Last Sunday, Feb. 18, I had a very nice breakfast at a new place, the Pantry restaurant, and full of Mexican style eggs, beans and tortillas, I headed off toward the Rio Grande again. This time, I’d loaded waypoints of a hike to Buckman Mesa into my GPS and wanted to see how it worked out. Back out bypass 599, thru the multi-mile housing development to Old Buckman Road, then head west on the washboard surface. After 7 miles of nice (and improving) scenery, I came around a curve and, just like a picture, there was a major canyon framing a snowcapped mountain. Beautiful………….

There was a large turnoff area with a lot of parking available, and signs of much use. A pleasant young fella in a Jeep stopped, and during a conversation told me this was Diablo Canyon, which eventually opened to the Rio Grande River. The mountain behind is part of the Pajarito (Pah-hah-RRREE-toh) ski area near Los Alamos. Nice, but I was heading west. The road headed NW around the mesa to the right and I was quickly rewarded with a stunning vista of Tse Como (Chacomo) - sacred mountain of the Santa Clara Indians…………

Things are happening fast now - it’s only a few miles from Diablo Canyon to the river, and the rugged country of White Rock Canyon looms to the southwest…………..

A little farther on and you’re suddenly at the banks of the Rio Grande. This young fella and his Weimaraner dog were pleasant and friendly, waiting for friends to join them for a BBQ on the river bank. That goofy dog loves to chase sticks and reminded me strongly of my beloved Black Lab “Dawg,” who loved chasing sticks, too, many years ago. That’s Buckman Mesa beyond his pickup, and he pointed out the “crocodile head” on the left side. See the bump of its’ nose to the left, the slope of its’ snout angling up to the right to the hump of its’ eyes ?? According to the GPS, and to the fella in the pickup, the beginning of the trail was right here. It angles up to the right behind the mesa and climbs clear to the peak - 4.2 miles worth, and steep for much of it. (I did finally make the hike on Sept. 1…..see “Otowi Peak”)

Ol’ Lar was still feeling a little peaky from fighting a bug for the last week or 2 and just couldn’t face up to that, so I turned tail and ran back to Diablo Canyon. Lo and behold, there was a group of rock climbers forming up at the base of the cliff. See them, just to the left of center at the top of the scree ??………….

This is rugged volcanic country and very scenic. These folks had picked out a nice climb, but it was sure cold for it. In 1975 I taught rock climbing for a summer, and found cold rock to be difficult, since the cold numbs the fingers and drains strength. This is a south exposure, but it was early, and must’ve been tough. Conversely, the hot rock in Southern California burns the fingers and makes it interesting another way. Looks like fun………..

He who hesitates is lost, and these guys wasted no time……….

Knowing they’d be there a while, I moved on down the canyon, enjoying the changing colors and strata……….

This section strongly reminded me of Devil’s Postpile, (www.webpictures.homestead.com/devil.html) near Mammoth, CA. I stayed well away from the drop zone of the rocks. This is looking almost straight up………..

Around a couple more turns, and the long ridge on the left was the same one that had been in the distance when I was at the river, so I turned around and hiked back…………

Still feeling somewhat poorly, it was plenty anyway, and I was plenty pleased when I saw Der Bug waiting patiently for me. Still haven’t figured anything that would fit my needs so well……………

Resting with a snack and a cool drink, I turned my attention back to the climbers. My anti-shake 10X binoculars sucked them right up next to me, but the camera doesn’t have quite that power. Nonetheless, they made an impressive sight, way up that vertical cliff. They went past the crux of the climb, then rappeled happily back to the bottom………….

This was great, unexpected fun, and I took many pictures before turning to leave - but my adventures weren’t over yet. At the exit to the parking area, another young fella in an old Dodge pick’m'up waved me down. He’d been 4-wheeling down by the river, gotten stuck, and let some of the air out of his tires to improve the footprint. It worked and he got loose, but now his tires were low, and he needed help pumping them up. I carry many tools and parts in Der Bug, including a 12 volt pump, and we pumped up 3 of his tires. Unhappily, the 4th one had rolled the bead off the rim and it wouldn’t hold air, so I gave him a ride back to town so’s he could get a spare………………

Later, I tried a 1st for me - Vietnamese food for dinner. It was OK, not great, and I’ll try a different dish next time, but I sure miss the wonderful Thai place in Palm Desert……….800 long miles away.

Posted: October 9th, 2007 under 07-2-18 Diablo Canyon, 08 New Mexico.
Comments: none