As we’re discovering, the desert southwest can quickly transform you into a more well-rounded individual. This is an extreme place in all senses of the word.
A lot of things in this desert landscape will try to kill you if given the slightest chance. Scorpions, black widow spiders, and even roving packs wild javelina pigs. These little pigs might look cute at first glance but I’ve been advised to restrain from staring at them too long or they could see you as a threat and chase you down. They're like pint-sized gangsters.
Then there’s the weather. Yesterday it was sunny and sixty five degrees but overnight we were hit by a blizzard and woke up to five inches of snow.
The following two photos were taken less than twenty-four hours apart.
Yesterday
This place is a good reminder of the transient nature of life, I guess. The city has no snow removal equipment , they don’t even spread salt on the roads so it appears that we’ll be homebound today.
We’ve managed to get in a couple good hikes since we’ve been here. We visited the Amitahba Stupa where my Brother and I spread my Father’s ashes last year. I had a really tough time finding the alcove but finally did. I geotagged it and then shared the link with our family so it’ll never be lost. The two flat rocks we laid down as markers were mostly undisturbed.
The sunbeams coming through the branches of that ancient tree that shades him made the moment feel even more surreal.
We also hiked a more obscure trail for the first time yesterday, called Adobe Jack. This trail was amazingly secluded and not crowded at all. As an added bonus, the trailhead is just across the street from where we're staying. We'll be exploring much more of this in the weeks to come.
Below is a montage of some of the photos we’ve taken in our first week.
Today, I’ll be staring out the window at these beautiful mountains, eager to see just how many seasons Mother Nature can throw at us. I hope you all enjoy what's left of your Sunday.
All for now. Trust your instincts, invest in you, live boldly, and take chances.
~Eric Vance Walton~
(All photos are original.)
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