shadowline
mesaglow
windmarch
Hike: FS 445 loop, Placitas
Hike length: 6 miles
Difficulty: moderate
Trail traffic: moderate
Creatures seen/heard: ravens, crows, gray vireo, chipmunk
Placitas Environs
Trust Issues (Manzano Open Space)
jellylegged
windlashed
I am the only
not-solid thing
on this mountain
to live
here is to learn
to tuck into crevices
grow roots sideways
hug the stone
for millennia
the mountain has supported
those who did this
still I scramble
struggle
unable to believe
anything
can bear my weight
Hike: Little Peak, Manzano Open Space, 1-16-21
Length: 4 miles
Difficulty: moderate (the peak is difficult)
Trail traffic: light
Creatures seen/heard: jay, crows, ravens, mountain bluebird, gray vireo
Mesa, Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge
sherbet
earthbreak
cloudlight
creosote
Hike: Mesa View Trail + Ladrones View Trail, 1-9-2021
Length: 6 miles
Difficulty: moderate
Trail traffic: light
Creatures seen/heard: red-winged blackbirds, crows, Northern harrier, wrens
Surprise visitors (Juan Tomas Open Space)
Squawkburble
startles me
on a mountain trail.
I look up into Vs
of sandhill cranes.
Their hoots, hollers
bounce off snowy hills.
They winter in the river valley
30 miles away,
2,500 feet lower.
Guess I’m not
the only one
who needed a change of scenery
today.
Hike: Juan Tomas Open Space, 12-30-20
Hike length: 4.7 miles
Difficulty: easy
Trail traffic: almost none
Creatures seen/heard: Abert’s squirrel, sandhill cranes, woodpeckers, robin, doves, crows, ravens, mountain chickadee, nuthatch, hawk, dark-eyed junco
Light, shadow, San Ysidro
Moonscape
with Moon Pies
burnt-black rock pillows
on a bed
of rock
think we’re lost
but then earth opens
welcomes us home
sandstone
wombcanyon
beige, shell pink waves
lap us downstream
earthoven baked
most of the canyon’s pools dry
in deep shadow
one oval of ice
This must be it, you say.
The place where no light can get.
Don’t we all have that?
Hike: San Ysidro Trials Area, 12-26-20
Length: 5.5 miles
Difficulty: moderate
Trail traffic: light
Creatures spotted/heard: gray vireos, crows, ravens, millipedes, robin
Woman Seeks Elevation 