journal – Page 4 – a curious nature

Escapito #6: Summer Sequel …. A Desert SW Escape Part 1: Tijeras, NM to Luna Lake, AZ

October 19/20, 2022

A long first day drive (250 miles) towing The Felix, fully laden, on slow and windy roads. West then south through scenic el Malpais, Quemado (a Catron County stronghold), and into Arizona, all while enjoying beautiful high desert scenery, mountain islands like the Sawtooths (Escapito #3), and open grasslands dotted with pronghorn. First stop, Springerville for fuel and sticker shock! With only 2 places to buy gas, the Circle K coming into town and the Circle K leaving town, we settled on Circle K. Hahaha! Fueled up we were back on the road heading south to the pretty little village of Alpine, AZ 8,000 feet high in the Apache-Sitgraves NF. From there it was a short 5 mile hop back east where we found Luna Lake and our forest campground for the night. The Forest Service closed all but one loop, shut off the water for the season, and didn’t charge for camping! Other than 2 other trailers, we pretty much had the place to ourselves and picked a site with a view of the lake.

Anecdote …… Pins and Needles or The Case of the Wicked Seed: after a long drive we were ready for a hike. But choosing a cross-country trek through tall vegetation was a mistake. Nearly all the wildflowers and grasses had dried and gone to seed, and being fully loaded with ripe seeds, our pant legs, socks and shoestrings provided them an ideal way to disperse. One seed in particular was especially wicked! About 1.5” long and skinny, this hard bugger was tipped with 2 hooks on fork-like tines. Any whisper of contact with these seeds resulted in them leaping out from the seed head and hooking on for a ride. I’m not sure how their grabbers release their grip and drop to the ground, because when we returned to The Felix, we must’ve been carrying 100s of them embedded in our pants with the bottom ends of the hard sharp-pointy seeds lined up like soldiers ready to attack at the slightest threat of extraction. Ouch! After a consult with iNaturalist, submitting only seed photo, the database turned up one possibility ….. Spanish Needles! A brilliantly named member of the sunflower family. I’ll take dandelion fluff any day!

We enjoyed our stay at Luna Lake …… in the morning we woke to the sound of elk bugling in the distance, owls hooting overhead, and a respectable coating of frost in everything. A brisk 1 mile hike on Forest Service roads covering all the campground loops (we weren’t about to venture into the grass ….. oh no way!) warmed us enough to pack up camp and head south in search of summer!

Stay tuned for Part 2: Luna Lake to Clifton, AZ

An excellent cluster of Santa Rita Hedgehog cactus (no matter where you are in the desert SW, watch your step!)

Welcome Autumn!

So much rain! Not complaining ….. we need the moisture. But with days of drenching rain falling in the East Mountains and the Sandias this entire week, summer seemed to flip into Autumn in a matter of days.

Trying to capture the last remnants of fading flowers, I was inspired by a remarkable naturalist and artist, Jean Mackay, to get out there and rescue blooming bits before everything turned brown and crunchy.

Thanks Jean, for the encouragement, and always helpful tips and techniques in creating interesting journal pages. My hike this morning revealed some surprise bloomers that I wanted to remember in my nature journal.

And thanks to my many followers for your continued interest in my discoveries!

Escapito #5: Public Lands Boondocking through central New Mexico

“The Felix” was loaded and ready for a fun boondocking adventure through forest and desert, ghost towns and lava flows, rainbow colored ridges and badlands.
Central New Mexico is a splendid place to explore and discover wildlife, geology and spectacular scenery.

Come on along with us for 4 days of camping fun in the Land of Enchantment.

Kowabunga! Desert Nomads

Observing nature, especially in a desert environment, requires cautious peering under scrub oak and cholla. It’s always wise to gently part the razor sharp leaves of plants like beargrass and banana yucca with a long stick. Everything seems well armed with spines, thorns or prickles. But look you must, because you never know what you might find cooling off in the shade of a big leafed buffalo gourd or making a noon meal of a prickly pear fruit in the shadows of fan-shaped pads.

But when exploring it’s wise to always, always remember you might be surprised by a snake. So imagine our relief and delight when on a stretch of dusty trail we encountered our very first desert box turtle!

A true nomad of the southwest.

Grumpy G. Gus …. A Sandia Mountain Sentinel

Sandia Mountain granite! Such distinctively gnarly gargoyles, whimisically odd and judgmental, critter and caricature mimics ……. There’s nothing like these boulders! This is a short story about one of a cast of thousands; Grumpy G. Gus.

But there’s a longer story too. Underneath the often comical-looking and recognizable characters that can be envisioned in these boulders, there’s an even more fascinating tale that tells volumes about the geologic history of central New Mexico. Come along and meet Gus and learn a bit about Sandia Mountain granite.

Escapito #4: Reservoir Hopping thru Georgia O’Keefe Country

On the road again with “The Felix” reservoir hopping through spectacular Georgia O’Keefe country in north-central New Mexico.

Come along and see what we discovered!

10,000 feet: Birds atop Sandia Mountain

In an effort to escape the blistering temperatures brought on by a mid-July heat dome, we decided to take a cooling hike high above Albuquerque. At 10,000+ feet, the trails along the top of Sandia Mountain are a refreshing contrast to the dry desert habitats we usually enjoy.

Up high there are spruce, fir and aspen trees surrounding lush meadows full of blooming wildflowers. On the margins we found flying, flitting, perching and singing some of the prettiest birds we’ve seen all season. Let me share some of the fun facts I learned about two of these birds; the Violet-green Swallow and the Northern Flicker.

Bird On a Wire: Western Kingbird

A swooping, darting and sometimes hovering flycatcher, the Western Kingbird is such fun to watch. When they aren’t performing an aerial ballet to outmaneuver and catch a flying insect, you can find them on a favorite perch actively looking for their next meal to wing on by.

These lemon-breasted, robin-sized birds are easy to recognize. Just look up when you hear non-stop chittering and chatting and you’re likely to find a Western kingbird.

Escapito #3: Wildlife and Geology of Catron County

“The Felix” was back in action for another camping adventure into the wilds of New Mexico. For a few days we enjoyed spending time at one of our favorite dry campgrounds, Datil Well. Then on one day we unhooked truck from trailer and headed further afield to explore a seldom visited area of the Cibola National Forest ….. the Sawtooth Mountains.

Come along and see what we discovered!

Life List Birds: Scott’s Oriole and Hermit Thrush

Yes, I keep a life list of birds! But along with the list (which includes birds from around the world), I also try to learn something about the species logged, and lately I’ve been enjoying sketching them too.

It’s been a while since a new-to-me bird species came into view. So it was doubly exciting when I was able to increase my list by two on two consecutive days. Meet the Scott’s Oriole and the Hermit Thrush.