Desert Tango

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.

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.