Living Wonderously

I think I have a love-hate relationship with rocks. I was hating every single one of the rocks that littered the countless ruts in the maze of dirt roads we were navigating in our attempt to find a trail that started at an abandoned campground in the Manzano Mountains. I winced at every thud and jolt under the body of our car as we inched forward at a snail’s pace. No one in their right mind would take a Toyota Corolla on these roads. Lee could tell I was greatly annoyed at having been persuaded yet again to do one of these “exploratory” hikes.

But after two hours, when we finally got to the base of the mountains and started up the trail, all was forgiven. I was no longer upset with Lee and I was absolutely loving the rocks I was seeing in this part of the mountains. I was pretty sure they were metamorphic rocks, which we don’t see as often as igneous and sedimentary rocks. The intense heat and pressure that’s required to form metamorphic rocks gives many of them fascinating wavy layers in patterns referred to as foliation or schistosity. I could have hauled home pounds of beautiful specimens but limited myself to a few photos. Rocks are meant to stay where God put them for us to enjoy and cars are meant to stay on the paved roads. Me and rocks will get along just fine if we both stay where we belong.

On the Trail

Trailhead at Trigo Canyon.

Enjoying Schistocity

We succeeded today in finding an isolated hiking destination that avoided the crowds of other outdoor enthusiasts enjoying the Labor Day holiday. In fact, the destination was almost too isolated for comfort. When we leave the highway and turn onto dirt roads that have multiple warning signs “Road Impassible in Wet Weather” and the weather report is calling for isolated thunderstorms, I tend to get a little nervous. Especially when our vehicle is a sedan not designed for rough roads and we are heading into the backside of nowhere and we don’t see another human being on any of the dirt roads.

Our goal for the hike was a section of the Continental Divide Trail that climbs Mesa Chivato, a prominent landmark in the vast Mount Taylor volcanic field. Mount Taylor itself is not visible from this section of the trail but numerous other eroded cinder cones and volcanic necks are visible in every direction. The iconic Cabezon Peak is one of our favorites and we had excellent views of that, since one of the dirt roads crossed in front of it.

As we drove on the dirt roads it was obvious that there had been a major rainstorm recently in the area. Dark clouds were on the horizon all around us so we knew that we might have to leave in a hurry if the rain headed our way. It’s not that we would mind getting wet but we know how quickly the roads would become a sea of mud in a heavy rainstorm. We could hear thunder in the direction of the black cloud that was hovering over the mesa as we headed up the trail. Fortunately, it didn’t get closer and we made it most of the way to the top before we decided it was time to turn around.