The stories of what I've seen and experienced exploring New Mexico on foot.
I don’t know
how I got here.
Dead end,
bumble through brush
and the path
appeared.
Crows inquire:
How will you get back?
I don’t know
that, either. But
I know I will.
Hike: Cedro Peak + Middle Trail, 3-29-21
Hike length: 5 miles
Difficulty: moderate
Trail traffic: none
Creatures seen/heard: nuthatch, crows, gray vireo, hawk, chickadees, Abert’s squirrel, pinyon jays
Wind lashes
ponderosa
cathedral. Silver needles
rain down. Blue
peeks through solemn
shadow. Bootpath
down the center aisle, snow
halfway to
your knees. Through
stained glass windows,
a hot, flat land
you wandered 40
sunblazed days, a river
without enough left
to part.
Jaychoir squawks
at each step.
Gust tosses
one tall trunk.
It squeaks, sways,
tests faith.
Below, cross yourself,
emerge blinking
into sunlight,
the service
melting
before your eyes.
Hike: North Mystery Trail at Barro Canyon, 3-27-21
Hike length: 3+ miles
Difficulty: moderate
Trail traffic: none
Creatures spotted/heard: jays, crows, chickadees
clinkrock
white vein
splits rust
bootthump
blue, purple
splotch underfoot
colors pop
from olive
creosote
canyon irrupts,
wallsurge –
beehive in the sky
Hike: Arroyo del Tajo, Quebradas Backcountry Byway, 3-6-21
Length: 5.5 miles
Difficulty: moderate
Trail traffic: light
Creatures seen/heard: ravens, crows, bees, flycatchers, sandhill cranes, lizards, butterflies
when the sun
wind
punch you in the face
say
thank you sun
thank you wind
may i have another
Hike: Coyote Trail-FR 462 loop
Hike length: 7 miles
Difficulty: moderate
Trail traffic: very light
Creatures spotted/heard: cottontail, squirrel, gray vireos, blue jays, pinyon jays, Northern flicker, crows, ravens, robin, Say’s phoebe, nuthatches
sunsoak
windbrace
cavemouth
Hike: JA, Black, Vulcan and Bond Volcanoes, Petroglyph National Monument
Hike length: 5.2 miles
Difficulty: moderate
Trail traffic: moderate
Creatures seen/heard: hawks
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
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
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
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
Rust and purple underfoot, cut with white.
Snow doesn’t last long in the sun-baked hills of Golden Open Space. But north-facing hills haven’t yet cast off their last blanket. A few icy spots in the shade of a juniper’s twist dot the trail.
We climb the mesa on the far side of the Arroyo Seco and keep going out to a point. When we’re in these multicolored sandstone canyons, they’re eye-popping. “Tortured,” my husband calls the rock.
But from up here, hues meld and deepen: watercolor, mostly peach.
We chase the sun, our longest hike of the year on its shortest day.
Hike length: 8 miles
Difficulty: moderate
Trail traffic: light
Creatures seen/heard: blue jays, crows, ravens
Woman Seeks Elevation 