Well, last evening as I was sitting in my rocking chair, feet on the footrest, Zoloft next to me, I decided Im tired of being dirty and talking to myself SO, I decided to get up early and head home, back to my wonderful husband and Family and the friends I do have in Austin, Texas. Lifts my heart to think about it. But, wait, what about all the soul searching I haven’t done? What about all the life decisions I haven’t a made? Ah, I guess my answer to that is that there will always be more life decisions to make and more soul searching to do. One of the facts I’ve reconfirmed is the importance of family and friends, my mutual love, respect and caring for Bill, and that I feel confident and ready to move on, Get going, put myself out there. The specifics? Who knows!
Tag Archives: New Mexico
Day Two Aeroplane Mesa Campground, Gila National Forest
I knew when we went to bed last night that I wanted to sleep late and, after yesterday’s exertions, it would probably best to allow Rio and Zoloft to take the day off, too. Despite putting a fleece liner in my sleeping bag and a fleece blanket over it, I was intermittently cold and didn’t sleep well. Zoloft woke me at 8am, I let her out, went pee, fed and watered her and Rio, then went back to bed, waking up occasionally but not getting out of bed till 11:30 or so.
Fought the Battle of the Stove and made coffee and dinner-for-breakfast, the one I was too tired to make in the dark last night. It consisted of pasta, canned corn, kidney beans and artichoke hearts, coated with tapenade and roasted tomato pesto. I made enough for about five meals. Oh, and I cut up the rotisserie chicken I’d bought before leaving Albuquerque. The leftovers will be good cold or hot! Throughout the cooking process, I put things away because it was thundering and for sure, a storm was coming. I brought Rio up from the open corral and tied him under a cedar tree, where he’s been resting happily. There were drops of rain just after I’d finished cookings but before eating. I took my food and coffee and Zoloft into the car. After the initial raindrops, it’s hailed small hailstones for a few minutes and has been dripping a little rain on and off till now. I’ve been here about two hours now. It’s kind of like a rainy day in a tent. The sun has finally peeked out and it’s getting warm – it’s 4:30 in the afternoon and I’ve done nothing but cook, listen to an audiobook and write my blog. Nothing wrong and most things right with that!
It’s now 5:30 and raining, enough that I’ve had to almost completely close the car windows to keep out the drops. Rio’s still tied under the cedar tree but looking around as if it’s dinner time, which it is. Zoloft’s asleep in the drivers seat and I’m propped up against two pillows in the backseat, just cracked a beer that I purchased in Reserve two days ago. Been reading about Gila Cliff Dwellings, Gila Hot Springs ($3 for a soak, according to my tour book that must be ten years old) and Silver City, NM – quite that happening place! I think I’ll leave here tomorrow and head that way. It’s Tuesday, May 9th, and according to Bill, Sophie’s arriving back to Austin today after her three week internship in D.C. With her brother, Austen’s company, Fission Strategies.
6:30 now, still dripping and getting cold.
Aeroplane Mesa in the Gila National Forest
5/7/12
This morning, just after successfully lighting my stove (only took TWO tries this time) to make hot water for oatmeal and coffee, a lone backpacker entered my field of vision from the right, the direction I did NOT come from last night. Zoloft, of course, spotted her right away and ran towards her barking in her low-bark way, which the hiker thought was aggressive but I reassured her that no, all she wanted was a belly rub and, true to form, Zoloft rolled over for one and the hiker had no choice but to give her one. She was a woman named Barbara Nash, originally from Cleveland, Ohio, who took early retirement from Verizon and now lives in Washington D.C. who has been walking the Appalachian and Pacific Crest Trails (done with those) and came to the Mexican border with a male friend (who decided he didn’t like it and went home yesterday) to start walking the Continental Divide Trail from south to north. She appears to do the walking intermittently, five days at a time… (Beep! Two Forest Rangers just drove by). Anyway, we talked and she wrote her info in my black book so I can tell her sister and ex-walker friend that she was okay if I get phone or Internet service before she does. Apparently, the hike so far was disappointing because the trail was hard to find and you can easily lose yourself in a canyon and the lack of water is a problem. and ow, since her friend deserted her, she was worried about being alone. She was going to make her way to Silver City, NM, and go home from there. Her trail name is Late Start, which she picked because she gets up late and is late for things but has become a moniker more now because she started this hiking later in life than most people – she’s 61 now. After talking, it seems we might run into each other in two or three days at the Gila Cliff Dwellings where I’m thinking of going next.
Zoloft’s, Rio and I finally left camp at 12:30 or so, intending to take a “moderate ” ride but had two false starts. First, I went back to camp to get the tripod then, Wed gone half a mile or so and discovered my map had become detached from the saddle which I had no choice but to return to find. we went on Trail 705 which goes out of the Aeroplane Mesa Campround and has a sign that says “Horse Trail” next to it. A note on signs: This legible sign I found to be an exception all day long. The few signs I saw during the day were hard to read, few and far between, and easy to miss if you were several feet off the trail.
The first part of the ride was delightful. Since we were at 8,000′, it was cool and there was a solid breeze. We crossed a high plain with grass (very dry),cedar and a few ponderosa pine. Rio could get into a running walk for part of the trail because it has only intermittent rocks and a lot of sand and dust. the weather was in the low seventies and I started the ride with my canvas jacket on. After several miles we started the descent into the canyon headed towards the Middle Fork of the Gila River. It soon became steep and rocky and I dismounted and took off my jacket as it was warming up and in the canyon we were sheltered from the breezes on the Mesa. the route has many switchbacks, was quite narrow, very rocky, and had steep drop-offs. We’d been going down about 15 minutes when I realized I hadn’t secured my jacket to the saddle and it had fallen off. Being my favorite riding jacket and knowing I wouldn’t be returning this way, I tied up Rio and Zoloft and hiked back UP, with frequent stops to catch my breath until I found the jacket and returned to my travel companions. Along the way I marveled at the tough little wildflowers, real survivors in this tough landscape. The last time I’d dropped something on the Crest Trail in Lincoln National Forest I hadn’t tied Zoloft up and she’d followed me both ways and arrived back to Rio completely exhausted. This time I learned my lesson and she and Rio could both rest while I exhausted myself! we resumed our descent and arrived in the green valley with a beautiful stream of clear, cool, running water with green grass available door Rio to graze on. Tired and delighted by the green landscape, I decided to check the map, let Rio graze and eat a snack. I took the bit off of the halter bridle, decided to leave the lead line attached to the halter and let Rio eat. I sat on a log and consulted my map and the horse trail book. Oops, ten minutes later I looked up and, at first, couldn’t see Rio. I found her, walking straight UP the trail we’d just come down, evidentially deciding it was time to go home! I couldn’t believe she’d chose the vertical path over the green grass and running water, dropped my book and hustled up the path, huffing and puffing after him, which only made him go faster. Finally, he stepped on the lead rope and was stuck, head six inches from the ground, immobile. I unclipped the rope, pushed him off it it, re-clipped the line back on his halter, turned around on the precarious path, then headed back down to the river. It could have been a very, very long walk back to camp if I’d taken the lead off or if he’d never stepped on it! Lessons learned. I have to learn how to hobble him so he can more safely graze.
We resumed our ride and saw the sign for the turnoff to the Flying V trail, which was the one I’d started off deciding to follow. However, it headed across the river UP and I decided I’d much rather stay along the pretty river where it was easier going and Rio and Zenith could drink fresh water, so we followed the sign that said “Snow Lake 7 Miles” and continued along the riparian zone, with the trail criss-crossing the river. I estimated we’d get back to camp around 6pm. along the way, we met a solo backpacker who said he was a social worker from San Francisco. I asked him to take our picture, I took his and I asked him, “Why the Gila National Forest?” as this seemed an obscure place for someone from San Francisco to come to. He said he used to live in Albuquerque and was a history buff and that he’d hiked to the top of a nearby mountain where there’d been a fight between the Apaches and settlers that he’d climbed up to see the night before. There were two locked up cars in Aeroplane Mesa Campground and one was his. We said our goodbyes and each headed down the trail the other had just been on.
Wed gone half an hour or so when I saw Barbara Nash who jumped in fright as I came close and said hello! Zoloft had been in the river and her tummy was black with mud but she, nonetheless decided to jump up and Barbara and immediately located the snacks Barbara was about to eat, by smell. We talked some about the trail and she told me she’d met someone who was going to call her family tonight, so I was off the hook. I volunteered to go hiking with her sometime and she could call me if she needed a hiking buddy. We seemed to have a similar love for the outdoors and adventures in it. Having said our goodbyes, Rio, Zoloft and I went on down the beautiful trail, criss crossing the river and once finding a frog buried 8″ in the dusty sand which Rio’s step had uncovered. Its dark grey body matched the sand color perfectly. later, where the trail crossed an open field, I spotted a shoe, dismounted, picked it up and tied it to my saddle. It was a men’s size 11 and I figured it belonged to the history buff-social worker and I could return it to him at the campground later tonight. (He wasn’t there so it’s now in my trash bag.)
We’d gone a while (when I felt like we should have seen the trail going up the next canyon to the right) when the trail disappeared. I spent the next hour looking for it, crossing back and forth over the water through some dangerously rocky terrain to no avail. Getting worried about the sinking sun, I decided to go all the way back to where I’d seen a sign and re-evaluate our route. It was obvious that the map I had wasn’t detailed enough. the next time I come here I need to buy the larger-scaled maps of areas I want to explore. On the way back, I saw a trail going up a canyon in what I thought was the right direction and took it, quite nervous by this time as the shadows were lengthening and the sun could no longer be seen when the canyon walls blocked it. I wasn’t 100% sure I’d made the right choice and I knew there was a possibility we’d have to spent the night in the wilderness for which e were completely unprepared. Alleluia, it WAS the right trail and we eventually came out at the back of the damn that formed Snow Lake. On top of the dam was a sign with the the special trout limits for the Gillita River which we’d been following. I thought of my dad, avid fly fisherman he is. Only two trout per day could be taken.
We descended from the dam into the campground and down the road towards the turnoff to our campground. It was a very long four miles back and just dark when we got there. I had to open gates around the cattle guards preventing livestock like Rio from going to Snow Lake. Zoloft was so tired, I lifted her onto to the saddle in front of me (quite a trick, lifting her up then getting my tired ass back into the saddle behind her) and rode that way for about half a mile. Rio was amazingly OK with this but Zoloft is so long, it wasn’t an easy chore. It took us an hour and fifteen minutes to cover the ground and when we finally made it, I fed Zoloft and Rio then we all went to bed. I figured we’d walked and ridden 17 miles, all told. What a fun day but I already knew we’d be resting tomorrow.
Albuquerque to Gila National Forest
5/5/12
Damn it’s cold. The wind must be blowing 35 miles per hour and it’s probably in the high 50’s or low 60’s. It’s 10:30a.m. I got up around 8:00 to go riding this morning but haven’t made it on the horse yet. The cooler it stays, the less the urgency.
Stopped at REI for a map of the Gila National Forest (and picked one up for the Valle Vidal Unit of
Carson National Forest north of Taos for the next time) and went to pick up Rio from the Spurs Stables where I’d kept him for four days at $25/day. When I got there it was obvious that his pen hadn’t been cleaned….I’d not specifically discussed it but she knew I hadn’t been back. And I sure think she could have done that. The other thing I disliked was that she didn’t ask for Rio’s “Coggins,” which is a certificate from the vet saying he’s free from equine anemia, which any reputable horse boarder should ask for….
IH25 took us south and then we caught 60 west at Socorro, headed towards Reserve, NM. It was warm and the landscape empty. The only town we stopped in was dusty Magdalena. I ignored the advertised gift shops but stopped in a rock shop at which the proprietor was chatting with the local policeman, who left when I arrived. The owner was a son of a man who had worked his whole adult life mining in the nearby Kelly Mine, which was now closed. Some of the rocks – particularly one that was a vivid turquoise color mixed with a bright green, he said, was only found there and thus could not be bought anywhere else. There were only a few polished cabochons, which is what I was looking for my jewelry making, mostly Arizona turquoise and another milky blue rock found locally. I didn’t write down the rocks’ names – I was pressed for time as I didn’t want to arrive in the dark to our new campsite (which, of course, I did anyway!).
After Magdalena, the next roadside site was the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, with huge dishes all pointed in one direction, in the middle of nowhere. How surreal! The light wasn’t great for photos but the image in my mind is strong. It felt Ike we were trying to communicate with a civilization somewhere far, far away. At Datil we headed southeast on 12 for 68 more miles to Reserve.
At around 5:30, I saw the turn off to Valle Tio Vinces Campground, which is one of the four horse camping areas in the Gila National Forest, so I stopped and read about it in my notes and “Saddle Up, New Mexico” book. It is the most isolated of the sites with water available from Valle Tio Vince’s Spring across the way and north of the campground. At Armijo Spring Campground, theres a spring but horse camping is not allowed there. I decided that I’d rather spend the next few days elsewhere, so kept driving.
We arrived in Reserve at around 6pm, later than I’d hoped. I filled up on gas (my tank was empty) for $4.58/ gallon for the diesel the truck requires then went into Bills Bar and Package store and purchases a six-pack of beer for $8. I told him I was going up to Snow Lake and asked him how the road was. He said the first half is paved and is much worse than the last half which is gravel and that I should watch out for the elk, which I would undoubtedly see. He said someone was driving 35mph, hit an elk and went down the cliff. In a glass case were elk- hunting pictures and on one dead elk was the most unbelievable rack I’d ever seen, on anything. I asked if that was him in the photo, he replied, “I wish” and told me that the elk in the photo probably weighed 1,000 pounds. I went into the general tore that was open (there were two but the other was closed) and bought my first junk food of the trip, some Turtle Chex, and several drinks, then we started up the road to Snow Lake, still, thankfully, in daylight.
It was a two hour drive to go the 54 miles to Aeroplane Mesa Campground and I was glad I wasn’t doing it in the dark. True to what Bill in Reserve said, the paved roadmwas bad with a zillion potholes, undefined edges which dropped off down sheer cliffs, and no lines to define either the center or edge of the road. It would NOT have been an easy trip at night. The gravel road was much better. I saw three separate herds of 6-8 elk on the way up and, just at sunset we traversed a part of the forest that had been burned. With the black and cream denuded trres silhouetted against the pinks and blues of the sunset, it was a fascinating landscape. It was just dark when we toured the almost-empty campsite – Dipping Vat Campground – that has a old fashioned water pump and read the warning sign about the presence of Mexican wolves, which travel in packs of 6-8, leave people alone bit WILL attack dogs. this camgrounf, adjacent to Snow Lake, does not allow horses in it. Four more miles and we arrived at our new home, Aeroplane Mesq Campground. It was now pitch black and difficult to see anything. I put Rio in the corral – a large one about 20′ x 20′ (there are three), fed Rio and Zoloft, ate two hummus and tampanede sandwiches and went to bed. I’ve been keeping Zoloft shut in the horse trailer with me at night as the whole time we’ve been on the road, we’ve been in places with coyote and bear and tonight there was the danger of wolves, which I did indeed hear howling in the middle of the night.
Mountains Above Ruidoso, New Mexico
As I sit in my black low rocking chair, I can hear adolescent and adult boy scouts in mostly deep voices saying the Boy Scout pledge then the Pledge of Allegiance. Seems religious, around the campfire in the dark with the waxing one third moon above and the stars just beginning to show themselves. Besides the boy scout troop, there is one other group here, older and handicapped. A motorized wheel chair seems incongruous here in the wilderness but so joyful also.
I’m here north of Ruidoso, New Mexico in a National Forest Service campground north of Bonito Lake. There are three horse corrals and Rio was the first occupant of the first corral. I picked this spot because there’s a place down from the rest of the campground nearer to the stream (dry here but wet down the way) where it’s more private. I negotiated the trailer and truck to be a buffer zone. On the opposite side from the campground, there’s just us and the mountains. Unfortunately, I fear my exit because the egress is up a steep rocky slope that looks rougher from down here than it did when descending it. Pray for us. Zoloft and I will make the escape and THEN load Rio in the trailer.
No riding today. I had to drive to town to get cell phone reception to call FedEx and redirect the AWOL package to Alicia’s. en route, the truck is having significant problems when turning sharply, like I’m dragging an elephant or something, Didn’t feel it prior to disconnecting the trailer. How strange. So I went to Western Auto and made a Monday 12:30 appointment to get it looked at. also dropped my bicycle off at a bike shop to get the derailleur checked after the rough-and-tumble ride through Big Bend Ranch.
Came back to the campground, Zoloft was howling and Rio was fine. Fed both then lit my new MSR backpacking stove (successfully this time) and heated up my leftover steak and yummy potatoes au gratin, sautéed portabello mushroom and other vegetables from two nights ago, adding some abused spinach from the cooler to the mix. Yum!. sat down to eat (the chair is LOW) and Zoloft managed to steal the steak! I tackled her and got it back, giving her the outside fat layer from the scrumptious New York medium rare. A little dog saliva – no problem!
Zoloft is IN TRAINING! She’s learning “Scoot!” when I get in the driver’s seat and she’s in it. This is to honor Bill and Zenith, who always scooted from Bill’s to my side of the bed when Bill came to bed, snapped his fingers and said “Scoot!” I’m also working on getting her to come with treats and love. Probably a losing cause but I have faith. Maybe it’ll save her life when the mountain lion attacks.
That’s all I have tonight. I hope my family and friends are all thriving.
2700 feet up Turkey Creek Trail in the Lincoln National Forest of New Mexico
4.29.12
This morning Zoloft and I awoke around eight a.m after a lousy sleep, again. It was delightfully cool. The Boy Scouts next door were making breakfast and packing up to leave. I had the brilliant idea to ask them for any of their remaining water because my water tank in the horse trailer is very low and there is no water available at this site, for neither man nor beast. They kindly filled up Rio’s water buckets and asked me questions about my horse. Told them that when I was about fifty I decided, “Hey, I can buy me a horse!…….. Get a college education and when you’re older you can get what you want too.” They were from El Paso and ranged in age from eleven to fourteen.
It seems to take me forever to get out of camp on my horse but, finally, we made it. The three of us, Rio, Zoloft and I, started UP the Turkey Creek. The going was rocky and, almost immediately, we could feel the effects of the altitude. Austin, Texas is at about 500′ unless you live up on a hill, which we don’t. WELL, Ruidoso, New Mexico is at 6900′, our campground is at 8000′. the trail tops outta about 9200′. he s, I almost instantly was light headed and very tired very quickly. The trip is best told in photos. Met only three people the whole five hours we were gone – Chris, EX-owner of Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory in Taos, New Mexico and his two dogs who redirected me as I was about to take a very long trail and two fast day hikers who took the photo of the three of us when we met up with them on the Turkey Creek (#40) trail going UP. The Turkey Creek trail is not one to repeat, it was rocky and densely forested with no water. At the end of that I caught the Crest Trail (#25) which went through the beautiful grass and on sandy trails and wound around the ridges. Took the Argentina Trail down. It was much prettier than the Turkey Creek trail, had water (a trickle – enough for dogs and horses to drink), much more open space, was not as rocky and steep. We had left camp at about nine a.m., returned exhausted at about 2:30pm. We’d ascended more than 1300′, about half of it I’d walked, leading Rio because either it was steep and rocky or I just needed the exercise. Zoloft wanted to be UNDER Rio because he provided shade and, once, Rio stepped on the poor gal’s foot. Luckily, with all the padding on the basset’s foot, she seems unhurt.
Later in the afternoon Chris, the man from Taos, came by and told me about some of his favorite trails around Taos in Carson National Forest. The big question is whether the trails are open yet because they’re higher up and usually don’t open till later in May or even June.
Bonito Lake area
4.29.12
This morning Zoloft and I awoke around eight a.m after a lousy sleep, again. It was delightfully cool. The Boy Scouts next door were making breakfast and packing up to leave. I had the brilliant idea to ask them for any of their remaining water because my Water tank in the horse trailer is very low and there is no water available at this site, for neither man nor beast. They kindly filled up Rio’s water buckets and asked me questions about my horse. Told them that when I was about fifty I decided, “Hey, I can buy me a horse!…….. Get a college education and when you’re older you can get what you want too.” They were from El Paso and ranged in age from eleven to fourteen.
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