Another Day on the Trail

June 11, 2014

I wish I could share:

The sounds of the birds in early morning

The whirr of the wings of hummingbirds as they zoom by

The glimpse of a tiny piece of history unearthed by a tiny rodent

 And the joy of leaving it for someone else to see.

The fragrance of the desert just after an afternoon rain,

The vision of puffy clouds above the crest of a mountain

An arch in the sandstone rock developed by time,

The friendly sign of a cairn marking your way on the trail

The gnarl of the tree twisted by the wind

But since I cannot, I will share photos as I saw them.

 A view at Salinas Pueblo National Monument

At the visitors center we had a long conversation with a volunteer from the Laguna Reservation.  He loved to talk and make suggestions of places not to miss on our travels.  We need to return to make a hike with him called Hole in the Wall area.  He is an athlete who has run the Houston Marathon when sponsored by ElPaso Gas and Houston Baptist.

El Malpais National Monument

A shower of rain ran us off the top of the bluffs at El Malpais.  The wind was pretty strong and we could see it coming.

 It is moving quickly across the lava beds.

 Moving toward the arches area.

 La Ventana Arch at El Malpais ~ catching the light as it moves across the arch.

 Flowers are few in the desert but so special.

 Many cairns marked the trail through the Narrows Rim Trail.   We walked separately so we could enjoy the quiet of the area.

June 9 ~ This is the first day of what I call real hiking. Still getting up around 6am but not making it out the door until 9.  Hiking should be done early and get back to camp to rest by noon. 

We chose a 4 mile hike called Salado Canyon Trail.  It is one of the rebuilt trestles of the New Mexico Rails to Trails.   I eliminated the photo of me and promise to be in better shape by next year.  Ha!  At least I am still trying.
The highlight was Bridal Veil Falls.  It was beautiful and refreshing sight.

Returning to the truck at high noon was a hot trip.  My clothes were wet under my army camel pack.  Surely happy Nick shared that piece of equipment with me.  I was Army proud with US Army on it.

June 10 ~ Left Silver Campground early on Tuesday morning.  I had a lot of fun with the camera and  the  hummingbirds.  They buzzed around me like crazy when I was removing the bird feeder.  I took lots of photos but since I had the camera set improperly, I will need to wait until I can get them processed.  The format is too LARGE for my program. I will show them and the good ones of a cow elk and her fawn.  I will post this one but not good.  See if you can find the fawn.  Well hidden or at least it thinks so.

 

 The first educational stop was at the Mescalero Apache Museum. The new curator if he should be called that, shared much information about the museum and the lady I met there in the 1990’s.  The second stop was worth another lend a ear.  Cameron Blagg is an artist and owner of Three Rivers Trading Post.  I truly wanted to be the proud owner of an old Two Grey Hills rug but even with a reduced price I could not bring myself to do such a thing.  I left with only a cup of coffee.  We had a long conversation about the weavers.  Very interesting information was shared on the evolution of rug making and what we each appreciate.

The delight of the day was at Salinas Pueblo Mission National Monument.  Mario Medina, the NP Ranger at the site, took us on a personal guided tour.  His knowledge and love of the history was outstanding. Since I had been there in 2011 and learned only what I read in the museum, this was a treat.

 

 This is a beautiful place and not one of the most visited.  Find it on your map and put it on you list of "to dos."

Mario is explaining the history to Paulette.

We are now camped in a little town south of Albuquerque and will be headed toward southern Utah tomorrow unless we change our minds again.

See you along the trail and remember " if you stumble just make it a part of the dance."