Lost in the Sandias.

Growing up out West, I’ve become adverse to sticking solely to the trail and one day I got lost. I was descending the steep face of Sandia Peak and midway down I found myself chasing mule deer tracks into the desert.

I could clearly see Albuquerque, my destination, but without shade, water, or a clear path to guide me, I soon succumbed to a dizzy wandering.  In the glaring midday sun my vision became impaired by stars and a mirage of halos. I like to believe that my guardian angel  led me to that 7-Eleven at the edge of town where I quenched my thirst on a slurpie and brain-freezed myself back to life.

The puckered lips of Old Man Gloom. Photo: Jeremy Hockett.

Eventually anyone who spends some time in New Mexico gets heat stroke. You forget to drink water, your lips get painfully chapped, and you end up looking like a sunburned Zozobra.  The only remedy to a fever dream is to wake up in an ice cold bath.

Sandia is Spanish for Watermelon and at dusk the mountain turns pink on the arid west side. The green forested rolling hills of the east side becomes the rind.  It’s cooler in the higher eastern elevations and the stream at San Antonio is an oasis.  Native Americans, Spaniards, and Gringo’s alike competed with the rest of the animals in the woods for a drink at the spring.  One party after another gained control over its access, but the others have not gone away.  The acequia at San Antonio fuels diversity. Continue reading →