When I know I'm alone, it's a lot harder to knowingly, willingly make the wrong decision. Most of the dumb decisions I've made have been because George was there. Not just because he's a stubborn sonofabitch, which he is, but because I know when I lose it, he knows how to bring me back. I know that when I'm ready to give up, ready to cry and punch him for bringing me there, he knows to make me take a step back, catch my breath, have a clif bar, and move on.
I know that if I fall off of the cliff, he'll call search and rescue. When I'm by myself I stick to known routes and travel where there are people. Well at least I do since the mountain lion incident.
So yeah, I went for a hike, and it was nice.
Work brought me to New Mexico, and I didn't get much time off so I had to be an efficient tourist. I drove north, and this is what I found.
There's not much more to say, it was a spectacular, though short hike, in a well populated park. Somehow mine was the second car in the lot, which is funny considering the 250 mile drive. I was glad to have the walk mostly to myself, considering the hoards of people headed up on my way down.
I flew home on a Sunday, and the project ended Friday. The previous week I'd made an attempt on Organ Needle. I drove past Organ Mountain twice every day for two weeks (and a week, a few weeks earlier) and it called my name taunting me every time. Organ Needle was a much bigger undertaking, however. Without a marked trail and with a 20 foot section requiring a climb, preparations were needed. Luckily I found a very accurate and detailed source with waypoints all the way. Not so luckily, they were in UTM. It took some hours the night before to convert all of the waypoints to DMS and program them, but eventually I got to sleep. I woke up just before sunrise, deciding not to start before the sun came up because I'd been warned the day prior that there are Mountain Lions in the area, I almost decided to skip it and see a movie, maybe go to the mall, maybe be normal for once. But that wouldn't be me. I went to Walmart and bought a knife. I thought about the guns, but I would have no idea how to legally bring a gun back to New Jersey, and I really wouldn't want to.
As luck would have it, my one day off in the week, is the day it rains in the desert. I pulled up to my parking spot as some rock climbers were packing up camp. I asked if they were climbing in this weather and their affirmative answer convinced me to proceed. If they're rock climbing, I can hike. Maybe it will clear up.
The nice thing about climbing a mountain next to the city, is that I had full cell service the entire way. That meant I could check NOAA and confirm that it was going to rain beginning at 11, right about when I'd estimate I'd be summiting, woohoo. Phone service also meant a lifeline. It also meant I could receive work calls, Uh Oh. Maybe this is the excuse I need to turn around? I mean, I'm not really that afraid, they need me. Wind gusts picking up. They're trying it now, maybe they won't need me. No really, I don't mind, but I'm an hour from the car so let me know now if you need me. Getting a little misty. Keep looking up at the doom cloud hanging above. Back to my cell phone. Back to the doom cloud. Wind whipping harder. Look up at the rocks I need to scramble up. Ah f*ck it, no summit is worth my life.
I turned back. Predictably, George told me I was a wimp. I acknowledged that if we were together I would have continued. We might have had rope though, and at the very least, I would have had someone to call 911.
I went back to Las Cruces and had a wonderfully straighforward toursity day. I went to Old Town Mesilla and watched the school bands play in the Fiesta in the Town Square. I stopped at a winery and bought some pistachios. I went and saw the Rio not-so Grande down here, my god they must have dammed the shit out of that thing, and got giddy at the sight of a pepper farm. Yay New Mexico!
When it came time to decide what to do on my second and final day off in New Mexico, I thought about a second attempt on Organ Needle, I thought really hard about it. I still want that mountain, but as nice as moutaintops are, my heart belongs to the Colorado Plateau. I can't describe the feeling, standing in the sun surrounded by giant hoodoos, or the feeling of touching both walls of a canyon as deep as a skyscraper. The terrain is surreal, and unmatched and I can't stay away. No photo can convey the absolute wonder.
I realized that because of my job I had a 4 wheel drive vehicle. I'd lost the lottery to visit North Coyote Buttes before, but with a Jeep, I could see the South Coyote Buttes. Google maps said 10 hours. Maybe not. Well what can I see? New Mexico is on the Colorado Plateau isn't it, there's gotta be something here. That's how I ended up at Kasha-Katuwe, one of the newest National Parks in the US. Spectacular and uneventful, but totally worth sharing if only to convince you to make the trip.
It was nice to see a thriving Native community on the way in to the park. It's sad how depressed so many communities are in this modern country. I bought some of the prettiest cookies I've ever seen from a friendly lady. After taking all of the trails in this small park, and a quick stop at the lake, I visited Coronado State Monument for some ancient history, and saw a Grander Rio Grande, above some dams, but below others. I wonder what it looked like when they named it. I stopped at the Ballooning Museum in Albuquerque and ran quickly around the old town before the long drive home.
Though 250 miles out here is a much shorter distance than back east. A daytrip that far at home would be absurd, but as it was I was back at my hotel in Las Cruces by 9. I won't admit how fast I was going when I flew past two cops at different points in the journey, but neither flinched.
The White Sands are also worth seeing. But again, there's not much to say about a trip where nothing goes wrong.
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