Wild Horses of Placitas

We heard about the wild horses but for the first month hadn't seen any. I went to a meeting about them to learn more about the "issues" surrounding them and found it very informative. There appear to be people who believe they are damaging the land because there are too many of them. There are people who believe the horses were here first and should be free roaming. There are people concerned about hitting them with their cars which has happened and is possible because it is very very dark out here and the horses are very fast. The community invited a speaker who "manages" a herd of wild horses ... she manages the Corolla Wild Horse Fund. Their issues were the similar to the issues we have here only way more extreme. The meeting was a meeting of "deep listening." I liked that phrase. Of the many issues one is the drought, another is the size of the herd and BLM not allowing licensed people to use PZP as temporary contraception. In the end a majority want what is best for the horses which will include more fencing close to main roads, contraception (the neighboring Pueblo is licensed also to dart PZP) and a host of other things but it will be a long road to coordinate things since it involves the state and federal lands.

Jeff and I were very excited when we saw a family of 5 horses out near the open space land while we were on our way for a bird hike. I stopped and took a few photos as the horses stood around in the shade of people's houses and then milled around nibbling stuff.

A few days later we saw the same group outside our window standing near the cars. When I sneaked very quietly outside the took off down the road in front of the house. This morning I heard the cats growling and again, I looked out the window as the horses were coming up from the arroyo, into our yard, and then they followed the trail (ours or theirs?) down the back of the house to the other arroyo. They are huge, spectacular, wild-eyed, protective of the little one and a real thrill to see!!! I saw them one other time as I was driving out. I had just gotten onto the pavement when the herd bolted up the arroyo into the road in front of me and stopped. I watched for a while when another car spooked them and off they went. Jeff saw them in the dip on our short little dirt road when he got home from work. Lots of ethical considerations. Lots of questions about what is "right" for them. For now lots of magical encounters! I am just happy to see them and know most other people love them also.

Hoodoos of Kasha-Katawe

On Saturday Jeff and I headed out to Tent Rocks for a hike. Located about an hour from our house in Placitas we headed up I25, off on exit 259, toward the Pueblo of Cochiti and then followed signs to the Monument. We bought an America the Beautiful Parks Pass so we could get free parking and entry to all the parks and monuments and Bureau of Land Management(BLM) trailheads. What a deal! There are 46 National Historic Landmarks and too many parks and trailheads to count. BLM manages the land at the park along with the Pueblo of Cochiti. The area was designated a National Monument in 2001. So what's a hoodoo? I kind of like the name "hoodoo" but also like their alternate name "fairy chimney." Both sound bizarre and magical and are interchangeable so you pick what you like best! Essentially and simplistically hoodoos are conical or tent like formations with a rock on top. They call the rock on top "caprock," and it is a harder material that keeps the whole thing from eroding away. The material beneath in this case is a softer pumice or tuff deposited by volcanic eruptions that occured  6-7 million years ago. You can see all the layers in the hoodoos and surrounding cliffs.

The parking area is really clean with a clean bathroom and color brochures about plants, birds, and the formations themselves. The trail is 1.5 miles for the canyon trail and that is where we headed first. We walked past smaller hoodoos toward the big ones that are 90 feet tall. We were dwarfed by them and as the morning light changed the place was creepy/moody and beautiful all at once. As we went into the canyon we could see all the straitions and the light was beautiful as it moved over the walls changing colors as the sun rose. The manzanita shrubs and pine (I think) were almost backlit as we went up.


We went up to the top where we had views of a bunch of mountain ranges including the Jemez and Sangre de Cristo. We could see Lake Cochiti in the distance. Mainly though we were looking down on the mini forest of hoodoos and even the ant-like people on the trail below!

We had lunch at the top before heading back down at a more leisurely pace. By now the sun was way up and kind of washed out all the subtle colorations of the rock. The sky however was a super clear blue which made for a nice backdrop.

From this perspective the shapes were different. I am always amazed at how different things look going to and from places. Every once and a while there were full size trees that looked like toy trees hidden in cracks. Looking up as we went down we could see lots of smaller hoodoos each with their little rock ball balanced on top. Even more tents were bundled together as we went back on the cave trail loop.

It was still pretty early (around 1) so we drove to the memorial overlook. We saw many other hoodoos that were on private land and then up at the scenic overlook we looked out at just about everything. The Hoodoos started at about 5570 feet and went to 6760 feet. I am not sure how high up the overlook was.

The wind had picked up along with the dust so we decided to head to Cochiti Lake. I'll write about that later. On the way out, as if the beauty hadn't been beautiful enough, lenticular clouds were forming over the mountains. I hadn't really seen these in real life before so it was a special treat to see at the end of an amazing hike! Enchanting? Absolutely. Hoodoo hoodoo hoodoos!

Montezuma Crest Hike

I didn't waste any time getting us out and hiking. Jeff arrived with Dakota (old fart cat) on April 24th and on the 26th I had us joining the Placitas Association for a hike up to the top of Montezuma Crest. The hike started with people meeting at the Post Office (8 minutes away) and car pooling another 8 minutes to the beginning of the hike. There wasn't really an official trail for part of it but it had been flagged with flagging tape you could follow once you knew where to start! The first thing I noticed was that the Yuccas were all shooting buds skywards. We hiked up to the top and enjoyed a view pretty much 360 degrees looking east and then all the way toward Cabezon in the west. We looked all around once we got to the top and a geologist told us a little bit about the geology we could see far off and nearby. My eye was drawn to all the blooming wild flowers and I couldn't help myself from taking some photos as I listened in.





The whole landscape is like a giant bonzai garden with everything looking perfectly arranged. I saw this cactus popping up out of a circle of small gravel with yellow wild flowers in the distance. If I were to make garden I would arrange it something like this!

There were all kinds of flowers blooming. We then headed down and someone called me over to see this horned lizard (?). It looked just like a leaf and blended in perfectly. I fully expect to get bitten by a snake as I lean down photographing some day! This is the view looking down toward Placitas - a far away view and a close-up of the odd band of rocks.





But mainly I just can't resist the flowers! I don't know what I thought New Mexico would be like, but so far it has exceeded expectations!

Placitas New Mexico Right Out the Door

Here we are in a new location and we couldn't be happier about it. The desert is a mystical, magical place that changes with the light throughout the day. The city of Albuquerque is big enough to have lots of restaurant choices, amazing produce and real food in the supermarkets, and delicious junk food (croissants, fancy coffees, desserts we shouldn't be eating much of). Mostly we are enjoying nature. We have chosen to rent in Placitas because it is a village of artists, animal lovers and keepers of the environment. We can walk out the front door and be in amazing Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land, Placitas Open Space, and walk through neighbors' properties without any problems. No gates, barking dogs or rejas here. This first photo is of Mount Cabezon sitting off out our living room window about 40 miles away! If you know where Cabezon is you know where you are!

Right now there are ribbons of yellow flowers rippling across the bonzai looking landscape. I have no idea what anything is at this point but I will find out!


The Northwest had wonderful deep waters and lush green, Puerto Rico had delicious tropical exotic foliage but I have to say I am really enamored with the suble, tonal, coloration of the landscape of the desert. It is somehow calming, surprising and has a quiet beauty. I was out listening to coyotes in the back of the house before dark and when I turned, I was treated to a gigantic moon rising over the Montezuma Crest with a seemingly miniature house to its right. There are no outside lights here so the scene just got more and more interesting as the natural light faded!

The next morning I was watching for rabbits and as the sun rose the hillside was shifting from reds to pinks and bang-o the same gigantic moon was setting over the landscape!

As the moon set and the sun rose the hills became lighter and more rosy and the junipers framed the big ball of a moon as it set. It was amazing to watch!

It is exciting to be somewhere new, but more than that I feel like it is the right place to be...I feel like a might actually belong here. Jeff is excited about the hiking and both of us look forward to being outside a lot. The weather is chilly in the morning but terrific in the afternoon up until sunset. Right now it is in the high 70s to low 80s with low humidity. It is so much easier to hike we are amazed that 5 miles feels like a 1/2 mile! The mountains are amazing and since we are living at over 5,000 feet to start with we will be able to hike to some high heights!