This past Saturday the dogs and I drove north to check out a tract of backcountry public land that we hadn’t visited in a couple of years. With the recent warm weather, we were hoping that the dirt road leading to our destination would be dry enough to drive.
When we reached the dirt road, we found it to be drivable but not in good shape. We made the turn and continued driving. In less than a mile we reached a patch of mud. Rather than risk getting stuck we turned around. We probably could have made it through that particular patch of mud, but we had no idea if it was the last patch of mud or the first of many. And it certainly wasn’t important enough to find out.
As you can see, the road was not in perfect condition.
Here’s where we turned back. With plenty of nearby snow waiting to melt, this section most likely would have had more mud later in the day!
We took the path of least resistance and moved on to Plan B. All we needed was for a Plan B to reveal itself to us.
Letting a Plan B reveal itself is not much different than finding a topic for these blog posts. Almost every post in this blog has been the result of a surprise. More often than not, I have set out convinced that I had a perfect topic for a post only to find out that when I got there that there was nothing that I could feel or see that would warrant one. Post topics only seem to come when I get diverted or when I set out with no intention at all. A topic, oftentimes, jumps out from nowhere and discovering a topic is, in a sense, a form of wandering.
And that’s good, because the last thing in the world I want is for this blog to become a repetitious collection of hikes or walks that I have taken. This blog was established to compliment The Gentle Art of Wandering, and I hope each blog post reflects an important aspect of wandering.
Wandering, whether it is finding something amazing or discovering a blog post topic is about being surprised. These surprises come by being connected to the world within and around you. It is being right here right now and allowing yourself to see what is already here.
As for finding a Plan B, we did turn the car around and headed back toward the pavement. A few hundred feet short of the pavement, we noticed a faint jeep road heading in the direction of a small mesa on public land that we had never explored. And there it was; our Plan B was right in front of us! We would go to the top of the mesa to see what was there.
Plan B revealed itself when we saw this mesa.
Rather than drive, we parked the car and started walking. It was a good thing we did that because in a few hundred feet the jeep road became a quagmire. But because we were on foot, we could keep going and ended up with an incredible day of wandering from one surprise to another.
Walking is a much better option than driving for a quagmire like this.
Here’s how our day went:
As we walked through the brush on our way to the mesa we were surrounded by the faint scent of sagebrush. We also noticed an early sign of spring with the chamisa (rabbit bush) starting to green up.
As we got closer to mesa we walked along the base looking for a break in the cliff face to reach the top
When we made it to the top the first thing we spotted was piece of chert that had been worked into a tool.
If you look closely, you can see that the chert has a blade edge.
A few steps later, we spotted a fossilized shark’s tooth on the ground.
The shark’s tooth is in the center of the picture. The nearby rabbit droppings should give you a sense of the tooth’s size. Noticing what’s different is a key to making discoveries.
As we walked further we noticed some fire marked stones. They are oftentimes an indicator of an archaeological site.
And when we started looking around we found dozens of potsherds and pieces of chert. We were clearly on a site.
The presence of redware, such as this potsherd, can be a valuable clue in dating a site.
Decorated pottery is also a good indicator in determining who lived here and when.
As we continued along we noticed a circular depression fifteen or twenty feet across. A depression like this is usually the remains of a pit house.
Although it is hard to tell from this picture, this was clearly a depression.
When we looked around, especially on the downhill side, we found hundreds of artifacts. Again this was clearly a site.
If you look closely at this picture you can see several pieces of chert that have been chipped, a sherd from the rim of a pot, and a couple pieces of firemarked rock. All are artifacts eroding from the pit house.
But artifacts and archaeological sites were not all that we found. We also wandered through patches of crystalized gypsum (selenite).
Selenite like this can be found in many places.
And we also wandered into a great place to have lunch.
On our way back to the car we checked out some of the rock faces along the base of the mesa and found some rock art.
If you look closely you can see a cross on top of a small mound. The petroglyph would have been made after the Spanish arrived in New Mexico.
And when we looked up at the underside of an alcove we saw these swallow nests.
And as we got closer to the car, the dogs got excited about this piece of snakeskin.
Was the snakeskin from last fall, or was it from a snake getting a head start on spring? Regardless of when the snake shed its skin, you’ll always spot something wherever you are when you wander. And who needs a destination when there is a Plan B waiting to reveal itself to you.
March 10, 2015 at 3:24 pm
Hi David,
I always enjoy your posts. I don’t know if it’s within the reach or purpose of your blog but I would like to know how to find some of these extraordinary places that you’ve discover. For instance this mesa, I would love to see this place, is it any way that you could give me driving directions to find it? Thanks a lot.
Best Regards,
Patricia