Category: Uncategorized

You Can’t Always Get What You Want

Yesterday I wanted to go for a hike in the nearby Manzano Mountains to an area that has some red maple trees. This is the time of the year when we begin to see fall colors in the mountains. Most of our colors are yellows and golds from aspen and cottonwoods. To be able to see the red maples is a special treat. But Mother Nature, in the form of a rainy day, was not cooperative. We wouldn’t have minded hiking in a bit of rain, but when we saw the muddy conditions of the dirt road that leads to the trailhead, we realized it was not a good idea to try and drive our car further up the road.

But, like the Rolling Stones sang:

You can’t always get what you want
But if you try sometime you find
You get what you need

We backed out of the dirt road, got on the highway again, and continued home a different way. Lee had always wanted to see Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument and it would be on our way with this alternate route back to Albuquerque. We stopped at the Visitor Center in Mountainair and watched an informative film about the 3 different pueblo ruin sites in the Salinas Valley. We then drove on to the site at Abo and walked through the ruins there. The sun peeked through the clouds for a short bit and we enjoyed our lunch at the picnic area.

Ruins at Abo. This was a Catholic church built by Spanish priests who built a mission at the pueblo in the 1600s.
Ruins at Abo. This was a Catholic church built in the 1600s by Spanish priests who came to the pueblo.

The next four pictures were taken on a hike last week in the Sandias to view the changing colors. The aspens were beautiful at Del Agua Overlook and along the Survey Trail.
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As another example of not getting what you want, I was disappointed Saturday morning when I couldn’t go to the opening day festivities of the 2015 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. But then this morning I was sitting in my recliner enjoying a cup of tea when a hot air balloon swept into view, preparing to land in the field behind our apartment. I jumped up and went out on the balcony where I had a prime viewing spot to watch four more balloons land in the field.
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Watching the balloons land is fun, but it’s nothing compared to the thrill of being out on the field when they launch, especially for the Special Shapes on Thursday or the Mass Ascensions on Saturday and Sunday. Those are what I really need to see and the week isn’t over yet so I’m hoping I’ll get what I want before it is.

Ghosts in the Forest

Odd and amazing rock formations are one of the features we have come to appreciate in our hikes around New Mexico. Some, like those at Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument, are tourist attractions visited by many people, but others are hidden away in unexpected places. This week we visited some rock formations that are in the latter category.

About an hour from Albuquerque, in the Jemez Mountains, there is a Santa Fe National Forest campground at Paliza Canyon and several dirt roads and trails in and around the canyon. There aren’t any formal trails so we were glad to have our friend, Sue, and her GPS device along to guide us. We were on our way to visit the rock formations called The Goblin Colony.

By walking about a mile up the dirt road where we parked our car, we could have directly gotten to the formations, but to make it a longer hike, we first went along a wooded creek in the canyon. Then we ascended to a ridgeline viewpoint where we could look out over the canyon. After lunch we descended through a side canyon and approached the goblins from above, sneaking up on them from behind, you might say.

Other oddities are weird plants with weird names. This pink stuff is a patch of Fetid Goosefoot.
Other oddities are weird plants with weird names. This pink stuff is a patch of Fetid Goosefoot.

Ridgeline viewpoint looking over Paliza Canyon. Sandia Mountains in far distance.
Ridgeline viewpoint looking over Paliza Canyon. Sandia Mountains in far distance.
View from the rock ledge where we had our lunch.
View from the rock ledge where we had our lunch.
First sighting of the goblin rocks.
First sighting of the goblin rocks.
Closer view of the Goblin Rocks.
Closer view of the Goblin Rocks.
Lee is standing in front to give a sense of scale (the goblins didn't get him).
Lee is standing in front to give a sense of scale (the goblins didn’t get him).
These look like silent ghosts marching down the hill.
These look like silent ghosts marching down the hill.
This looks like a face.
This looks like a face.
How is that gray rock staying perched up there?
How is that gray rock staying perched up there?
This place was a maze of eroded rocks you could walk through--petrified version of a corn maze.
This place was a maze of eroded rocks you could walk through–petrified version of a corn maze.

As we approach the month of October and commercialized America begins to fill stores and advertisements with images of Halloween ghosts and goblins, we can say we have already enjoyed nature’s version of ghostly images.