April 1, 2025
by David Ryan
1 Comment

Wandering Through a Red Rock Wonderland

Last week my little dog Sparky and I headed off from the North Rainbow Bridge Trailhead on the northern flank of Navajo Mountain in the Navajo Nation just north of the Arizona/Utah border. Our intention was to backpack for three or four days to make the 30-mile roundtrip hike to and from Rainbow Bridge National Monument. When it took us over three hours to hike a little less than four miles, I realized that a backpack loaded with four days’ worth of food for Sparky and me may be a bit of a stretch for someone of my age (77 ½ and now closer to 80 than 75) to carry over extremely rugged terrain.

Rather than risk further exhaustion and finding ourselves stranded in an extremely remote part of the country, we made the decision to make camp in a beautiful red rock canyon (Bald Rock Canyon) and then hike back to the trailhead the next day. Although we came up short on the original goal, we were given the gift of being immersed in one of the most majestic places on earth. And we had it all to ourselves in total quiet and beauty. Who could ask for more?

Off and running from the trailhead into our red rock adventure.

Continue Reading →

March 17, 2025
by David Ryan
2 Comments

Checking Out the Durango, Colorado Sky Steps

While Durango, Colorado is best known for its old-time steam engine train rides on the Durango and Silverton narrow gauge railroad, it is also home to a 529-step stairway. The stairway connects Durango’s historic downtown residential district with Fort Lewis College, 250 feet or so above on a bluff overlooking the community.

The 9:15am train steaming up and getting ready to pull out.

Not all wandering adventures have to be extremely exotic or particularly significant, some like in this blog post can be as simple as following up on something you may have read or heard about. In my case, as someone who likes to explore public stairways, I put the Durango Sky Steps on my radar scope to check out as soon as I heard about them a few years ago. And finally two weeks ago, my dog Sparky and I found ourselves in Durango, Colorado with sufficient time to check out the Sky Steps.

The Sky Steps begin at the base of the bluff at the intersection of East 10th Street and 6th Avenue. The first step is only about a mile away from where you catch the steam engine ride and just a few feet from the starting point of the Durango’s Nature Trail. The Nature Trail, too, works its way to the top of the bluff and crosses the steps several times along the way.

The first step at the intersection of East 10th Street and 6th Avenue.

Continue Reading →

December 16, 2024
by David Ryan
7 Comments

Wandering through Guadalupe Canyon to the Southwest Corner of New Mexico

In the course of working on Wandering in the Clear Light of New Mexico and after other travels, I managed to get to the Northwest, Northeast, and Southeast corners of New Mexico. But I never ventured to the Southwest corner of the State, where New Mexico, Arizona, and Mexico converge. This gave me the idea that I should check it out. (If you’ve read The Gentle Art of Wandering, you may remember the importance of having an Idea to initiate a wandering adventure.)

While gathering information, I learned that the Southwest Corner is located in a very rugged and remote tract of BLM (Bureau of Land Management) land. I also learned that the best (and only) access would be from Douglas, Arizona and that the adventure would involve walking through Guadalupe Canyon on private land. Fortunately, after reading various write-ups that I found on the Internet from other people who had explored the area, I learned that access is okay if you’re on foot and don’t hunt or trap. (You may also remember from The Gentle Art of Wandering the value of fleshing out your Idea by developing some Context for your adventure is important, but ultimately the Idea and Context only have meaning when you take Action and actually get out there and do it.)

In further readings, I learned that Guadalupe Canyon has plenty of history related to the Apache and Old West Lawmen and Bad Guys, but more importantly it is located where multiple eco-zones and wildlife from both sides of the border come together to make this a sought after location by birdwatchers. It is also where jaguars are believed to cross from Mexico into the United States.

This is from a BLM Land Status map. White is private land; Yellow/Orange is BLM land; Green is Forest Service land; and Blue is State Land.

Continue Reading →