Ibex, I bet

... but I didn't see any.

In 1970, the Shah of Iran presented the US with a herd of Ibex.  They were located in the Florida Peaks near Deming, NM, which is my current location.  There are two State Parks here - Rockhound, with camping, and Spring Canyon - a day use and rugged hiking area, where the Ibex are most often viewable.

The area is, of course, very rocky, with steep slopes and jagged formations rising out of the southern NM desert.

The most promising trail for spotting Ibex is the Lovers Leap trail.  It follows a stream course, with cliffs rising to peaks more than 1000 feet above the hiker.

At dawn, the rising sun is hidden from the campground area but lights the Spring Canyon formations.

When everything combines - the right sun, the right angle, and the right sky, it can be breathtaking.

Desert Cascades

You know I LOVE waterfalls.  And I prefer hiking in more rugged terrain rather than walking along a manicured path.  Well, I finally put the two together here in southern New Mexico.

I have been hiking "off the beaten path" just following my whim, looking for interesting topography and getting closer to it.  Yesterday I wandered into an area which I now know is called Rock Canyon.  Today I went back with my camera.

I started at the bottom, nearly at the level of the lake.  Above me was the last dash of a dry stream bed. 

With a desert cloudburst, the stream would drop over this last ledge in a waterfall that would be about 10 to 12 feet high.  Looking at it from above and the right of the drop, I picture in my mind the stream, running like chocolate milk, leaping into the air from the left, then dropping to the delta below.

From further above, looking downstream, it is easier to see the drop that the stream would run off, with the lake below the delta in the distance.

From that same point, looking further upstream, another ledge can be seen which would form a second waterfall.

The stream bed continues to rise in its excavated bed.

Here is the uppermost significant falls.  The drop here is about 5 or 6 feet.

There are a number of smaller falls along this drainage channel.  OK, I know, there is no water.  Well, it IS the desert.  But I bet this area would really be something to see with a flash flood running.

Rainbows Over The Lake

Three days ago, we had a winter storm work its way through from midday on.  No snow, just a steady light rain, and classic wind.  By late afternoon, the skies were clearing just as the sun was setting.  The tail end of the storm headed east, crossing over the mountains east of the Lake.

The light was just awesome to watch.

I figured that was my treat for the month.  Then, yesterday, a squall came through at just the right moment.

New Mexico skies are great!

Lessons Learned

Two days ago, one of our campground hosts passed away. 

This morning, I had a long talk with his wife.  He had nurtured her, and taught her about - everything.  She knows how to deal with their finances, how to use all their tools, how to service, maintain and repair their 1962 RV trailer, and how to care for their truck.  She is... ok.  She looks at the future, not with uncertainty and apprehension, as my mother did when my father passed, but with calmness, acceptance and a readiness to continue, on her own, the path the two of them had walked together.  She knows she can continue and can take care of herself.  She learned the lessons he had to teach.

And I have learned a lesson.  Love may not be about taking care of someone, providing for their every need.  It is also about loving them enough that you prepare them so they can manage on their own.  That is giving them true security.

You did good, Barry.

This Winter Is For The Birds!

It started with a drive to a place called the Monticello Box.  The road, which crossed a stream bed multiple times, was never far from the stream.  Along the edges of the stream we saw two birds, the first of which Jan identified as a Kildeer

...and the second, as a snipe.

Although I had been taken on snipe hunts in my youth (taken is sure the word for it), I had no idea that was what they looked like.

Next, I sat at my spot on the Elephant Butte Lake watching ravens and red-tailed hawks dancing and playing in the updrafts formed when winds out of the south hit the Point.

After the others headed further south, I went to Caballo Lake for a week.  All through the Monticello Box, a Great Blue Heron would take off and fly ahead of us, giving us glimpses, but never enough time to get a photo.  My frustration was eased my second day at Caballo when I found a very cooperative Great Blue Heron working the edges of one of the pools in the Rio Grande.

OK, I know gulls are not all that special as photo subjects, but I really like this shot.

Same with the pelicans.

Just outside the park, sand hill cranes were socializing and browsing in a farm field.

The real excitement came from a beautiful Bald Eagle.  He hung around most mornings.  Early in the week, he was working the water for fish.

Later, as a film of ice formed, he seemed to turn his attention to looking for ground squirrels or other small critters, spending a lot of his time looking down.

Yesterday had me laughing at the frustration of a Rough-legged hawk.  Normally a fisherman, he seemed puzzled by the hard water surface.  After a few passes he landed.  He looked through the ice.  He scratched, trying to reach through and seize whatever he was seeing below.

Finally, in frustration, he flew off and perched high on the far bank.

All in all, it is turning into a rewarding, though cold, winter in New Mexico.

(Correction, Feb 9, 2013 - I got it wrong.  I identified the rough legged hawk using an on-line bird reference.  It seems this is actually a juvenile bald eagle.)

By Request

Don and Dorothy are opening the New Year under gray skies.  They asked for a sunset.

Let's start the way the day starts - dawn.

Then the natural finish is the requested shot, sunset, taken from the center of the then dry Elephant Butte Lake.

Wishing you sunny skies!

An Experiment with Video

The skies in Elephant Butte are clear tonight.  I went out with my little HandiCam and a tripod just to see what I might be able to get.  Here is the result - a video showing the planet Jupiter.  While very grainy, 4 of its moons may be seen, in a line tilted to the right about 30 degrees from vertical.