By the time the river hits the Arizona border the river is more of a stream, but it creates a valley and a desert arroyo system that is beautiful, pristine, and very appealing to desert rats like me.
I am happy driving, and I don't like to drive. In fact, I lived in the south land for 20 months and probably put less than one thousand miles of city driving. But out here in the open space, with the air smashing me in the face and the buzz of the wind I am in a state of awe and quiet.
Safford is a nice town. Its the main population center between Globe and Lordsburg. I stop there for some gas and pull off the side of the road under a big tree and eat some lunch. Last November when I passed through here I noticed some nice spots, and this time I took full advantage of them. I had a nice lunch from food I had cooked the day before at my pad in Pasadena.
Several days before I left Pasadena I was sad to leave. My apartment, although it was simple, was quiet and nice. I loved walking through the neighborhoods of San Marino and each day towards the end of my stay I thought about being present on those walks. Live each day, and I did on those final walks.
After 12 hours I cross into New Mexico and the dream becomes a reality.
Peace in New Mexico
When I drive back here
from there
a surge of joy surrounds me
Maybe its the huge skies
that never end.
Maybe its the white fluffy clouds
that reach from floor to ceiling
on the giant horizon.
The light, oh the light can't be
shined into words.
The feeling of autumn,
the cool nights
the State Fair and the
corn dogs
Calling Jose to get another cord
the wood stove will be hungry soon.
The late afternoon winter sky
and fresh tortillas for dinner.
Green and red, only Christmas
when I go out for lunch or dinner.
That smell of smoke in the evening air
as I walk back from the river
the cotton woods having lost all of their
leaves by now
But peace, that is where I feel it the most
I awake in the early morning hour
and I feel
good
I know why
because I am home.
Home with my protector
my mother
earth
that soothes me when I am sad
That part of my heart that I can turn to,
immediately she is there.
I don't have to dream of her.
When I go away
I always miss her
and she misses me
When I come home
I am happy and she is too.
We don't know why though.
The mind can not describe the
feeling of why.
I don't know why.
I just know.
Michael I Angerman
July 3, 2010
Friday, July 9, 2010
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Las Cruces
On August 17, 1987 I moved to New Mexico. I was 26 years old and fresh out of being a kid. I knew nothing except that I loved New Mexico. It was love at first sight, and 22 years later I am still in love. I guess you can say I found my spiritual home in the US. Since that magical day, I have traveled (literally) all over the world, and more importantly all over the US and lived in over fifteen US cities, but I always come back to NM as my home, and each time I return I love her more or just the same.
Las Cruces was where I came on that sunny summer day in 1987. I moved to NM to start a doctoral program in computer science at New Mexico State University. I never finished my doctorate, but I did learn why I came to NM, and that was to find the most beautiful spot on planet Earth. They call it the land of enchantment and for good reason. Once it got you, it never lets go.
I have a sense that people who are born and raised in California feel the same way about their home state, and so I can relate to that feeling of native angelinos, or native folks from the great state of Ca. Others do what I did, move to Ca. and just after a while call it home. And for good reason. It also is a beautiful place, with perfect weather.
Its a two hour drive from Silver City to Las Cruces. The drive is awesome, especially if you like the high desert and the high desert vistas. The whole time you are driving from Silver City to Las Cruces as you look to the south you see the great country of Mexico in all her glory and the distant mountain peaks that define her border. Beyond them dar hills is a country steeped in culture, love, beauty, and unfortunately at this time in modern history some problems. It saddens me to know that Mexico is going through some tough times, but I am confident that she will find her way, and hopefully soon because I look forward to going back to the lovely towns of Zacatecas, San Luis Potosi, and Aguascalientes.
Back in Las Cruces, I stayed at my friends parents home in the Mesilla Valley. They have a lovely home close to the ditch and close to the most famous person I ever met in my life. Unfortunately, in the past couple of years he died, but his memory lives on in many ways. His name is scattered about southern NM in many small and pertinent different places.
One day, many years ago, I went to his 60th wedding anniversary. I was fortunate enough to attend his party because one of my best friends had known him for many years and was his next door neighbor. Being the next door neighbor to this man in my eyes was too cool, but yes it was the case.
The day that I attended his party I was probably at that time in my late 20's. I was still young and naive and very innocent. He told me something I will never forget. Everyone who knows me well has heard me tell this story, they probably don't remember me telling it to them, but I have told them, they just forget.
This person was a punster, he talked and told puns, left and right. Every paragraph he spoke was embedded in it a pun of some sort. As we sat there sitting around the kitchen table he directed his attention towards me and told me something that to this day I will never forget. It was a simple sentence, and so innocent and irrelevant, but to me I carry it with me every day of my life and it literally guides me in major decisions I make in my life and how I see the world. He said, "Human beings have small brains", and don't ever forget it.
There are only four people in the history of humanity who share a seat with this man in the course of human history. Barring the ancient planets and the modern day planets that are being discovered left and right, this man was the man who on a cold winter night in February of 1930 at a high mountain observatory in the tiny town of Flagstaff, Arizona used the observatory's 13-inch astrograph to take photographs of the same section of sky several nights apart. He then used a blink comparator to compare the different images.
Several days ago I walked by his house, of course Clyde Tombaugh is long gone, but his memory lives on in my mind as someone who as wise as he was knew his place and was humbled by it.
I am happy to report that in the 22 years that have passed Las Cruces has grown tremendously from that small high desert town I visited many years ago but the valley between Las Cruces and El Paso is pretty much the same. I wandered that valley recently in search of the memories and I am elated that those memories of cotton fields, pecan orchards, and red chile still live on. Unfortuntely, we can not say the same for the orchards between San Francisco and San Jose or the orange groves in southern California, but in my home state of New Mexico at least at this moment in history the valley of Mesilla is still preserved in a pristine sense.
I guess one of the reasons for this is the huge plantations of pecan trees that are still being held by single families who have been wise enough NOT to sell out to the developers, and fortunately the price of farm land in the valley has become so expensive that the cheap scrub desert hills north of the city is a cheaper way for housing developers to rape and pillage the land with new aspalt and track houses that satisfy their desires and the peoples desires for a piece of paradise. I don't usually go off on a tangent like this, so I will stop.
Going out to eat is fun, and we all enjoy the luxury of going to a place and having someone else cook and do the dishes for us. In my forty years of existence there are many restaurants I have attended but there are very few restaurants that I would call my favorites. One of my top ten restaurants of all time is in the Mesilla Valley. It is in the small village of La Mesa, NM and it serves red and green chile rellenos, tamales, posole, fresh chips, and fresh flour tortillas. The other day I had the pleasure of attending this restaurant and had once again a super fantastic meal. It was one of the best meals I have had this year, and I was very happy walking out the door into the light of a warm November afternoon in southern NM. The name of the restaurant is called Chopis.
Las Cruces was where I came on that sunny summer day in 1987. I moved to NM to start a doctoral program in computer science at New Mexico State University. I never finished my doctorate, but I did learn why I came to NM, and that was to find the most beautiful spot on planet Earth. They call it the land of enchantment and for good reason. Once it got you, it never lets go.
I have a sense that people who are born and raised in California feel the same way about their home state, and so I can relate to that feeling of native angelinos, or native folks from the great state of Ca. Others do what I did, move to Ca. and just after a while call it home. And for good reason. It also is a beautiful place, with perfect weather.
Its a two hour drive from Silver City to Las Cruces. The drive is awesome, especially if you like the high desert and the high desert vistas. The whole time you are driving from Silver City to Las Cruces as you look to the south you see the great country of Mexico in all her glory and the distant mountain peaks that define her border. Beyond them dar hills is a country steeped in culture, love, beauty, and unfortunately at this time in modern history some problems. It saddens me to know that Mexico is going through some tough times, but I am confident that she will find her way, and hopefully soon because I look forward to going back to the lovely towns of Zacatecas, San Luis Potosi, and Aguascalientes.
Back in Las Cruces, I stayed at my friends parents home in the Mesilla Valley. They have a lovely home close to the ditch and close to the most famous person I ever met in my life. Unfortunately, in the past couple of years he died, but his memory lives on in many ways. His name is scattered about southern NM in many small and pertinent different places.
One day, many years ago, I went to his 60th wedding anniversary. I was fortunate enough to attend his party because one of my best friends had known him for many years and was his next door neighbor. Being the next door neighbor to this man in my eyes was too cool, but yes it was the case.
The day that I attended his party I was probably at that time in my late 20's. I was still young and naive and very innocent. He told me something I will never forget. Everyone who knows me well has heard me tell this story, they probably don't remember me telling it to them, but I have told them, they just forget.
This person was a punster, he talked and told puns, left and right. Every paragraph he spoke was embedded in it a pun of some sort. As we sat there sitting around the kitchen table he directed his attention towards me and told me something that to this day I will never forget. It was a simple sentence, and so innocent and irrelevant, but to me I carry it with me every day of my life and it literally guides me in major decisions I make in my life and how I see the world. He said, "Human beings have small brains", and don't ever forget it.
There are only four people in the history of humanity who share a seat with this man in the course of human history. Barring the ancient planets and the modern day planets that are being discovered left and right, this man was the man who on a cold winter night in February of 1930 at a high mountain observatory in the tiny town of Flagstaff, Arizona used the observatory's 13-inch astrograph to take photographs of the same section of sky several nights apart. He then used a blink comparator to compare the different images.
Several days ago I walked by his house, of course Clyde Tombaugh is long gone, but his memory lives on in my mind as someone who as wise as he was knew his place and was humbled by it.
I am happy to report that in the 22 years that have passed Las Cruces has grown tremendously from that small high desert town I visited many years ago but the valley between Las Cruces and El Paso is pretty much the same. I wandered that valley recently in search of the memories and I am elated that those memories of cotton fields, pecan orchards, and red chile still live on. Unfortuntely, we can not say the same for the orchards between San Francisco and San Jose or the orange groves in southern California, but in my home state of New Mexico at least at this moment in history the valley of Mesilla is still preserved in a pristine sense.
I guess one of the reasons for this is the huge plantations of pecan trees that are still being held by single families who have been wise enough NOT to sell out to the developers, and fortunately the price of farm land in the valley has become so expensive that the cheap scrub desert hills north of the city is a cheaper way for housing developers to rape and pillage the land with new aspalt and track houses that satisfy their desires and the peoples desires for a piece of paradise. I don't usually go off on a tangent like this, so I will stop.
Going out to eat is fun, and we all enjoy the luxury of going to a place and having someone else cook and do the dishes for us. In my forty years of existence there are many restaurants I have attended but there are very few restaurants that I would call my favorites. One of my top ten restaurants of all time is in the Mesilla Valley. It is in the small village of La Mesa, NM and it serves red and green chile rellenos, tamales, posole, fresh chips, and fresh flour tortillas. The other day I had the pleasure of attending this restaurant and had once again a super fantastic meal. It was one of the best meals I have had this year, and I was very happy walking out the door into the light of a warm November afternoon in southern NM. The name of the restaurant is called Chopis.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Down on the Farm
The valley has two or three major arroyo systems that drain the water from the high mountains down in to the city. Each arroyo is a winding twisting road of sand and trees that guide the nourishment in to the place where people thrive and prosper. It is here that the farm sits. On a flat plain just a mile outside town is a lovely spot of fields and trees.
This land has sat fallow for decades until one day someone came along and decided to plant some food for the local inhabitants to eat. This is a special field that is tucked into the community and each week people come to the farm to tend the fields and harvest the crops.
As I make my way out on the land in the late autumn light, I am struck by the sheer beauty of my surroundings. The desolation in a sea of nothing, yet all around me is life, sustenance, and a knowing that the quiet soothes me each day.
Our food is our sustenance, yet where does it come from. Are we aware of who grew our food ? Or do we just walk into the local store and pick it up. The foragers knew that the root or plant that they picked that day is their meal for the evening. Thousands of years ago, before agriculture came into existence, the only things we put in our mouths was the stuff we caught, picked, or were given to us by a neighbor who was generous enough to share a meal with us.
Maybe thats why sharing of a meal is such a special place in our heart. From a long time ago we remember what it was like to come across our neighbor hungry. For that day had not yielded any forage, and so as the night fell, we were used to that sense of hunger and yearning for what we need to go on to the next day or week.
The farm provides us with that place where we can grow our own food and then harvest when the time is right. But as we look around the sweeping vistas that surround the majestic valley of sun, rain, and wind we remember that time not that long ago when we did not have the luxury that over thousands of years seed storage, planting, and sustenance guide us forward.
I walk back in to the field and harvest my beets, turnips, and carrots for the evening broth and make sure to leave some for another day. For it may be not to far in the distant future when that beet is no longer there. Not a thought or contemplation of the many, but yet something that provides for the thankfulness of yet another meal to share with ourselves and the world of hunger that needs us.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Country way of life in Grant County
There are around 30 thousand people in this southwestern New Mexico county and Silver City is the county seat with about 10 thousand people.
The population density of the county is 8 people per square mile. In contrast, the population density of LA county is 2,427 people per square mile.
Its predominantly a ranching and mining community with a new group of people that have moved here in the past 20 years that have a more alternative lifestyle and view of the world.
In Silver City there is a nice coop, and lots of the produce sold by them is locally grown. In fact, when you buy the produce they tell you who in town grew the food. Its a nice way to know when you are eating lunch or dinner exactly what field in town your lettuce, carrots or tomatoes came from. And further more, you even know the person who grew your food.
Many people have goats, chickens, and turkeys. I met a lady the other day who would sell me a turkey for Thanksgiving for $10, but one minor point I would have to butcher the turkey myself. Not a big deal if you have the time and experience, and then you get to pick out your turkey as well. Goat milk is common, and another friend of mine has goats and in the past I have actually had the opportunity to milk the goat, and then make goat cheese shortly there after. Fresh goat cheese 24 hours later is yummy and highly recommended for those who have some extra dill weed lying around to spice up the cheese. Fresh eggs, no problem, my friend started out with 51 chickens and is down to 24 chickens. But eggs are not a problem, and clearly they are real fresh.
As you walk around town, most people are pretty darn friendly. In fact, its pretty hard to walk down a country road one mile outside of town and not have people wave to you as they go by. If you want to reciprocate you better wave back as well. But its not too bad, as cars rarely pass you and every five or ten minutes a wave takes you a way from the yellows and tinges of red that line the final streets and final leaves that have not fallen yet.
Its peaceful, quiet, and if you like laid back with out lots of action, then the rural parts of New Mexico are probably for you. There is a certain soothing feeling to not having to rush around, or here back ground noise that never ends, the hum is not there. In fact, on a hike yesterday in the wilderness, it was so quiet that the nothingness was noisy. On a windless afternoon, with no around for miles and no cars what do you hear in the woods. I heard some things, and it was the silence. My friend told me that the silence can sometimes be noisy. I am not sure I have yet found the metaphor to describe that to my own mind.
Characters are every where, a unique individuality that is hard to describe. A ruggedness and sense of being that pervades the down town. There is a mix of nice homes, run down homes, and as one probably knows in New Mexico there are more trailers per capita than probably anywhere in the USA.
The trailer is just part of the landscape, there is almost some bizarre aesthetic to seeing trailers at every turn in the road. I personally would not choose to live in a trailer, but I respect the trailer for what it is. A beautiful acre of land with mountain vistas, a dry arroyo, some nice cotton wood trees and a trailer.
I could probably write a nice poem about trailers, but I will save that for another time. But the trailer is part of the landscape, along with the clear blue skies, the snowy mountain tops, the Aspen trees, and the keen awareness of being.
The population density of the county is 8 people per square mile. In contrast, the population density of LA county is 2,427 people per square mile.
Its predominantly a ranching and mining community with a new group of people that have moved here in the past 20 years that have a more alternative lifestyle and view of the world.
In Silver City there is a nice coop, and lots of the produce sold by them is locally grown. In fact, when you buy the produce they tell you who in town grew the food. Its a nice way to know when you are eating lunch or dinner exactly what field in town your lettuce, carrots or tomatoes came from. And further more, you even know the person who grew your food.
Many people have goats, chickens, and turkeys. I met a lady the other day who would sell me a turkey for Thanksgiving for $10, but one minor point I would have to butcher the turkey myself. Not a big deal if you have the time and experience, and then you get to pick out your turkey as well. Goat milk is common, and another friend of mine has goats and in the past I have actually had the opportunity to milk the goat, and then make goat cheese shortly there after. Fresh goat cheese 24 hours later is yummy and highly recommended for those who have some extra dill weed lying around to spice up the cheese. Fresh eggs, no problem, my friend started out with 51 chickens and is down to 24 chickens. But eggs are not a problem, and clearly they are real fresh.
As you walk around town, most people are pretty darn friendly. In fact, its pretty hard to walk down a country road one mile outside of town and not have people wave to you as they go by. If you want to reciprocate you better wave back as well. But its not too bad, as cars rarely pass you and every five or ten minutes a wave takes you a way from the yellows and tinges of red that line the final streets and final leaves that have not fallen yet.
Its peaceful, quiet, and if you like laid back with out lots of action, then the rural parts of New Mexico are probably for you. There is a certain soothing feeling to not having to rush around, or here back ground noise that never ends, the hum is not there. In fact, on a hike yesterday in the wilderness, it was so quiet that the nothingness was noisy. On a windless afternoon, with no around for miles and no cars what do you hear in the woods. I heard some things, and it was the silence. My friend told me that the silence can sometimes be noisy. I am not sure I have yet found the metaphor to describe that to my own mind.
Characters are every where, a unique individuality that is hard to describe. A ruggedness and sense of being that pervades the down town. There is a mix of nice homes, run down homes, and as one probably knows in New Mexico there are more trailers per capita than probably anywhere in the USA.
The trailer is just part of the landscape, there is almost some bizarre aesthetic to seeing trailers at every turn in the road. I personally would not choose to live in a trailer, but I respect the trailer for what it is. A beautiful acre of land with mountain vistas, a dry arroyo, some nice cotton wood trees and a trailer.
I could probably write a nice poem about trailers, but I will save that for another time. But the trailer is part of the landscape, along with the clear blue skies, the snowy mountain tops, the Aspen trees, and the keen awareness of being.
Music to the ears
Silver City has its many facets, one of them being some very talented artists. In fact, you find artists all over NM, especially in the "City Different". But tonight I had the pleasure to listen to a very talented group of people play what I would call New World music.
It started out with a solo by a guitarist who used Latin influence and his fluency in Spanish to create a magical voice that filled the room with love, soul, and a sense of peace about the world.
Event though the topic was realistic, it was a classic blend of acoustic guitar and stories about his journeys through out the world. The cold clear New Mexico night with stars shining bright was the back drop for a wonderful evening full of lovely sonar vibrations.
The Wherehouse was filled with a down to earth group of folks who enjoyed being together, hanging out, and listening to some nice vibes. I hadn't been to such nice music since I went to some fiddle players, a lovely flute player accompanying some poets and some south Indian music that chanted all the way to heaven.
A combination of Arabic songs, Brazilian balads, and Buena Vista Social Club genre led to a very nice evening of dancing. Arriving at the venue there were probably less than 100 people in a fairly large room. Donations were accepted and $5.00 was the acceptable price to hear some great musicians play and for an extra dollar you could have a home made cookie too. I got two cookies and was real happy.
It started out with a solo by a guitarist who used Latin influence and his fluency in Spanish to create a magical voice that filled the room with love, soul, and a sense of peace about the world.
Event though the topic was realistic, it was a classic blend of acoustic guitar and stories about his journeys through out the world. The cold clear New Mexico night with stars shining bright was the back drop for a wonderful evening full of lovely sonar vibrations.
The Wherehouse was filled with a down to earth group of folks who enjoyed being together, hanging out, and listening to some nice vibes. I hadn't been to such nice music since I went to some fiddle players, a lovely flute player accompanying some poets and some south Indian music that chanted all the way to heaven.
A combination of Arabic songs, Brazilian balads, and Buena Vista Social Club genre led to a very nice evening of dancing. Arriving at the venue there were probably less than 100 people in a fairly large room. Donations were accepted and $5.00 was the acceptable price to hear some great musicians play and for an extra dollar you could have a home made cookie too. I got two cookies and was real happy.
A Hike in the Gila
The Gila Wilderness was the first wilderness area in the United States founded in 1924 by Aldo Leopold. The Gila National Forest gets its namesake from the Gila River which flows west towards Arizona and is a major source of water for thirsty mouths in the Arizona town of Safford and others. Comprising 3.3 million acres it is one of the larger National Forests in the southwest.
New Mexico has around 11 million acres of National Forest and Arizona has around 20 million acres of National Forest. The difference being that the Ponderosa Pines cover almost the whole state of Arizona and in New Mexico mostly just extends to the Rio Grande. So the eastern half of NM is really Texas and prior to the Spanish American War Tejas extended to the Rio Grande in NM.
We decided to go for a walk in the woods. This time of year is absolutely gorgeous in the desert southwest with warm days and cold nights. Temperature differentials average around 30 to 40 degree temperature swings due to the altitude. Pinos Altos sits at an elevation of 7040 feet and is a town 15 minutes to the north of Silver City. Its right on the Continental divide which meanders its way around the desert southwest heading up from Lordsburg towards Emory Pass and passing just to the west of Silver City and through Pinos Altos.
Silver City lies at around 5800 feet so one climbs a gradual 1000 feet out of the town of Silver City towards Pinos Altos. The Gila National Forest begins here and we headed down towards Little Cherry Creek and then out to McMillan Campground.
The drive out to the McMillan campground affords some awesome views to the west. Being high up on the bluff, the view to the west practically stretches all the way to the state of Arizona, less than 100 miles away.
We parked the car and headed out. The trail from the campground is as nice as it gets in NM and I have been on lots of trails in the great state of NM. The day was already in full gear when we headed out, and so we didn't have as much time as we would have liked but that didn't prevent us from having a very nice hike.
The trail starts out flat and then starts heading up more as you near some interesting rock formations further in. We sat for awhile and talked about life, listened to the silence of the forest and wandered across dry creek beds on logs big enough to drive a bicycle across them. The forest is serene and my soul was soothed once again.
New Mexico has around 11 million acres of National Forest and Arizona has around 20 million acres of National Forest. The difference being that the Ponderosa Pines cover almost the whole state of Arizona and in New Mexico mostly just extends to the Rio Grande. So the eastern half of NM is really Texas and prior to the Spanish American War Tejas extended to the Rio Grande in NM.
We decided to go for a walk in the woods. This time of year is absolutely gorgeous in the desert southwest with warm days and cold nights. Temperature differentials average around 30 to 40 degree temperature swings due to the altitude. Pinos Altos sits at an elevation of 7040 feet and is a town 15 minutes to the north of Silver City. Its right on the Continental divide which meanders its way around the desert southwest heading up from Lordsburg towards Emory Pass and passing just to the west of Silver City and through Pinos Altos.
Silver City lies at around 5800 feet so one climbs a gradual 1000 feet out of the town of Silver City towards Pinos Altos. The Gila National Forest begins here and we headed down towards Little Cherry Creek and then out to McMillan Campground.
The drive out to the McMillan campground affords some awesome views to the west. Being high up on the bluff, the view to the west practically stretches all the way to the state of Arizona, less than 100 miles away.
We parked the car and headed out. The trail from the campground is as nice as it gets in NM and I have been on lots of trails in the great state of NM. The day was already in full gear when we headed out, and so we didn't have as much time as we would have liked but that didn't prevent us from having a very nice hike.
The trail starts out flat and then starts heading up more as you near some interesting rock formations further in. We sat for awhile and talked about life, listened to the silence of the forest and wandered across dry creek beds on logs big enough to drive a bicycle across them. The forest is serene and my soul was soothed once again.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Rock Climbing in North Hurley
Silver City sits on the edge of three very different temperate zones and thus the environment surrounding this small southwestern mining town is dramatic.
We decided to venture off to one of the most interesting rock formations surrounding Silver City in an area that lies slightly south and east of the town. From its name, Silver City is clearly known for its mining. But its not Silver that was the kingpin of mining in this southwest region, but copper.
Located within viewing distance from the high peaks of Silver City is the second largest open pit copper mine in the world and its not pretty. The largest open pit copper mine is the world is located in Chile in the Atacama desert where its been known that in some spots its never rained, or should I say there is no record of rain in modern human history.
As we approached the rock formation in North Hurley its a mesa that sits off in the distance, to the wandering eye, its not much different than other simply drop dead gorgeous mesas that are scattered around this area of the southwest.
In fact, if you ever get a chance, fly from Phoenix to Albuquerque at around sunset and you will get the most dramatic view of red rock mesas lying between Gallup and Albuquerque. Also, flying from Albuquerque to Las Vegas remember to sit on the right side of the plane so you can take in all of the grand canyon from the air. Its these type of formations, noted in an earlier post that lights up your imagination to one of the many truly beautiful landscapes of the desert southwest.
As you leave Silver City and drive south out of the Pinion and Juniper forest of the Gila National Forest, you are heading toward the Mexican border about one hour to the south and the US towns of Deming and Las Cruces.
The flora and fauna dramatically change. You enter into the desert landscape of many varieties of cactus. The cacti are beautiful, especially from a short distance, but when you are romping around the rocks and sliding under scrub oak with your pack, that prickly pear, or other sundry sharp spine is not always so far away.
I had my share of "run ins" with the cacti as I hopped from rock to rock looking for the stronghold. As I recently learned, a stronghold is just like what it sounds, a place that is easy to protect from invading parties, especially in back in the Rocky Mountain west around 100 years ago. I was in search of the stronghold just past the rocks and around the corner.
My friends went rock climbing on the face, and I went rock climbing on the boulders surrounding the face and down the hill a bit. From the distance the rock face is merely a large mesa with shear cliffs off in the distance. After parking the car at a distance, as you slowly approach the rocks they grow and grow with each 20 steps. They turn from this nice pretty mesa to larger rock faces to very large slabs of rialite right in front of you.
The scale and beauty of these rocks is indescribable but as you approach the mesa everything magnifies by orders of magnitude. What looks like a nice simple slope to walk up to the face, turns into huge boulders that must be mounted, climbed over, and slide through to get to the next step.
As you all know, when you are out in the wilderness with a group or a friend, the softening of the magnitude of mother earth is slightly tempered. But when you are out there all alone or with your trusted dog friend, the sheer drama gets turned up about three notches.
My friends put on their rock climbing gear to head up the side of a massive rock face and I headed off with my friends dog in search of the strong hold.
We decided to venture off to one of the most interesting rock formations surrounding Silver City in an area that lies slightly south and east of the town. From its name, Silver City is clearly known for its mining. But its not Silver that was the kingpin of mining in this southwest region, but copper.
Located within viewing distance from the high peaks of Silver City is the second largest open pit copper mine in the world and its not pretty. The largest open pit copper mine is the world is located in Chile in the Atacama desert where its been known that in some spots its never rained, or should I say there is no record of rain in modern human history.
As we approached the rock formation in North Hurley its a mesa that sits off in the distance, to the wandering eye, its not much different than other simply drop dead gorgeous mesas that are scattered around this area of the southwest.
In fact, if you ever get a chance, fly from Phoenix to Albuquerque at around sunset and you will get the most dramatic view of red rock mesas lying between Gallup and Albuquerque. Also, flying from Albuquerque to Las Vegas remember to sit on the right side of the plane so you can take in all of the grand canyon from the air. Its these type of formations, noted in an earlier post that lights up your imagination to one of the many truly beautiful landscapes of the desert southwest.
As you leave Silver City and drive south out of the Pinion and Juniper forest of the Gila National Forest, you are heading toward the Mexican border about one hour to the south and the US towns of Deming and Las Cruces.
The flora and fauna dramatically change. You enter into the desert landscape of many varieties of cactus. The cacti are beautiful, especially from a short distance, but when you are romping around the rocks and sliding under scrub oak with your pack, that prickly pear, or other sundry sharp spine is not always so far away.
I had my share of "run ins" with the cacti as I hopped from rock to rock looking for the stronghold. As I recently learned, a stronghold is just like what it sounds, a place that is easy to protect from invading parties, especially in back in the Rocky Mountain west around 100 years ago. I was in search of the stronghold just past the rocks and around the corner.
My friends went rock climbing on the face, and I went rock climbing on the boulders surrounding the face and down the hill a bit. From the distance the rock face is merely a large mesa with shear cliffs off in the distance. After parking the car at a distance, as you slowly approach the rocks they grow and grow with each 20 steps. They turn from this nice pretty mesa to larger rock faces to very large slabs of rialite right in front of you.
The scale and beauty of these rocks is indescribable but as you approach the mesa everything magnifies by orders of magnitude. What looks like a nice simple slope to walk up to the face, turns into huge boulders that must be mounted, climbed over, and slide through to get to the next step.
As you all know, when you are out in the wilderness with a group or a friend, the softening of the magnitude of mother earth is slightly tempered. But when you are out there all alone or with your trusted dog friend, the sheer drama gets turned up about three notches.
My friends put on their rock climbing gear to head up the side of a massive rock face and I headed off with my friends dog in search of the strong hold.
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