October 29, 2013
by David Ryan
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Getting Ideas for a Backcountry Wandering Adventure from a Map

The basic premise of The Gentle of Art of Wandering is that you can have an amazing adventure no matter where you are if you allow yourself to see. But you won’t have that adventure if you never get out. That’s why it’s worthwhile to have a backlog of ideas to keep you going out.

As mentioned in the book, if you need an idea, a map is a good place to find one. And last week I used a map to find a very different and excellent backcountry adventure.

This adventure started several months ago when someone told me about an old masonry dam in the middle of the desert on a river that is only wet when it rains. The dam was built in the 1890s to provide irrigation for a very questionable real estate scheme.

Although the dam’s foundation was built on bedrock, the surrounding land and flood plain was (and still is) a combination of sand, silt, and mud. As you can imagine, when the first big storm came, the surging water quickly dissolved the dirt and went around the dam.

With the dam rendered worthless, any hope for the real estate project washed away with that first surge of water. The real estate project is now very isolated range land. The dam is still there and, except for a handful of cattle, all alone in the desert. Continue Reading →

October 9, 2013
by David Ryan
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Wandering to a Natural Hot Spring in New Mexico

If you have been to Taos, New Mexico, you’ve probably taken a picture of San Francisco de Asis Church. If you haven’t been to the church, it’s only four miles from the center of Taos in the small community of Ranchos de Taos. It is a simple and beautiful building that has been photographed by Ansel Adams and is the subject of several Georgia O’Keefe paintings.

When you approach the church, you’ll be coming in from the back.

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September 24, 2013
by David Ryan
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Wandering to an Ancient Stairway at Chaco Canyon

Chaco Canyon, in the middle of Navajo Country in northwestern New Mexico, is one of the most amazing places in the country, if not the world. One thousand years ago, it was the center place for the ancestors of today’s Pueblo Indians. Their enormous great houses, great kivas, and other structures defy the imagination. All were built with stone tools, without the aid of pack animals, in an area with very limited natural resources.

Their remarkable achievement was recognized by UNESCO when Chaco Canyon was named a World Heritage Site in 1987. There are only eight World Heritage Cultural Sites in the entire country.

With all this attention you would think that Chaco Canyon would be overrun by visitors. It’s not. In fact I am always surprised by the number of people I have met who live in New Mexico who have never been to the canyon.

Industrial tourism decried by Edward Abbey in his wonderful book Desert Solitaire has not hit the canyon. You won’t find any stores or restaurants at Chaco. The only accommodation is the campground. If it’s full, the next place to camp is over twenty miles away. And the last thirteen miles of your drive into the canyon will be on an unpaved road.

When you get there, you won’t find giant RVs and tour buses idling in the parking lots. You won’t have to enter a lottery or get a ticket for a specific time to visit a site. And you won’t find yourself on a nose-to-tail elephant walk as you wander through the sites.  You can take everything in at your own pace. And when you leave, you’ll be glad you made the effort to get there.

My wife, the dogs, and I recently revisited the canyon to hike to the Jackson Stairway. The stairway was built during the canyon’s occupancy and is named for the 19th century photographer of the old west – William Henry Jackson. The stairs are off limits for climbing but (as you will see) they are well worth the effort to hike there.

The stairway is above the canyon rim and can be reached by taking the Pueblo Alto backcountry hiking trail. The hike is a little more than five miles.

The trail to the top starts behind this pueblo (Kin Kletso).

Continue Reading →