In a conversation with Jerry, one of my suppliers out of Albu-quirky, he spoke of fossil hunting down near Socorro, New Mexico, about 130 miles south of Santa Fe.  Apparently he and his 2 young sons had collected several 1,000 of them.  Easy, right ??  The weather this weekend was clear, and had warmed up to almost freezing, so I jumped into the mighty Diesel Dodge, and roared south.  Got there fairly late Sat. afternoon, and had no luck, tho’ I was sure I’d followed Jerry’s map correctly.  Called him on the handy dandy cell phone that night, and confirmed I was in the right spot, and resolved to work harder on Sunday.  This is pretty country, with crystal clear skies…………

Cold crystal clear skies.  It dropped to 13º F. Sat. night, and around 5:00 AM, the camper’s battery died from the load of the almost constantly running furnace.  I burrowed into a mound of bedding, and after daylight crawled out into a 40º camper.  Needless to say, I dressed in a hurry ! ! !  (I have since learned that I could have started the truck’s engine and the alternator would’ve powered the furnace and warmed things up.  Oh well)  It was too cold to do much, so I ran into Socorro to look for a warm restaurant and a hot breakfast.  Nope.  McDonald’s was it, and I haven’t stooped that low yet, so went for a bird hunting run to Bosque del Apache (Bohs-kay dayl Ah-pah-chay) and got a shot of these ducks.  What kind are they, anyway ??…………

After daylight, it warmed up fairly quickly to 33º, so I headed back to the digging grounds.  Wouldn’t have been so bad, but there was a strong, steady, icy cold wind in this thin air at over 5,000 ft altitude, and I bundled up.  Up the hill to some nice, fossil-y looking rocks, and started playing convict - making big rocks into little ones………..

On my geode hunting trips a few years ago, ( http://www.webpictures.homestead.com/geodes.html ) I found that a hoe moves more dirt faster and easier than a shovel, and is much easier on my pore ol’ back.  I moved lots of rock in a hurry - it helped warm me up……….

No fossils yet, but it’s early days, right ??  Keep on digging………

Oh, yah, Jerry said to bust the red rocks.  OK, farther up the hill, and these are redder - and bigger………

…….but still no joy.  OK, OK, higher on the hill to redder rocks and bust ‘em some more.  Dig, Lar, dig, dammit………..

This was fun an’ all, but gawdamn, but it was cold.  That thin, icy wind never let up.  The gaiters on my lower legs are to keep the dirt out of my boots, same as on the geode trip.  I was sweating inside the jacket and my ears were getting frostbite.  This is fun, right ??  I lasted for about 3 hours, and finally said “Phooey” on it.  Or somesuch.  Partial compensation was the terrific scenery and clear air.  This is looking west over Socorro (armpit of a town) to the San Mateo Mountains.  Beautiful………..

On the way home, I could see the Santa Fe ski area and Santa Fe Baldy clearly from over 80 miles away.  That’s clear air, folks ! ! !  Cold clear air. 

What ??  The fossils ??  Oh, Yah, the fossils ! ! !   Well…….didn’t do too well.  Found one puny one, but I sure busted a lot of rock for it.  Looks to me like a multi-million year old aspen leaf.  Thar’s millions of ‘em outside my door, and a lot fresher…………

Oh, well, maybe next time, eh ??                    Lar.

P.S.     I’ve since found out that Socorro is a college town and has many nice restaurants, etc……….but they’re a few blocks off the main highway and I completely missed them.  Maybe not so bad a place after all, eh ?? 

Larry Bourne
Santa Fe, NM
www.gogittum.com

Posted: October 29th, 2009 under 07 New Mexico, 07-3-3 Socorro Fossils.
Comments: none

Just got home a bit ago after one of the toughest climbs of my career - Dec. 23, 2007. After 12,400′ Lake Peak and 14,300′ Gray’s Peak, Atalaya at 9,127′ is gonna be a quick walk up, and go home, right ?? Sorry…….get complacent in the mountains and they’ll slap you down fast. At Lake Peak, altitude gain was about 2,100′ in 3 miles and it were a tough climb for an old fart. Gray’s Peak was about 3,000′ in 4 miles, but the 1st mile was fairly level, so about 1,000′ per mile - and it were a bitch. Atalaya starts at around 7,000′ and goes to 9100′ in 3 miles, but the 1st mile is fairly easy, soooo…….1,000 ft per mile and there was 4″ of snow on the ground at the bottom and over 1′ at altitude. Here’s Atalaya from a distance. Don’t look like much, do it ?? Hah ! ! !………..

The trail hits the ridge to the right of the summit about ½ way between the main peak and the smaller one to the right. That long ridge was a huge frustration. Endless. Scenery at 1st wasn’t much. For a long portion of the hike, the trail follows draws, or arroyos, and the view is limited…………

After about ½ or ¾ of a mile, the trail crosses a road and you finally get a view to the West. Remember Tetilla Peak that I climbed last October ?? That’s it in the upper left of this shot. St. John’s College is in the foreground………..

Not many people had been ahead of me, so it wasn’t packed down up higher and a good chunk of the trip was “2 steps forward and 1 step back.” Slippery, it was, and the loose snow pulls at your feet. The effort of lifting your feet thru even this much snow soon starts to pull at the big tendons that attach at the front of the pelvis……….

Higher up, more people had turned around, the snow was thicker and more work to climb thru, and the mountain continually steepened. Those big tendons were burning good by now, you bet…………

I didn’t take the tripod - memory again - so had to set the camera on a rock and it didn’t work too well, but here I is at the summit. Actually, there were about 5 summits, each higher than the last and I kept climbing and climbing and climbing and…………

Just in case you forgot how handsome I am, here’s a strong crop. The gaiters on my lower legs are to keep snow out of my boots. They work VERY well, and I’m very glad I thought to wear them. When I got home the lower parts of the gaiters were soaked, but my feet were dry. In the summer, I wear the gaiters to keep seeds and pebbles out of my socks and boots………..

Exploring a bit while up there finally let me find a view thru the brush and trees to the North East to Lake Peak, (to the right of that pesky tree and just below the branch of the one to the right) that I climbed last July………..

Back around to begin my descent, the view to the South showed a good view of the Sandia Mountains that hide Albu-Quirky, NM on the right edge of the far mountains. A close look in the center of this picture shows the darker outline of the Ortiz Mountains, just south of Madrid, (MAD-rid) NM. It’s already Friday, Jan. 25, 2008 as I finally sit down to write this, and I scouted the highest point of the Ortiz Mts - Placer Peak - last weekend, with the idea of climbing it tomorrow, weather permitting………….

I hate to admit it, but at this point I was about at the end of my rope and still had to get back down. It was a nightmare. That snow drags at your feet, kept slipping and hadta catch myself each time, my legs hurt…….mercy. I guess I’m a tough ol’ coot, tho’…….if cannibals ever get hold of me, they’re gonna wish they’d stuck with bull hide to chew on. Here’s one quick look to the North West, looking across Santa Fe, 2,000 ft below, to Chicoma Peak (that I climbed twice last November) with its’ distinctive triangle. Beautiful………..

This was probably the greatest scenery hike of them all so far. Not much down lower, but the higher I climbed, the more amazing the view became. Tough hike, but very worth it. I did learn respect this day. Lar.

--
Larry Bourne
Santa Fe, NM
Building Kolb Mk III
"Vamoose"
www.gogittum.com
www.gogittum.com/blog

Posted: January 25th, 2008 under 07-12-23 Atalaya Summit, 08 New Mexico.
Comments: none

Today, Sunday, December 30, 2007, turned into a bit of an adventure, tho’ not quite what I’d planned. Feeling the lack of exercise, too cold and too much snow to climb around the back country the way I’ve gotten spoiled with, I decided to take a friend’s advice and go snow-shoeing. I’m not a cold weather fan, but neither do I like being cooped up in the house like a prisoner. Last weekend’s hike up Atalaya Mountain was strenuous, but the cold wasn’t too bad so today I headed for the snowshoe/cross-country ski area up in huge Valles Caldera, an enormous volcano about 40 miles away that blew its’ top over a million years ago and deposited all the ash that makes the caves and formations at Bandelier Nat. Mon. and at Tent Rocks.

When heading west, within a few miles you’ll cross the Rio Grande River. Lately, the temperature has been in the low to mid teens (F) at night and 25º to 35º in the daytime. This really showed at 10:30 this morning on the Rio Grande. It’s *almost* frozen over and is more like thick slush than water. Outside air temp was 22º……………

Remember my climb of Otowi Peak ( http://gogittum.com/blog/?cat=17 ) a few months ago ? Here’s the crocodile head from the north, taken from the highway leading to White Rock and Los Alamos. Looks a lot different from this angle, doesn’t it ?…………….

Climb the long hill up onto the plateau and just past White Rock, the ever present Chicoma Peak ( http://gogittum.com/blog/?cat=39 ) rears its’ huge, distinctive, triangular head. This great peak is visible from just about everywhere in the Santa Fe area……………

A few miles farther on, just about at the entrance to Bandelier National Monument, I saw the 2nd un-afraid Coyote of my career. The 1st was at Scotty’s Castle ( http://webpictures.homestead.com/valley2.html ) in Death Valley a few years ago. This guy looked around when he saw the truck, started to run, saw he had nowhere to run to, so just stood there, looked sulky and watched me while I took a string of pictures………………

Then, up the long, winding hill to almost 10,000 ft elevation, over the rim and down into enormous Valles Caldera. They figure this giant was over 25,000 ft high before it exploded, and now the crater is over 12 miles across. Chicoma Peak is the northern extreme of this caldera, and the crater was used for years as a cattle ranch. Now it’s a tourist destination, and a local favorite for cross-country ski-ing and snowshoeing. I wasn’t able to find rental snowshoes in Santa Fe, so took pot luck and hoped they’d have some at the Visitor’s Center. Nope. Here’s the road into the Center…………….

I had to make a pit stop, so pulled off the road like a nice guy, so’s others could get by me. Shouldn’ta done that. There’s a pretty good drop at the side of the road and the heavy truck slid off into the ditch. 4WD, heavy all weather tires and limited slip differential got together to claw the Diesel Dodge out of this hole. Plowed along the road for quite a way before the front wheels were able to lift up out of the ditch…………

At the center is literally almost nothing. A couple of pleasant fellas in a shoebox of a room with a few T-shirts for sale. They did tell me where to find rental snowshoes in Santa Fe, so I’ll take a look. Meantime, in the parking lot were 3 women and a young man getting ready to head out. Looked to me like 3 generations of ladies, (mother, daughter, grand-daughter ?) and all 4 people were very pleasant and friendly. The ladies took off on their own, almost at a run, and left the man to catch up. He was kind enuf to give me a quick demo of the ’shoes, then headed after the girls. I was amazed at how small the snowshoes were, and he sunk clear to the ground with each step. (only about a foot of snow here) I dunno………I think I want something more than that if’n I go into deep snow…………..

Nothin’ there for Lar today, and it were awful cold - 17º F - so I headed back toward the highway. Easing along the icy road, a small bird flew up in front of me and fluttered along for a long way before finally settling down at the side of the road. Must’ve been tired, ’cause he let the clattering Diesel Dodge go right past him, so I cut the engine, coasted to a stop and leaned out the window. He looked at me for a bit, so I started clicking. I *think* this is a Horned Lark. Cute little guy, about 6″ long, including tail……………….

Farther along the road, I saw a pickup with a huge horse trailer approaching, so eased off onto the side of the road, mindful of my little adventure earlier. Whoops……..no shoulder here - this time the Diesel Dodge went waaaay down, and I was stuck solid…………..

Some folks in an SUV tried to pull the truck out - I carry a 30 ft / 40,000 lb test tow strap - but they just couldn’t move me. Nice of ‘em to try, so they went on into the Center and told them I needed a pull. About 20 minutes later, the Ranger came with a ¾ ton 4WD truck and yanked me back onto the road and away I went. Pheeee-eeeewww……..! ! ! On the way down the side of the Caldera there are several huge canyons, and magnificent views to the south and east. Here’s the southern fragments of the old volcano on the far side of a big canyon…………..

This was a short day, but an active one, and quite an education. In a week or 3 - when there’s more snow - I’ll go back for another look and in the meantime I’ll check out that shop to see about renting snowshoes.

Posted: December 30th, 2007 under 07-12-30 Valles Caldera, 08 New Mexico.
Comments: none

Weather was rotten today, Jan. 13, 2007, and I’d been out apartment hunting, so this afternoon I took a break by going for another walk thru the old downtown and Plaza areas. This time, the sculpture gallery was open, and with the storm the light was softer, so I was able to get some better shots than last time. The streaks in some of them are blowing snow, not scratches. 1st off, of course, was the old Indian fighter watching the shenanigans across the street……….

Wondering just what that naked Indian was doing with that Buffalo skull…………

A little better view of the Warrior fighting (or catching) the Eagle…………..

And a better lit shot of the Cougar attacking the Warrior…………

Next to all that drama, a fat and happy pig…………

Next to an Indian lady at the local waterhole………….

Which is across the way from the lovers…………..

Who are next door to the scouting party………….

And the Bison hunter who got a little too close…………

Meanwhile, off in the corner, ol’ Br’er Bear tears into his honey log…………

And the massive Bull Elk bugles at the stormy sky……………

What a great place to visit. The old downtown Plaza area isn’t all that big, about 5 or 6 blocks square, but it’s 100’s of years old, with brick sidewalks, stuccoed adobe buildings, and crammed with galleries and such that even for a non-shopper like Lar are irresistable to prowl thru once in a while. There’s an antique furniture shop in an arcade where they had a really great old Spanish Colonial style leather armchair with footstool. Beautiful thing, and the lady said that she thinks it’s only rotated into storage, and can bring it back out for me. Hmmm………maybe in a couple of months. It’s only $4200.00. Why not ?? It’s not much when you say it fast.
Larry Bourne
Santa Fe, NM
www.gogittum.com

Posted: December 16th, 2007 under 07-1-13 Statuary 2, 08 New Mexico.
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I had to work for a few hours on Saturday, Nov. 24, 2007, but was able to leave early and hit the road for Bosque del Apache (Apache Forest), about 125 miles south of Santa Fe, and 15 or so miles south of Socorro. Friends had told me of the migration underway of the Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese, as well as many other birds and animals that live there. Sounded like a good deal to me, but the week before had a “Festival of the Cranes,” a huge get together of birders and other tourists. I despise crowds, so waited a week hoping the crowds would subside. I guess they did, but there were still plenty of people there - along with 10’s of 1,000’s of birds. An advantage - I guess - is that with so many people going thru, many of the birds were habituated to humans and not so spooky or shy as usual.

A docent at the Visitor’s Center told me to look at a particular viewpoint for the Cranes to come in for the night after feeding, so I hustled on over there. On the way, just barely inside the Preserve, I glanced at a canal and stood on the brakes. Right in front of me was a normally very wary Great Blue Heron. He just stood there, with an expression that seemed to say, “Oh Migawd, another durned tourist with his idiot camera.” Hunched his head down, hooded his eyes and waited for me to go away……………

A good start and I was filled with optimism. The “stand” turned out to be a large platform about 100 ft long and 10 ft wide built out over a marshy area. A few birds were out on the marsh, and even a couple of Sandhills striding near the edge of a pond…………..

A little later a Coot paddled by and totally ignored me. Rare for these guys, too. They’re hard to photograph because their black body fools the camera into an incorrect exposure, making the white beak show up as a white blob. I was ready for this one, tho’ with an EVF setting of -.7, darkening the exposure……………

A hawk chased and caught something in the deep grass, geese and ducks took off and landed in the distance, people came and went, and ol’ Lar hung in there patiently, believing that idiot about the birds coming in more and more toward dark. Well, yah, some did - way off in the distance. I was nearly frozen by then, with temperature in the low 40’s F., and a cold, cold wind cutting across the marsh. I was dressed for it, but there are limits. Finally gave up and headed back toward a motel in Socorro (the camper is off the truck for the winter) and saw a large group of people gathered beside a pond right beside the highway. Pulled over and one of ‘em told me this was a good spot for incoming and outgoing birds because of the wind direction. Sounded reasonable to me, but it was too dark then to shoot.

The next morning dawned crisp (20º F ) and clear and I was out at that pond before sun-up……..and nearly froze to death. That thin, icy wind cut right thru and it Hurt ! ! ! There was already a flock of photographers out there with huge lenses set up on gimbaled tripods - especially those big white Canon 500mm things with a giant camera hung on the back of ‘em. Must be at least $5,000.00 per setup and there were legions of ‘em. I was one of the few with a “measly” 300mm and wasn’t spoken to by these godly souls. The cameras all obey the same rules, tho’, and you gotta have light to get pictures. I did try a bunch, but threw most away. 1/30 sec. for birds taking off just doesn’t cut it. I did get one “sorta” shot of Snow Geese getting ready for takeoff and flight to the feeding grounds, but it’s very iffy. Don’t hardly look real, do they ??………….

When the sun broke the eastern horizon, my numb fingers barely could push the button, (sob, sob) but I did manage to shoot a group of Sandhill Cranes taking to the sky………………

Except for this one. Maybe sick ?? He tried hard for about 100 feet, then splashed down face first and stayed in the pond…………….

I know these are very soft, but the light was very bad, so call it documentation. One bird silhouetted against the setting full moon, and I liked the shot…………

As the sun rose above the horizon, the light improved dramatically, and coupled with an ISO setting of 400, the golden light shone very nicely on these Crane’s plumage. Some noise here and not tack sharp, but much better than no shot at all…………..

Later on, I was over near the feeding grounds - fields specially planted for the birds - and was able to shoot them coming in on final approach. This was a whole ‘nuther story and conditions were good…………

One bird coming in slid by slowly (comparatively) and looked me over closely on the way by. I looked him over pretty closely, too. These are big birds, standing around 4 feet tall……………

The big Cranes were neat, but what really blew my mind were the hordes of Snow Geese. I’ve never seen the like. While on the loop around the Preserve, I came across a field that was carpeted with untold 1,000’s of them - solid white for acres and acres. “Wow,” I thought, “gotta get a shot of that.” About then something spooked them and the whole thing erupted as one and it was like a huge white blanket being flipped by a giant. By the time I got the Diesel Dodge stopped and jumped out with the camera these high speed flyers had already started to spread out. Have you ever heard 10’s of 1,000’s of excited Geese all squawking at once ??…………and the roar of their wings beating the air ?? Add in the croaking of 100’s of Sandhill Cranes and it was quite an event. VERY exciting and I was grinning from ear to ear. I’ll bet that field would be a mess to walk thru about now………….

Once the Geese were in the air, tho’, they were magnificent, but very hard to photograph. They are very smooth and it seems like the camera has trouble focusing on them. Here’s 2 passing by………….

……..and a loner. Beautiful………………

My favorite shot for the day ?? A little soft, but I really like these. Can’t decide if I like this one…………..

Or this one. What do you think ??………………

Traveling on around the Preserve, I hadn’t gone far, when a glance down a side road revealed a whole different kind of family. They were curious and not frightened at all. These are Mule Deer and much larger than the Columbian Blacktails I grew up around in the Pacific Northwest………….

Started to get back in the truck and movement right beside me caught my eye. This is a White Crowned Sparrow and is normally very quick, spooky and shy. So many birders come thru here that this guy is habituated to people and posed nicely for a shot - one of my favorites………….

Ain’t he cute ?? Not far away, around just a few curves in the road was the Sparrow’s arch enemy, a juvenile Goshawk. These birds are also normally very shy and very fast. Very difficult to photograph, but this one sat and watched me shoot about 15 pics from about 30 feet away…………….

To wrap up my little adventure, I was heading for the exit, along a canal lined with reeds and saw a flock of Red Winged Blackbirds feeding on the seed pods. Having had very little success with these birds in the past, I shut off the clattering engine of the Diesel Dodge about 100 ft away and coasted to a stop beside them and about 50 ft away. They have a bright flash on their wings that only shows when they flap, and I shot 22 (counted ‘em) pics trying for that flash, and always a fraction late. Did get one fairly nice, tho’ soft, shot of one……………

Then it reached way out for a seed pod and flapped for balance. Lightning Lar was ready, and got the shot, but the motion was so fast it blurred………..

Better than no shot, eh ?? Gives me something to aim for next time - and there Will be a next time. This made for a terrific weekend, and between 2 or 3 hours on Saturday and 4 hours on Sunday, I shot over 700 pictures, of which probably 400 or more I had to delete. Fuzzy. What Fun ! ! !

Posted: November 27th, 2007 under 07-11-24 Bosque del Apache, 08 New Mexico.
Comments: 1

I found out yesterday, Sun., Nov. 11, why there’s so much haze over the normally crystal clear Santa Fe skies. Forest Fire ! ! !
This is taken about 13 miles from home, out on my favored Caja del Rio plateau looking West toward Valles Caldera. Tent Rocks is out of the picture to the left……………….

I was trying to get to the Frijoles (Frrree-HOE-lays) (Bean) Canyon overlook on the White Rock Canyon of the Rio Grande River. To get there, Der Bug took me over some of the roughest roads I’ve ever seen…………..

Der Bug is in dire need of a tune up - in particular those big dual Weber carbs are seriously out of whack and it will run out of snoose and die on a moderately steep slope, where previously it’d almost climb a wall. Today, I almost climbed the wall. We got down to the 1st big rock in front of the car and I had 2nd thoughts - this is VEry steep - and tried to back up. This is miles from anyone and a loooong, rough, dusty hike back out. The engine died. Over and over. Couldn’t back up. Racing the engine and slipping the clutch didn’t help. Oh Shit ! ! ! With a lot of cussing and re-starting of the engine, I finally managed to turn around on the spot, and it did - barely - climb out forwards……………

This is on the edge of the mesa and in the distance you can see the continuation of the road and the edge of White Rock Canyon………

Remember Frijoles Canyon and Falls last January ?? There’s the outlet of Frijoles Canyon just left of center, White Rock and Los Alamos higher and just right of center, and higher yet and nearly to the right edge is the distinctive triangle of Chicoma Peak. See ?? All this gally-hootin’ around is all within just a few miles of home in Santa Fe. Spent the whole summer exploring here and never did get as far as Taos, just 50 miles away.  ‘Course, Taos doesn’t really turn my crank anyway, so didn’t really try all that hard………………

Chicoma Peak and Los Alamos…………..

And, of course, hadta see how the new lens would do on a close-up or 2………….

Jury’s still out on that’n. Gonna hafta do some head to head testing between the 2 old and 1 new lenses. The new Tamron appears to be a good lens, but the old Nikon lenses were very, very good, tho’ inconvenient. Gonna take some serious work to decide.

Posted: November 12th, 2007 under 07-11-11 Frijoles Overlook, 08 New Mexico.
Comments: none

Today, Jan. 28, 2007, dawned bright and clear as a bell - as hoped - so after breakfast I was off and running - er, walking. Remember, over 2 months ago when I first got here, I sent the pictures of Bandelier Nat. Mon. with the ancient Indian cave dwellings ?? From that same parking lot, go the other way, downstream on Frijoles Creek, and after 1½ miles you’ll come to a very pretty waterfall, in a very scenic canyon. At the beginning, the trail starts uphill…………

There’s plenty of old snow on it, frozen hard, and ol’ Lar was pretty bundled up. It’s a nice walk………..

……..and pretty slippery. Gave this ol’ boy a good workout, it did, but then a tiny, skinny wisp of an old lady went chugging on past me………..

Bright and cheerful, with a friendly comment, she was digging her hiking poles in and going very fast. She hadta be in her 70’s, and I’m not too sure I’d want my mother out by herself in the wilderness, but she seemed to be fine, and sure left me in the dust. About ¾ of a mile or so into the hike, I saw a neat cliff with a large cave, and went off trail to get a better view of it………..

On the way, I noticed a string of old tracks, partly melted in, but of a good size. At 1st, I thought “Bear,” but the tracks are more round, and no claws showing………

‘Bout as big around as the end of my boot, so I thought, “Aha, Cougar.” To be sure, I sent an email to a friend in Oregon who’s a lifetime woodsman/hunter, and he came back with the thought that it was probably a Bobcat. Yah, he’s prob’ly right……..I sure won’t argue with that guy. Whatever, it sure had a long stride………..

Now, the canyon got serious. It got deeper fast, and much more rugged and steep. Coming on to a more southerly exposure now, too, and it started getting muddy and very slippery. Tremendous views, and a spectacular hike…………..

Tilt the camera up just a bit, and the Rio Grande is about 1 mile ahead. This is a portion of White Rock Canyon, near Los Alamos National Laboratory. (nuclear labs)……..

Upper Falls is supposed to be at 1½ miles, and the River a mile past that. I’d eased out onto an overlook by using a “Stay on the Trail” sign for a handhold, and was looking for that 1st falls, but couldn’t see anything. Small wonder. About 100 yards or so on down the trail, and on the 1st of a long series of downward switchbacks, I looked back, and I’d been standing right above them, but couldn’t see over a shoulder of rock………….

These falls are about 80 feet high, and very scenic. Long way to go to look at some water ?? Yup, I guess so, but the whole hike was very enjoyable. Here’s a closer look…………

Coming back up the trail was fun. The loose mud was like fine cinders and about an inch deep. Step down, fine; weight on that foot, fine; start to move weight forward….slide back ½ step….and watch that balance. Ol’ Lar got un-bundled in a hurry, and carried the jacket back. The return had much better light, and a different viewpoint. I’d missed these hoodoos on the way down………..

Then, about ½ mile from my starting point, I heard a strong drumming sound, like the ocean, sorta. Like drawn out surf. What the………..?? No falls around here - it was fairly flat ground. A quick search showed a small area of Frijoles Creek that had hollowed out the ice in one section, then the water level apparently dropped. It left an acoustical chamber, like a big guitar or violin, that amplified the sound of the riffles in the water. Don’t know how I missed it going down. Musta been asleep on my feet, eh ??…………

It’s hard to see in the picture, but there’s about a 3″ or 4″ gap between water and ice. What Fun, eh ?? Back to the campground, into the Diesel Dodge, and back onto the highway, heading home. Remember yesterday in Pecos Canyon, where I had the look at Santa Fe Baldy Mountain ?? Here’s Santa Fe Baldy from the other side, with Santa Fe’s ski area to the right of it…………

This was a grand way to spend a day, and when I got home it was time for a snooze. That feeling of “good tired” after a good workout is great. I’ll wait till it dries out some, then make the whole trip thru to the Rio Grande on that trail. Glad I didn’t today - that short distance of steep mud was an education. Lar.

P.S. It’s only been 5 weeks since the first big snowstorm on Dec. 20. Seems like 5 years. Phee-eeew. This is only the 2nd weekend it hasn’t snowed since then.

Larry Bourne
Santa Fe, NM
www.gogittum.com

Posted: November 11th, 2007 under 07-1-28 Frijoles Canyon, 08 New Mexico.
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Last Saturday I hiked up Chicoma Peak and told the story on this blog. Look in the menu on the left side of the page. Also whined and cried some about leaving my Slick 600 monopod up there. I know, I could’ve gone back up on Sunday but figured, “Aw, it’s just a monopod, it’ll be gone anyway, I can buy another one.” Chicoma isn’t all that exciting a hike and I was feeling lazy, and……and….. Later in the week I regretted it and tried to take time off work to go after it before someone else found it. Chicoma is very remote and not a popular hike, and especially not this late in the season……….but ya never know. I was slammed at work all week and couldn’t get away.

Meanwhile, I had been reading about a new Tamron 18-250 zoom lens that’s been getting rave reviews, so I ordered one from B&H and had it overnighted from NY. Initial experiments around home showed that it just might be very good. My Nikon 18-70 and 70-300VR are about as good of lenses as you’re going to find without getting silly with price, but the weight of the big 70-300 on hikes and the awkwardness of trying to change them on the go meant that the big lens was hardly getting used and I was missing a lot of shots for want of it. The 18-250 is very compact (about the size of the 18-70) and fairly light, so sounded perfect, but I wasn’t willing to compromise quality. I’ve had a huge, heavy old Tamron 90-210mm zoom for years that I used with my old Nikon F2 film camera, (still have the whole system) and it’s a wonderful lens, so I had a belief in Tamron to begin with. A return hike up Chicoma would be an ideal test hike for the new lens.

Today, Sat. Nov. 10 started out a little cloudy with worse forecast, (it actually cleared up later) so after my blueberry pancakes at Dominic’s I hit the road, this time towing Der Bug behind the Diesel Dodge. Hate pounding the big truck on those awful roads, and that’s why I’ve got Der Bug, eh ?? I dropped the truck in a supermarket parking lot in Española and hit the gravel road in Der Bug. It took just over an hour to go the 25 miles to the base of the climb. Once again, started the hike and got up into the timber, and it’s just as much a mess as last week. This is a low zoom shot of about 50 - 70mm and very slow shutter speed…………….

Actually that shot makes it look worse than it really is. Obviously, there are messes like this to scramble thru, plenty of ‘em, but most of it is more open and I kind of zig-zagged thru it, always aiming up. Today I knocked about 10 minutes off last week’s ascent time and covered the 1+ mile distance/800 ft elevation climb in just over 30 minutes. Puffing some, but not excessive and the legs felt fine…………ol’ Lar’s in very good shape these days.

When I reached the summit, I approached the big rock cairn and felt my heart sink. No ‘pod. Walked farther up and started around the cairn, and there where I had laid it while setting up the tripod for the shots of me on the summit last week was my lost monopod. How’s this for lucky, eh ??……………….

Hah ! ! ! Grinned so hard it almost hurt my jaws. It was like finding an old friend - that thing and I have been thru a lot together.

Now let’s play with the 18-250 lens a bit. I’ve already seen that the depth of field is very critical. This next shot is a low to medium zoom looking down the face of the mountain slightly to the East of Los Alamos. That slope is very steep and very rocky under the grass, and I wouldn’t like to hafta climb it…………..

Now, low zoom again looking SouthEast/East toward Santa Fe in the center left. Doesn’t look too bad from here, tho’ there’s still a lot of haze………….

OK, let’s get more serious, if not precisely scientific. Here’s old favorite Pedernal at a low zoom setting. Shoulda wrote the numbers down……………..

>From here, Pedernal’s about 10-12 miles away, as the crow flies. The haze doesn’t help, but I think the lens did quite well, for hand-held on a monopod. Now, here’s a very strong crop of the above shot - over 100%……………..

I dunno. I’m undecided on this. Haze, shaky hands (monopod isn’t a tripod) or just plain fuzzy ?? What do you think ?? Now, here’s a full 250mm shot of Pedernal from the same location…………..

Again, I’m undecided. After the shots the other night I’m inclined to think haze. Here’s an over 100% crop of the above…………….

I think we can do better than that. Coming down the mountain, I took a shot of Der Bug waiting patiently. This is at about 30 - 50mm………….

Once again, a HUge crop of the above shot…………

Hand held at about 100 ft away. Didn’t bother with the monopod. (after all I went thru to get it back) A little fuzzy, but……………. What’s your opinion ?? All in all, for the day’s work I’m pretty pleased with the new toy. Seems to me that if I hold it steady it’ll do the job, and what a joy to use. Now, after all this expense and effort I’m almost back to where I was with the great little 8800. Hmmmm……………….??

Posted: November 10th, 2007 under 07-11-11 Chicoma Peak 2, 08 New Mexico.
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Ever since I arrived in New Mexico a year ago, the looming presence of mighty Chicoma Peak (some say the spelling should be “Tse Como”) has held my interest and after I’d climbed several local peaks it began to fascinate me. “Look at that monster,” I thought………..”it goes Waaay up there.” Yes, it does, but at 11,561 ft., it’s not the biggest local peak by far. This shot was taken from Chino Mesa on Caja del Rio last spring. That big white snow covered triangle is beige with grass in the summer…………….

Finally I did some research and found that Forest Road 144 goes west from Española, 25 miles north of Santa Fe. Just 25 more miles on 144 would put me just over a mile from the summit of Chicoma, so, on Sat., Nov. 3, 2007 I jumped into the Diesel Dodge and headed north - after a hearty breakfast at Dominic’s. Going in on the 144, it was tremendously rough and I couldn’t figure out what was causing the huge pounding of the suspension of my truck. Looking ahead on the road toward Clara Mountain on the right and a glimpse of Chicoma near the left, all looked fine. Yes, the road goes way up the side of Clara. and climbs from about 6,000 ft at Española to 10,800 ft at the base of the peak………..

Then, I glanced in the rear view mirror and saw how the morning sun was silhouetting the culprit………….

Out of a 25 mile run, the 1st 10 or 12 miles were misery. Miles of washboard and ruts and rocks.  Clara Mountain was really bad. Farther in it eased up and wasn’t bad at all. Hunting season is open now, and several hunters passed me, suspensions hammering. You can see one coming up behind me in the shot above. He’ll keep the alignment shop happy, you bet. As you climb, you’ll pass some huge canyons, this one is Gallina Creek……………..

And also, to the north toward Abiquiu, enormous grasslands. There’s much evidence of a major fire throughout this area. This is looking toward Ghost Ranch, made famous by Georgia O’Keefe……………

Up around the 10,000 ft. level, about 20 miles in, a new problem showed up, but fortunately didn’t get any worse than this. I was watching that thick Spruce forest with a sinking heart - this is what I’d have to hike thru, with no trail……………

Then, when I got to my take-off point and parked the truck, I saw that this area had been logged off years ago, and was partially cleared. This went up for about ¼ mile, and helped a lot. I’d carried a Merino wool neck warmer, but didn’t really need it so stuffed it under a suspender strap. Farther up the hill it was gone. Phooey - $30.00 piece of fabric, I’d used it once, and it’s gone. Figured I’d watch the GPS real close on the way down, and hope to find it again……………

Too soon, I ran out of clearings and entered the heavy timber. Small stuff at this altitude (11,000 ft) but dense, and lots of blow-downs. This, I didn’t like. Dark and gloomy, poor visibility, strange noises, strong imagination……….ol’ Lar was getting his-self spooked, watching for Bears and Cougars. You can bet I kept my head swiveling the whole way………………

Half a mile of this, and Lar was not a happy hiker. Fortunately it wasn’t too steep, and soon I came out onto the meadow leading to the summit. Phee-eeewwww…………..

About ¼ mile more of this and I reached the summit, marked by a huge cairn erected by some ambitious soul(s). This was an easy hike, compared to others I’ve made recently, such as Lake Peak, Pedernal Peak, Gray’s Peak, etc., but it were still a good effort………….

There was a ring of trees to the south, and I had to drop over the face a little to get a look toward Santa Fe, etc……………….

This was a spectacular view, and seemed like it went forever. This was very worth the effort and slight frustration. Looking to the south to get oriented, I finally spotted the Pajarito ski area at Los Alamos. High on the right side of the above shot, here’s a better look at it……………

Lots of haze in the air here today, but later on it was crystal clear to the east. Dunno why. Then, looking to the northwest, I suddenly spotted an old friend - here’s Pedernal Peak, that I climbed on Sept. 8th. Doesn’t look like nearly 10,000 ft high from here, does it ?? Now I know where I’m at. From below and looking up, Pedernal looked higher in the middle and east ends, due to the angle and the wide angle lens. Here, you can clearly see how it slopes up to the west……………..

Coming down was easy. The slope was moderate, I knew which way was out (downhill and I had the GPS. No, I didn’t forget about the neck warmer. Set the GPS on a close range and started on down. Very soon I was thru the trees (I made 360º turns quite frequently to check for unwanted company and kept the flap loose on the Bear spray holster) and into the logged area. Followed that GPS, and suddenly……………..

Yup, there was my warmer. Lucky Lar, eh ?? Sadly, when I got home and was unloading the truck, there was no monopod for the camera. THEN , I remembered laying it down near the cairn on the summit of Chicoma when I was setting up the tripod to take the self-portrait at the summit. No, I’m not going all the way back up there for a $90.00 monopod, but it sure burns me up. Dumb Lar ! ! ! Idiot ! ! ! It’s only a hunk of metal, but I’d bought it in Prince George, B.C. several years ago, it’s gone 10’s of 1,000’s of miles with me, I’ve used it for a walking stick for who only knows how many miles of distance and feet of altitude……….like losing an old friend. Some strong language would fit in here real easy. That was a Slick Model 600, and I’ll sure be getting another one. I’m sitting here fretting over that thing like an old friend. Oh Well. I hope you’ve enjoyed my little story of the big trip. This is likely the last big hike of the season. Gonna snow any time now……………….

Here’s the GPS tracks for the day. Chic 3 is where I parked the truck and started hiking. I covered a fair stretch of territory on this little jaunt………….

Posted: November 3rd, 2007 under 07-11-3 Chicoma Peak, 08 New Mexico.
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Made a quick run out past Diablo Canyon to the Rio Grande today, June 3, 2007 and on the return run came across this little (18″) fella sunning himself (herself ??) in the middle of the road. Fair amount of traffic out there today, so its’ life would be measured in minutes at best………..

Unfortunately, communications were poor, and I got hissed at pretty good, not to mention a steady loud buzz……………

I chased it off the road - with no thanks - then tried to corral it on the shoulder of the road and REally got hissed at. The buzz never stopped, and it’s unmistakeable. Makes your hair stand on end……..

While moving it with a stick, it squirmed off and landed in a cactus. Looks like even that tough skin isn’t immune to those spines, eh ??…………….

This was fun, and tho’ I was tempted to try and pick it up, I had the lesson from 2 weeks ago with the Corn Snake at Chaco Canyon, NM in mind. I had come across the big (5 ft or so) Corn Snake on the road, just as the Rattlesnake, and chased it off to the side. Knowing it was non-venomous, I decided to try my famous Crocodile Hunter routine. Got away with it with a small King Snake in CA last year………..

…………..so why not again ?? Took that Corn Snake gently by the tail, eased the monopod under its’ belly and *started* to lift. WHACK…….that thing snapped around so fast I nearly did a back flip getting out of the way. Must’ve been funny to watch, but it almost got my hand and poison or no, all snakes have good sharp teeth. Taught me some respect, it did. It was a beautiful snake - if you like snakes………..

I tried holding the Rattlesnake’s head down with the stick and it seemed to work pretty good……..but that Corn Snake was awful fast, the memory was very fresh and the Rattler had already struck at me several times. Very quick it was, too, and very dangerous, so I kept my hands to myself and let it go after a few pictures. Smart Lar. What Fun, eh ??
Larry Bourne
Santa Fe, NM
www.gogittum.com

Posted: November 1st, 2007 under 07-6-3 Rattlesnake, 08 New Mexico.
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