After much internal debate, I decided that I would head east on Hwy 60 through New Mexico instead of heading north to Grants so that I could check out a portion of Cibola National Forest. (That's CIB-ola to the locals, not Cib-Oh-la). I passed up a few really nice attractions to go there, but I did it for one reason: Aldo Leopold is a legend in U.S. environmental history and I wanted to see things for a moment through his eyes. For much of his career with the Forest Service, my boy Aldo lived and worked in New Mexico. He was an outdoorsman, a hunter, an author, and a leader. He was a primary force in the initial struggle to set aside lands as untouched wilderness in America and his work led directly to the 1964 Wilderness Act and the designation of the Gila Wilderness in N.M. as our country's first. The New Mexico wild in the southwest part of the state was the fuel for his fervor and I had to visit it.
Along the way to my destination, the Mt. Withington Wilderness, I had to make a stop at the VLA. Don't forget
that I'm an engineering geek and I was drawn to it like a moth to flame. Even if you couldn't give a rat's ass about radio astronomy, the VLA (Very Large Array) Radio Telescope is worth a visit just to see its sheer manmade magnitude. Here's a picture of me doing my best B-Boy pose amid the dishes. People always sayin my style is wild! Intergalactic, planetary.
Mt. Withington is located about 15 miles south of Hwy 60 somewhat near Socorro, N.M. It's a bumpy ride on dirt roads to get there but worth every agonizing jolt. I stayed at a small designated campsite called Beartrap. It was obviously named before the PC-laden times in which we now live. The camping here is standard but it's the hiking that takes center stage. The Mt. Withington Wilderness is a short 2-3 mile walk over a ridge and makes for a perfect day trip.
When I pulled into camp, I talked a bit with another couple who were visiting Cibola to get a respite from the city. Kathy and Lance Chilton are from Albuquerque and it turned out we had more in common than I could have ever imagined. First of all, Lance grew up in Orinda (my hometown, fool!) and graduated from Miramonte's fifth class ever back in the 1960's. Second, both he and Kathy are very interested in open space preservation and we talked at length about some of the efforts in New Mexico that exist to help create more public land. Plus, they served me some fresh strawberries which I haven't eaten in quite some time now. Nice work, Mrs. C!
Early in the morning, I left camp to climb to the peak. About a half of a mile in I finally got to see some elk. They are very impressive animals. About the size of a horse but with a more compact frame and knottier muscles. And one of these things can climb a hill like a mother. I tried to get a pic but it just didn't turn out. They were bookin'. (my favorite 70's term)
Upon
reaching the top, I worked out the camera and talked a bit to the lady who was (wo)manning the fire lookout. And I thought I was going nuts from the solitude. This chick has been sitting up in the lookout structure on fire-watch duty for 17 freaking years, she told me. Lady, you're scaring me.
On the way back to my campsite in Beartrap, I noticed this weird animal on the ground. It was by far the coolest little critter I've seen on the trip. I don't know what it was exactly but it looked like an armored toad. I'm sure that it could have killed me somehow had I disturbed it.
I guess that my trip to Withington wasn't really too exciting by the usual standards and I ain't got no funny stories to drop ya. What my trip here lacked in eventful happenings, was made up for by the land's powerful inspirational qualities. Just knowing that I'm running around with full freedom in a place where armored toads coexist with elk and the forests are fresh and alive is a rush that defies description. I don't know what it is exactly, but I just get this Grizzley Adams tingly feeling inside. The wilderness has truly given me a sense of purity and calmness and these are memories which I will carry with me the rest of my life.
As I left the area later in the day bound for Albuquerque, I tossed some Buckley on the Alpine and enjoyed a slow slide out of the mountains. This was just a dream, right? Like a tear that hangs inside my soul forever.
Along the way to my destination, the Mt. Withington Wilderness, I had to make a stop at the VLA. Don't forget
that I'm an engineering geek and I was drawn to it like a moth to flame. Even if you couldn't give a rat's ass about radio astronomy, the VLA (Very Large Array) Radio Telescope is worth a visit just to see its sheer manmade magnitude. Here's a picture of me doing my best B-Boy pose amid the dishes. People always sayin my style is wild! Intergalactic, planetary.Mt. Withington is located about 15 miles south of Hwy 60 somewhat near Socorro, N.M. It's a bumpy ride on dirt roads to get there but worth every agonizing jolt. I stayed at a small designated campsite called Beartrap. It was obviously named before the PC-laden times in which we now live. The camping here is standard but it's the hiking that takes center stage. The Mt. Withington Wilderness is a short 2-3 mile walk over a ridge and makes for a perfect day trip.
When I pulled into camp, I talked a bit with another couple who were visiting Cibola to get a respite from the city. Kathy and Lance Chilton are from Albuquerque and it turned out we had more in common than I could have ever imagined. First of all, Lance grew up in Orinda (my hometown, fool!) and graduated from Miramonte's fifth class ever back in the 1960's. Second, both he and Kathy are very interested in open space preservation and we talked at length about some of the efforts in New Mexico that exist to help create more public land. Plus, they served me some fresh strawberries which I haven't eaten in quite some time now. Nice work, Mrs. C!
Early in the morning, I left camp to climb to the peak. About a half of a mile in I finally got to see some elk. They are very impressive animals. About the size of a horse but with a more compact frame and knottier muscles. And one of these things can climb a hill like a mother. I tried to get a pic but it just didn't turn out. They were bookin'. (my favorite 70's term)
Upon
reaching the top, I worked out the camera and talked a bit to the lady who was (wo)manning the fire lookout. And I thought I was going nuts from the solitude. This chick has been sitting up in the lookout structure on fire-watch duty for 17 freaking years, she told me. Lady, you're scaring me.On the way back to my campsite in Beartrap, I noticed this weird animal on the ground. It was by far the coolest little critter I've seen on the trip. I don't know what it was exactly but it looked like an armored toad. I'm sure that it could have killed me somehow had I disturbed it.
I guess that my trip to Withington wasn't really too exciting by the usual standards and I ain't got no funny stories to drop ya. What my trip here lacked in eventful happenings, was made up for by the land's powerful inspirational qualities. Just knowing that I'm running around with full freedom in a place where armored toads coexist with elk and the forests are fresh and alive is a rush that defies description. I don't know what it is exactly, but I just get this Grizzley Adams tingly feeling inside. The wilderness has truly given me a sense of purity and calmness and these are memories which I will carry with me the rest of my life.
As I left the area later in the day bound for Albuquerque, I tossed some Buckley on the Alpine and enjoyed a slow slide out of the mountains. This was just a dream, right? Like a tear that hangs inside my soul forever.
(R.I.P., Jeff. You inspire me.)
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