Saturday, we met up with M+D+S and headed out to Plaza Blanca, which they'd talked about for years, but we never quite got to (or worked out where it is).
Passing through Española, traffic was stopped at the light up ahead. It was a parade — looked to be the kickoff of the high school (and junior) football season.
There was some hunting around to find it, as it had been years since M+D were out there, but we started out on the trail by about 11-ish. Suppose it should be "trail," since there is kind of a loosely defined trail that combines with the dry riverbed. Really, you just head out into the area and just meander.
The area is kind of protected by the land around it, welcome, as it was windy that day. The white of the area is a fragile sandstone, but mixed in with plenty of other rocks and formations. And we just wandered. At one point, heading up into the narrowest of slot canyons, Monica, D, and I trying to track down the source of a little spring that was still eroding the stone and providing water for some bees.
By then, M+S had found us, and we all hiked out together. Bringing up the rear, I spotted this guy on the rock wall next to us, which everyone seemed to have passed by.
M+D were a bit more blasé; they'd seen tarantulas out here before. Me, I thought we were too high up, too cold, for the poisonous critters.
Almost two hours out there, walking the varying (yet generally lunar) terrain, scrambling up and down rock formations when it seemed there was something interesting.
Lunch at Abiquiu Inn. Late grilled salad dinner at our place.
No comments:
Post a Comment