August 6, 2014
by David Ryan
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A couple of weeks ago the dogs and I were walking through the Bosque along the Rio Grande in Albuquerque. Bosque happens to be the Spanish word for forest and “the Bosque” is what the cottonwood forest along the Rio Grande in New Mexico is called. While walking we spotted a sign that told us that we were entering the Aldo Leopold Forrest and Trail.
July 17, 2014
by David Ryan
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Earlier this week, the dogs and I took a drive to the other side of the mountains east of Albuquerque to hike on a trail in the Manzano Mountains that we hadn’t walked on for a while. Our route took us through several land grant communities that have their roots back to the days when this part of the country was held by Mexico.
The land was granted in the 1830s and 1840s as a buffer against potential encroachment from Texas and the United States. When the communities were settled, their economy was based upon raising sheep.
Being far away from the Rio Grande and isolated on the other side of the mountains, they would have been in constant danger from raids by hostile Plains Indians. It would have been a very tough life. Many descendants of the original settlers still live in the area today.
Even though the communities are less than fifty miles from Albuquerque, there is still a sense of isolation and of it being a different place. Once past the outskirts of Albuquerque the first community on our route was Escobosa. Other than a highway sign and a small church, there is not much to identify Escobosa as a settlement.
San Ysidro Church in Escobosa
June 29, 2014
by David Ryan
6 Comments
For the past week and a half, my wife Claudia and I have been moving into a brand new co-housing community not too far from the Rio Grande in Albuquerque. In addition to simplifying our lives by living with less space in a different type of community, I must admit that one of my motivations for moving to our new home was to be closer to the Rio Grande’s amazing network of acequias.
Acequias are small community-run irrigation ditches. The acequias in the Albuquerque area were updated several decades ago and are now managed by the Middle Rio Grande Conservation District. The Spanish brought acequias to New Mexico over 300 years ago and New Mexico is one of the few places in the country where you can find them.
As natural corridors, acequias are incredible places to wander. In fact, many of the posts in this blog mention them. Needless to say, we have been taking advantage of the cool morning temperatures to check out the acequias near our home.
Here are some pictures of what we have discovered so far.
Here’s our townhome within the community.