Desert Tango

Now that winter is pretty much over (although I’m sure we’ll get at least one more snow storm here in New Mexico before summer), I recently spent some time reviewing photos from my winter outdoor activities. I came across several images from the dozens of excursions I’ve done this winter and early spring. In terms of pure fun and good times, I have to say that this winter has been one of the most memorable to date. Copious amounts of snowfall in the mountains meant that our winter backcountry  skiing activities extended well into March this year. Plus we were able to make a quick and easy transition from skiing to mountain biking; there was even an afternoon where I did both in the same day.  So with spring, singletrack and sunshine up on us,  I present a collection of images that celebrate this past winter’s glory.

Like the rest of the country,  western New Mexico has had it’s share of snow this winter. To a Midwesterner like myself, I can’t say that it rivals the amount we would get living along the western coast of Lake Michigan, but it’s no less fun. In fact, it’s more like an invitation to continue to getting out and having fun, even as the biking season winds down. The Zuni Mountains are a fantastic set of mountains to explore, their smooth and rolling nature lends itself to short backcountry excursions with your choice of up and downs along the small ridges,  or just cruising along in the open  meadows.  And when it’s all done, there is nothing better than coming back to the warmth of a friends cabin.

New Mexico Magazine called me a few months back looking for images to illustrate a story about the works of author Tony Hillerman. Much of Hillerman’s detective novels are set in western New Mexico and deal with crime on the Navajo Nation.

While I do not consider myself much of a stock photography shooter, I do maintain a Photoshelter website with images from my outdoor adventures in the Southwest. I happened to have a couple of images that they were interested in, and in the end they picked this one of my friend Nicholle Kovach hiking at Chaco Canyon.

The cool thing about this photo is that it was shot during what was more of a vacation than a photo excursion. While I try to take a camera with me everywhere I go, sometimes it’s nice to not always be in that creative mode of shooting. This image was more of a result of me immersing myself in the beauty of my surroundings than me looking for compelling imagery.

Yikes! It’s been almost a month since I last posted something. No worries, I’ve got a few things in the works in the coming weeks. For now, I wanted to post this photo from the Tour of the White Mountains mountain bike race I shot this fall in Show Low, Ariz.  It ran as a double-truck in Mountain Flyer Magazine this month. I first blogged about this event here, so this is sort of the second half of that post.

As much as I try to keep up with my goal one blog post per week, sometimes it’s almost impossible. September ended up being a really busy month for me shooting a wedding in Iowa and a mountain bike race in Show Low, Ariz. Both went really well and will be subject of future blog posts.

Meanwhile, on a leisurely Sunday afternoon, several friends and I made a trip deep in the heart of the Zuni Mountain’s to ride the smooth flowy red rocks and beautiful Cottonwood Canyon. The aspens were in full color and the oak trees were reaching their peak as well, so it made for a fantastic fall ride. Along the way I was able to make a few nice photos of our afternoon adventure.

Cottonwood Canyon is one of the lesser know rides in the Zuni Mountains. It’s also one of the harder trails to access due to it’s slightly remote location, but it is also one of the prettiest places to ride in western New Mexico, regardless of the time of year. Lush stands of cottonwood, pine and aspen blanket the canyon as well as some interesting plants that are hard to find anywhere else in the desert. During a ride earlier this year, we found a vine of wild hops.

The remoteness also contributes to it’s ruggedness. It’s not necessarily an easy ride, especially when you consider that at the end you are faced with the notorious Six Mile Climb, aptly named and another fantastic but unknown ride here in the Zuni’s.

It’s hard sometimes to shoot and bike. It requires that you scout locations as you’re riding and be ahead of everyone else to set up and shoot as they come past. Then you have to catch up and pass them to do it again. But this particular day proved to be perfect for that; leisurely and relaxing.

For information about the Cottonwood Canyon and other trails in the area, visit the Gallup Trails 2010 web page here.

I’ve been off the map for the past month or so.  By off the map I mean enjoying some of the more distant places that New Mexico has to offer. This past weekend a few friends and I went down to Ramah Lake in Ramah, New Mexico to test a new boat that I recently acquired; a rather large 18ft canoe, a lovely beast perfect for hauling three people and gear.

I hope to plan a trip with this thing soon, meanwhile we headed to the beautiful Ramah Valley for test run. Ramah Lake is a  man-made lake, and a shallow one too, so an algae bloom made the water a little funky. Nevertheless the setting for this lake, which drains water from the Zuni Mountains,  offers some spectacular red rock scenery.

After a while the water became a bit too much, so headed to Nutria Canyon, which is on the Zuni Reservation.  Nutria Canyon is an oasis in the desert and there are some wonderful photo opportunities here, but we arrived a bit too late to catch light streaming into the canyon. Fall would most likely be the best time with the yellow cottonwoods and red Virgina creeper. I was still able to make a few images that I liked here.