Category Archives: newmexico

daytrips, newmexico, wildlands

“Some people say we have loved the canyon to death, but I wouldn’t call it love.” — Thom Cole

As I wrote in This forest doesn’t know it’s dead.

» Beloved river canyon in bull’s-eye | ABQ Journal by Thom Cole

But it’s been years since I’ve fished in the Pecos Canyon, in large part because of the crowds and the damage that has been caused to the canyon. Some people say we have loved the canyon to death, but I wouldn’t call it love.

Both the U.S. Forest Service and the state Department of Game and Fish manage recreation sites in the canyon, and a 2008 report prepared by the Forest Service painted a grim picture.

Among the problems cited by the report: too many vehicles, campgrounds in poor condition, violence, trash, alcohol abuse, rowdy campers, stream bank erosion and collapse, and off-road and even in-river vehicle use.

A couple years ago, I volunteered with schoolchildren and others to help pick up trash at Monastery Lake, and in and around the Terrero Campground. Lots of beer cans and bottles, a hypodermic needle, fishing line, toilet paper, human waste, clothes and more.

I visited Monastery Lake a few weeks after the cleanup, and it was if we had never been there. Just last spring, Forest Service sites that hadn’t opened yet were littered with trash and human waste.

» Beloved river canyon in bull’s-eye | ABQ Journal

Albuquerque, daytrips, wildlands

Rio Grande Vision- Nature center or amusement park? – New Mexico Mercury #abqbosque

The redoubtable V.B. Price joins the chorus against Mayor Berry’s “Vision Plan” for our treasured bosque, a thin ribbon of green between desert and river, the largest vestige of a riparian habitat that used to flank the entire Rio Grande. I think Price makes a good point about how the plan ignores the Nature Center (which is showing its age) while the plan tips its hat to urban development in other locales. His reference to Elena Gallegos overlooks the development there, which seems to work. We might also compare the rough-hewn trails of the foothills and crest with the ski area and tram. Who opposes those? The bike trail and trailhead parking at Alameda are all the development I want or need. peace, mjh

What’s happened to ABQ? Part 5: Rio Grande Vision- Nature center or amusement park? – New Mexico Mercury By V.B. Price

Modeling itself on duded up urban rivers in Texas and other places, the Vision seems to have overlooked completely the ideal model right under its nose – the Rio Grande Nature Center, a masterwork of architecture so inconspicuous and respectful of its place that birds and other creatures have no fear of us when we’re visiting. …

Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry’s Rio Grande Vision Plan is a complete contradiction of the long range vision of the people who battled and struggled for decades to preserve the Bosque as a wild place in the middle of the city that could teach us all that we live in a fragile natural world that needs to be cared for and conserved, rather than exploited as a resource. That battle was part of the Open Space movement that preserved our volcanoes, most of the Sandias, and many wonderful spaces like the Ellena Gallegos Open Space. No one would dare suggest viewing platforms, cafes, and the like in such pristine spaces. The Bosque, for all its human presence, is the same kind of place. The symbol of that founding open space vision of the Bosque is one of Albuquerque’s great works of architecture — the much praised and awarded Rio Grande Nature Center, designed by Albuquerque’s Antoine Predock, FAIA, and completed in l982. …

The Bosque doesn’t need improvement. It needs love, respect, and attentive care. It’s stressed enough by climate change as it is. It’s doesn’t need us to burden it further.

What’s happened to ABQ? Part 5: Rio Grande Vision- Nature center or amusement park? – New Mexico Mercury

bosque, wildlands

ABQ The Plan: The Rio Grande Vision » Connect, Protect and Excite! #abqbosque

I’m suspicious of the word “excite” and the reference to the bosque as “hidden” — you can see it from miles away and hundreds of thousands of people cross it repeatedly each day. However, the Mayor seems to want public input, seems to be reasonable, even as he is clearly not backing down. We need to examine this “vision document” and express our views. peace, mjh

ABQ The Plan: The Rio Grande Vision » Connect, Protect and Excite!

ABQ the Plan is a city-wide public project/public investments plan that will spur private investment, improve quality of life for residents, promote tourism and bring new dollars to Albuquerque, enhance economic development and bring new jobs to Albuquerque. The Rio Grande Vision project is one of several ABQ the Plan initiatives designed around a new Vision for Albuquerque as a great outdoor city, a city of innovation and creativity, and a sustainable community. Click to learn more about ABQ the Plan at ABQthePlan.cabq.gov.

ABQ The Plan: The Rio Grande Vision » Connect, Protect and Excite!

Chaco, daytrips, my soul, newmexico

Why I changed my mind to favor paving the north road into Chaco

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I’ve driven to Chaco Canyon, the Anasazi heartland in northwest New Mexico, every year for nearly 30 years, sometimes more than once per year. I have driven in and out every available route, including the long-since closed old north road that wound down past Casa Chiquita. Overall, I prefer to drive in from the south via Grants and Milan (at least, until Peabody Energy destroyed that area). I like the old south road in, as rugged as it can be. In contrast, the new south road via Pueblo Pintado is out of the way, connecting to the north road before the worst of that stretch. When I come in via the south, I go out north along the road that may be the major route for travelers.

If you haven’t been to Chaco, there is much you may not be able to fully imagine. It’s remote. It’s largely desolate. It’s well-worth almost any journey. Like many of the Chaco faithful, I have opposed paving the final stretch of the north road. I felt this is a pilgrimage and need not be easy. I was surprised after all these year to change my mind about this.

[from my journal at the time]

I made coffee and ate lunch of cheese and crackers. I dropped the camper roof and stowed everything. By 12:15pm, I was ready to roll.

And roll, I did. When I left pavement at the park boundary, the entire vehicle shook violently. Suddenly, the dash was beeping and flashing. It was only the alarm for the passenger seat belt, set off by the weight of my gear and the shaking. I slowed to 15mph for much of the next 15 miles — do the math. During that stretch, I reconsidered the issue of whether to pave the road in. I think the old South road should remain wild and primitive, but now, I think the north road should be paved. Why should every person who visits Chaco have a miserable trip in and out again? That’s not a right of passage, that’s abuse. If the real concern is a flood of visitors, then regulate the size of vehicles or the number of passengers entering Chaco at one time. Limit touring companies, if they become an issue. Why should we all suffer time and again? So long as I can chose to suffer and enjoy the old South Road now and then. …

It’s weird to go from foot pace to 65 miles per hour in such a short time. To go from a teeth jarring road to smooth asphalt. To accelerate into the modern world from the ancient and ageless.

The old south road should never be closed nor improved. Never. But, I’m ready for pavement to the north, back to the place we came from.

Visit my Chaco page for more text and photos.

Chaco, daytrips, newmexico, Photos from others

Chaco: Seen and Unseen – New Mexico Mercury

I recommend the essay and photos by Margaret Randall, a New Mexico treasure herself.

Chaco: Seen and Unseen – New Mexico Mercury

By Margaret Randall – International Raconteur

(Photos by Margaret Randall) At Chaco Culture National Historic Park much is apparent but much remains hidden. The place hides as many secrets as it reveals. What one sees is breathtaking. What one cannot see but only feel, also awes the spirit. A vast solitude describes the landscape: once probably greener and more sustaining of life, today dramatically desolate, a mystery only partially unfolding….

Chaco: Seen and Unseen – New Mexico Mercury

Albuquerque, daytrips, wildlands

» Proposed city development would threaten river park | ABQ Journal #abqbosque

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Our bosque is a treasure but one easily destroyed by good intentions.

» Proposed city development would threaten river park | ABQ Journal by Dave Parsons

Few American cities can boast such a magnificent natural amenity. Many cities have invested millions of dollars to recreate “green belts.” In Albuquerque, all we have to do is protect what we already have.

However, now, following a century of protection, the natural beauty and ecological integrity of the Rio Grande Valley State Park is being threatened by the Rio Grande Vision – a bosque development plan promoted by Mayor Richard Berry.

The Rio Grande Vision is a disturbing departure from the purposes set forth by the state’s legislation and the Bosque Action Plan. It starts us down a path of incrementally destroying the natural and ecological integrity of the bosque through ill-defined development.

» Proposed city development would threaten river park | ABQ Journal

Chaco, newmexico, photos, wildlands

Updates to my Chaco website: Una Vida, Hungo Pavi, and Chetro Ketl

Many years ago, I created a website to document my experiences in Chaco Canyon in the northwest corner of New Mexico in the southwestern United States. Chaco is a gorgeous and remote canyon that contains extensive ruins dating from 900 to 1100 BC (very roughly). The original structures were built by the people variously known as the Anasazi (per the Navajo and others), Ancestral Puebloans (by modern Puebloans), or Hisatsinom (per the Hopi). I’m now in the process of updating my site. At this time, you’ll find the following pages:

Content update consists primarily of photos taken over the past 10 years, though more text will follow, eventually.

Let me know what you think. peace, mjh

Albuquerque

ABQ scores well for parks | ABQ Journal

I live more than a 10 minute walk from a great park, but I walk there at least 3 times a week.

» ABQ scores well for parks | ABQ Journal by Dan McKay / Journal Staff Writer on Thu, Jun 6, 2013

A nonprofit group ranked Albuquerque’s park system as 11th best among the 50 largest cities in the country.

The Trust for Public Land evaluated cities based on how many residents live within a 10-minute walk of a park, the amount of parkland and spending on parks. Albuquerque scored well in the first two categories.

“We applaud Albuquerque for its leadership in developing and managing one of the highest scoring parks and recreation systems in the country,” said Greg Hiner of the Trust for Public Land.

Barbara Baca, Albuquerque’s director of parks and recreation, said there are 296 landscaped parks in the metropolitan area and more than 29,000 acres of “natural open space.”

» ABQ scores well for parks | ABQ Journal

drought, newmexico

NM village runs out of water due to drought | ABQ Journal

Note that Magdalena is on the eastern edge of the Plains of San Augustin, a gorgeous area. A company has proposed shipping water from San Augustin to the Rio Grande. Such a pipeline would have to go past Magdalena. That might interest them, but consider that the water table dropped 20 feet *since January* without speculators sucking out water to sell miles away.

» NM village runs out of water due to drought | ABQ Journal

By Susan Montoya Bryan / Associated Press on Wed, Jun 5, 2013 POSTED: 4:07 pm

(AP) — The village of Magdalena is scrambling now that its sole drinking water well has gone dry.

The water table has dropped almost 20 feet since January due to the persistent drought that has plagued nearly all of New Mexico for the last three years. And the community’s one has collapsed, leaving about 1,000 residents and several businesses without water Wednesday when the level dropped below the well’s pump.

Matt Holmes with the New Mexico Rural Water Association says the problem is a combination of drought and infrastructure.

» NM village runs out of water due to drought | ABQ Journal

birds, daytrips, my soul, newmexico, photos

Black Canyon Campground near Santa Fe, NM

We camped near Santa Fe in a great little campground near the bottom of the ski basin road. Black Canyon CG has paved sites with great separation, clean outhouses, no hook-ups. It’s barely an hour from Albuquerque and near 8500 feet. There is a good trail out out of the campground and another to Hyde Park CG. There were lots of birds, lots of hummingbirds, even one magnificent hummingbird (twice the size of more common hummingbirds). See 20 photos.

our camper rig in site #14

hanging out at camp

hummingbird

Black Canyon Park Service webpage

CG details, site map, and reservations