Exploring Northern New Mexico
Despite having grown up just a few hours away in northern Arizona (and having lived in the other two ‘Four Corners’ states: Colorado and Utah), I’ve spent very little time in New Mexico. This summer, my wife and I had the chance to spend about a week in northern New Mexico as part of a larger road trip to the southwest, checking out Santa Fe and some of the national monuments in the area.
Our first stop was a place I’ve wanted to visit for a long time: Chaco Canyon. The epicenter of Ancestral Puebloan culture, this broad and shallow canyon is only accessible via many miles of dirt roads, which probably explains why we saw relatively few people once we were there! We arrived mid-afternoon and spent the night at the park campground before exploring several of the Chacoan “great houses” on self-guided trails early the following morning to beat the heat.
After proceeding south to visit friends in Santa Fe for several days, we headed into the Jemez Mountains north of town. Atop the Jemez Mountains sits Valles Caldera, a ~13 mile-wide depression created by an explosive volcanic eruption about 1.25 million years ago. The caldera and surrounding landscape are today part of Valles Caldera National Preserve (similar to a national park, except with hunting allowed), which was established in 2000 when a 95,000 acre private ranch was sold to the federal government. The southern portion of the caldera is occupied by a vast and stunningly beautiful grassy meadow known as Valles Grande. Several small lava domes punctuate the meadow, remnants of volcanic gurgles that occurred after caldera formation. We enjoyed a ranger-led hike around one of them, Cerro La Jara, and learned about the geological and human history of the region, as well as the local wildlife. We saw many prairie dogs, as well as a pair of coyotes meandering around the meadow stalking a massive herd of cow elk.
The eruption that created Valles Caldera deposited a thick layer of volcanic ash and tuff across the region known as the Bandelier Tuff. At the foot of the Jemez Mountains is Bandelier National Monument, our final stop in New Mexico, where Ancestral Puebloans carved dwellings into and out of this relatively soft and workable rock along what is now known as Frijoles Canyon:
The national parks of southern New Mexico and western Texas (White Sands, Carlsbad Caverns, Guadalupe Mountains, Big Bend) are some of the few in the west I’ve yet to visit, so a return to the “Land of Enchantment” will be needed soon!
Exploring the Mt. Adams Wilderness
Mt. Adams is the largest (by volume) and second highest volcano in the Cascade Range of Washington. Often overshadowed by its neighbors, Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, and Mt. Hood, we’ve taken a liking to Adams in part because its trails tend to be relatively deserted and in part because we have a fantastic view of the mountain’s east face from our neighborhood in the Yakima Valley. Recently we had the chance to complete a short backpacking trip on the north flank of the mountain which allowed us vantage points that far surpass anything we’ve seen on previous day hikes.
Our hike began and ended at a trailhead (Killen Creek) that is, as the crow flies, just 57 miles from our front door, but takes more than three hours to reach by car, giving some sense as to the relative remoteness of this area. Most of our ~20 mile loop was within the Mt. Adams Wilderness, a 48,000 acre wilderness area designated in 1964 with the original passage of the Wilderness Act.
On our first night, we camped at just under 7,000 feet on the north flank of the mountain in one of the most spectacular alpine meadows I’ve seen. No matter which way I turned, the views were extraordinary. To our south, the crumbling volcanic edifice of Mt. Adams loomed large, with the Adams Glacier descending in a stunning icefall from the summit plateau. To the north, broad expanses of dense evergreen forest stretched off into the distance, leading the eye to the massive Mt. Rainier and the rugged skyline of the Goat Rocks on the horizon. To the west, the truncated cone of Mt. St. Helens was backlit by the setting sun. Several lingering snowfields surrounded our campsite, providing a nice source of clear, cold water. A variety of diminutive alpine wildflowers were in full bloom, and the low rumble of rock and ice fall high on the mountain occasionally punctuated the silence, with clouds of dust the only clue as to their location. While this location is reachable by a long day hike, spending the night and being able to explore and photograph in the late afternoon and evening light is one of my favorite things about backpacking!
On Day 2, we descended to the Pacific Crest Trail before working our way around to the northeast side of Mt. Adams, passing through a series of wildflower-filled meadows and crossing several inviting streams cascading down from melting snowfields and glaciers higher on the mountain. These meadows also hosted a robust population of mosquitos and other biting insects….not unexpected for the Cascades in July, but an annoyance nonetheless, especially for an Arizona-born desert rat like me!
We had shared the trail with quite a few other hikers and backpackers on Day 1, but saw only a few other people from this point forward. Camp on night two was in a small clump of trees on the edge of a relatively recent lava flow. In contrast to the verdant alpine meadows of night one, this landscape was much more rugged, barren, and stark. After setting up our tent, we proceeded up the trail (with much lighter packs!) to find a spot for dinner. We quickly arrived at a stream crossing that we didn’t feel comfortable fording, so we left the trail behind and proceeded to pick our way up the rubbly bank until we arrived at a small knob with a spectacular view of the glaciers on Mt. Adams’ northeast face (Lava, Lyman, and Wilson). Here we enjoyed a delicious meal of instant mashed potatoes mixed with green chiles and an entire bag of bacon bits while listening to the roar of the creek.
Our best wildlife sighting of the trip actually occurred on the drive to the trailhead, when we happened upon a young barred owl sitting in the road. As we approached it flew into a nearby tree where it watched us warily for a few minutes before fleeing deeper into the forest:
Aside from this, we saw surprisingly little wildlife on this trip (unless you count mosquitos): only a few birds, chipmunks, squirrels, and a single marmot and mountain goat in the far distance from our first camp.
From our second camp, we were in a great position to catch sunrise on the final morning of our trip. There aren’t many things I’ll get up at 5:15 am for, but a Mt. Adams sunrise is definitely one of them!
After packing up, we hiked the eight downhill miles back to our car and drove back into the 100 degree blast furnace that is the Yakima Valley in late-July. We are thankful to have beautiful places like Mt. Adams so close to escape the heat this time of year!
Adventures with a telephoto lens (Part 2)
Here is installment #2 of recent photos taken with my new (well, new to me…used by someone else first) Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR telephoto lens:
Zach Schierl Photography 