I have been wandering the mountains, canyons and deserts of Northern New Mexico since I moved here in 1979. When I first arrived, before finding work or a place to live, I headed off into the Sangre de Cristo Mountains for a two week backpack trip. Coming back from that journey I knew that I had found home. Having lived in many parts of this country, the word “home” always evoked the place where I was raised--until coming to New Mexico and those two weeks in the mountains. My love for and feeling of connection to this place has only deepened over the years.
When I first moved here, I took up downhill skiing, cross-country skiing, and white water rafting, as well as hiking and backpacking. Over the years other pursuits have fallen away, so that only walking remains, and walking fulfills me. I don’t backpack anymore--too hard on my aging body--but I still take day hikes and each summer I go off into the mountains or desert for a solo retreat. For a week or more I camp on the edge of some wilderness, where I spend my days sitting zazen and hiking.
Almost always my hikes include some off trail travel and often the entire hike is off trail. Where there is a network of trails, I stay on the trail, in order not to damage the environment, and I am fortunate to live where there is so much wild territory with few trails. Some of the places I have found to hike have no trails at all. Trails go to places and through places, but if I want to become intimate with a place I must go off the trail. Off the trail I discover the qualities, the textures, and the challenges of the place. I enter the place and the place enters me.
below: Looking North From Saddle to Truchas Peak
At least once a month, throughout the year, I spend a day hiking in some wild place near Santa Fe. In Summer I hike the mountains, in Winter the canyons and desert, and Spring and Fall offer their own possibilities . These hikes are generally between 10 and 15 miles and almost always include some miles off trail.
I have a list of people who have asked to join me, so I send out an e-mail to these folks in advance of the hike describing the territory. Sometimes I have a few companions, sometimes I hike alone. Either way I have a day free of the roles and concerns of my life to be intimate with the magnificent landscapes of Northern New Mexico.
I am aware that these wild places that I love, like the rest of the planet, are being impacted by climate change. As these impacts increase some of these places will be drastically, even catastrophically changed. I hope everyone who joins me, either on the ground or through these stories and photos, will find ways to support and engage with one of the many environmental organizations that are working to raise awareness of climate change and slow its progress.
Sometimes exalted
on a peak,
sometimes struggling
over difficult terrain--
always the earth
affirms our True Nature
and supports our aspirations
I post on this page once or twice a month, to report with photos and reflections on the hikes and wilderness retreats I undertake throughout the year.
Musai Roshi
January 26, 2012
Plaza Blanca
Dear Hikers,
This was a redemptive hike. I wrote last month about my attempt to reach the sandstone formation known as Plaza Blanca, in the Carson National Forest, and my disappointment at finding substantial development in an area where I once roamed freely. Plaza Blanca Land Grant is a 20 square mile rectangular chunk of territory chopped out of the Carson National Forest north of Abiquiu. The last time I hiked here, probably more than twenty years ago, the distinction between land grant and national forest amounted to no more than lines on a map, and I could wander where I chose.
Last month, as I walked up Canon Madera, I found a fence across the canyon announcing private property, with dire warnings about what would happen if I proceeded further. I found a way on public land to circumvent the ranch farther up the canyon, but never reached my intended destination, and when I returned to my truck late in the day across the land grant I had to avoid buildings and climb fences. I was disappointed by this intrusion and determined to find a way to Plaza Blanca altogether on public land. On Saturday I found that route.
Brian and I began our hike in near perfect winter hiking conditions—sunny, no breeze, temperature in the mid twenties. We parked at the mouth of Canon Madera and walked up canyon for a half mile or so, then climbed up the east wall of the canyon, to be on public land.
We headed up past these sandstone turrets, looking for a route north, on the flank of Sierra Negra.
We climbed up through this slot and down again…
…to where this earthen ramp led us up to twin sandstone towers.
By the time we reached level ground beyond the towers it was 10 AM, and we stopped here for a mid-morning break and snack. I consulted my map and told Brian that we would need to eat lunch at 12:30, so we could start back by1:00, in order to arrive at the truck before dark.
This meant that, depending on the difficulty of our route, we might not reach our destination, the sandstone formation known as Plaza Blanca
Brian looked at me for a moment, then said, “This is beginning to look like aimless wandering.”
Exactly,” I answered, and we agreed that this is definitely the preferred way to travel out here.
We made our way, down through canyons, up across mesas, north toward the west running ridge of Sierra Negra. Our destination lay beyond that ridge, northwest of Sierra Negra.
We found a good route about a third of the way up the mountain, with expansive views all the way to the Pedernal, that iconic Northern New Mexico landmark, made famous in the twentieth century by Georgia O’Keefe.
After five or six miles of hiking, we dropped back down into Canon Madera and before long came to Blacktop, a hill named for the black basalt cap that stabilizes the sandstone beneath. I knew now we were close and would almost certainly obtain a view of Plaza Blanca.
Just a few minutes before our deadline of 12:30, we topped a hill and there was Plaza Blanca, directly before us.
As we sat there in the windless, cloudy afternoon, contemplating the effects of time and weather on the ancient rock in front of us, I said to Brian, “Only one thing could make me any happier—a break in the clouds that would give be a better photo of those rocks. Less than five minutes passed before I was able to take the photo below:
After lunch we climbed up onto the western flank of Sierra Negra and made our way back by a different route. One of the advantages of hiking off trail is that even with an out and back trip I am never covering quite the same ground, experiencing quite the same terrain.
There is great variety in the rocks that litter the ground here. Sandstone, from prehistoric sea beds predominates, and there is also black, volcanic basalt, dazzling white quartz, and granite with many colors wound together in fascinating patterns. Brian commented that one could spend an afternoon in one square yard of this country and never be bored.
We passed different sandstone formations on the way back, beckoning us into hidden canyons, but it was late, we were tired, and we continued on, knowing that there are inexhaustible opportunities for hiking routes out here.
Late in the afternoon we dropped down into a canyon of intricately sculpted sandstone that we thought would lead us back to Canon Madera and our vehicle.
As we emerged from the canyon the sun sank beneath the cloud cover, presenting this dramatic view of shining sandstone formations illuminated against the shadowed backdrop of Sierra Negra.
The canyon we thought would lead us directly back to the truck instead opened onto a four wheel drive road, that we followed to the hard road, where we found ourselves a mile and a half from the truck. Exhausted after a long day navigating rugged terrain, we trudged the road back under a cloudy sky and reached the truck just before it became too dark to see.
The return route may have added distance to an already long hike, but it also conferred a gift: a new trailhead that altogether avoids Canon Madera and the private land of the Plaza Blanca Land Grant. What’s more, it would be possible, at least in dry weather, to drive a mile or more on the forest service road, thereby shortening two very long hikes, or affording a further exploration of the upper reaches of Canon Madera.
I'm planning the next hike for February 18. I haven't decided yet on a location but I can promise a place of beauty and challenge.
Happy Trails,
Musai
see page 2 for the December 17 hike
Please let us know if you would like to be on Musai's e-mail list, to receive notices of upcoming hikes--contact musai@prajnazendo.org