Dorado Magazine - March/April 2017

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DORADO C H A R , S M O K E , D E VO U R

A MODE RN TRE E HOUS E I N AUSTI N

REFINED LIVING, BIG ADVENTURES

EXTRAORDINARY CAVES YOU MUST EXPLORE BLASTOFF: SPACEPORT, NEW MEXICO CAMPING THE GREAT SAND DUNES

M A R /A PR 2 0 17

H O LY G U A C A M O L E !

Hidden treasures across the Southwest

s w .

B e r l B o . s s s o e ms k i B

Easy access to the soul of Colorado in the spring.

Grand Junction Regional Airport is your launchpad to the sights and sensations of springtime in Colorado. Go big with non-stop flights from Denver, Salt Lake City, Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Dallas. Skip the big airport hassles this season and spend more time outdoors.

REGIONAL AIRPORT

www.gjairport.com

ALBUQUERQUE’S NEWEST LUXURY HOTEL OPENING APRIL 2017

FOR THE RESTLESS Experience a hotel inspired by an ancient civilization.

Featuring Albuquerque’s premium rooftop restaurant & bar Level 5.

HOTELCHACO.COM | 505-247-0708

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Bellamah D O R A D O 2000 • MARCH / A P R I L 2 0 1 7 Ave.

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MARCH/APRIL 2017 • DORADO

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TABLE of CONTEN TS

Denim jacket by Double D Ranch.

Fringe poncho and pants by Etro, available at Saks Fifth Avenue.

Bag by Valentino, and jewelry by Devon Leigh, both available at Neiman Marcus.

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FEATURES

40

Subterranean Splendor

MARCH/APRIL 2017

48

Underground, a whole other world awaits.

Journey below the surface and explore the Southwest’s great caves.

by Jordan Martindell

54

Spaceport, New Mexico A wildly ambitious hub for commercial space travel has risen in the desert of southern New Mexico. Despite much progress and impressive competition, the final frontier still waits.

by Will Grant

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Cooking With Fire Chef Edgar Beas is playing with primitive cooking techniques and challenging the farmers and producers of New Mexico with his new take on Southwest flavors. The taste (and crunch) is irresistible.

by Jen Murphy

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Desert Bohemia A nomadic, spirited style blooms in Arizona’s Sonoran Desert, where sculptural shapes, Southwestern colors and native cultures converge. photography by Christine Johnson

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: PHOTO BY CHRISTINE JOHNSON, STYLING BY MARGARET MERRITT; COURTESY THE LNG COMPANY/ VIRGIN GALACTIC; DOUGLAS MERRIAM

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DEPARTMENTS ADVENTURE

PA N O R A M A

NATURE

26 Sands of Time

36 The Trembling Giants

Great Sand Dunes National Park is a landscape unlike anything else.

Meet the world’s largest organism: an ancient grove of quaking aspens.

CULTURE

32 Holy Waters

AT HOME

71 A House in the Trees

New Mexico’s Ojo Caliente attracts luxury spa-goers — and a group of Buddhist monks for a special blessing.

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DORADOMAGAZINE.COM

A family finds the perfect plot on which to build a modern home in Austin.

Plus: The Wild West

DORADO

The co-founder of an adventure outfitter for women shares her Utah travel memories, from the Great Salt Lake to Zion.

A SNA P SHOT OF T HE SOU T HWEST ’ S EV ENTS, C U LT U R E & P E O P L E FOOD

13 Make your tacos tasty and party dips fresh with these delicious takes on guacamole.

CRAFT

16 How Bisbee’s S. Grant

Sergot has become one of the world’s leading hat makers.

SHOP

18 Complete your

signature style with a piece that bears the unmistakable hand touch of the designer.

8 Letter from the Editor • 10 Masthead • 11 Contributors

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ART

20 From Frida to film,

you won’t want to miss these art exhibitions this season.

DRINKS

22 Two French siblings

are producing a champagne-style bubbly in New Mexico — and it’s some of the best sparkling wine this side of the Atlantic.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: JILL RICHARDS; COURTESY GRUET; PATRICK MYERS/NPS PHOTO; RYANN FORD; MICHAEL CL ARK; BILL STENGEL

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N E W P E L I C A N ™ 2 0 Q T E L IT E C O O L E R M AD E IN

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©2017 Pelican Products, Inc.

MARCH/APRIL 2017 • DORADO

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L ET T ER FROM THE E DITOR

A Few of Our Favorite Places When the third air-lock door closed behind us, Jesper and Christina turned to me and smiled.

They knew they were in for a special underground experience.

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camping overnight under stars and surrounded by the landscape’s swirling, shifting sands (Sands of Time, page 26).

Katherine Mast visits the world’s largest and possibly oldest-living organism (The Trembling Giants, page 36). And Sam Moulton soaks in the healing waters of New Mexico’s Ojo Caliente spa, where Buddhist monks bless the resort’s revered mineral springs (Holy Waters, page 32).

Let this issue be your guide to rediscovering what makes the Southwest so special.

DOWN UNDER One of Arizona’s great natural wonders, Kartchner Caverns’ Kubla Khan formation climbs 58 feet high.

Jeff Ficker e d itor in ch ie f Dorado magazine

K ARTCHNER CAVERNS STATE PARK

I had brought my Danish friends and their two young children to Kartchner Caverns, a 2.4-mile cave system hidden under southern Arizona’s Whetsone Mountains, some 45 miles north of the Mexican border. We were on a tour of my favorite spots across the state — the red rocks of Sedona, the ghost town-turnedartist colony of Jerome, the taco shops of Tucson — and Kartchner Caverns didn’t disappoint my foreign visitors.

Sure, the Grand Canyon is the undeniable superstar of Arizona’s natural treasures, but Kartchner Caverns offers a rare glimpse into the making of a geological wonder. Thanks to slowly seeping rainwater and a consistent 99% humidity, this “living” cave system is still forming (thus the need for air locks in the desert). With each mineral-rich drip, pencil-thin formations grow into mighty columns, studding the ceiling, floors and walls with thousands of dazzling stalagmites and stalactites over tens of thousands of years.

In this issue of Dorado, we highlight some of the hidden gems of the Southwest, like Kartchner Caverns (Subterranean Splendors, page 40). Jayme Moye ventures into Great Sand Dunes National Park,

MARCH/APRIL 2017 • DORADO

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ROW CANYON CARCHAEOLOGICAL CENTER E D I TO R I A L

Editor in Chief

The past

Jeff Ficker

just got closer

Creative Director

Caroline Jackson Crafton Design Director

Marc Oxborrow Associate Editor/Digital Editor

Ellen Ranta Olson Online Design

Aaron Heirtzler editorial inquiries: editor@doradomagazine.com P R O D U CT I O N

Senior Design Manager

Todd Bartz Vice President of Enterprise Marketing

Kricket Lewis Subscription Services

Travel with archaeologists and American Indian scholars

Aani Parrish production inquiries: customerservice@doradomagazine.com ADVERTISING

Publisher

Chad Rose chadr@bcimedia.com Account Executives

Theresa Monaco tmonaco@bcimedia.com

Lauren Reidy-Phelan laurenrp@bcimedia.com

Katy Walker kwalker@bcimedia.com Marketing & Audience Development Manager

Brittany Cupp Chief Executive Officer

Summer camps for teens

Douglas Bennett Vice President of Finance and Operations

Bob Ganley To subscribe to Dorado magazine, visit doradomagazine.com.

Dorado magazine is published by Ballantine Communications.

Creative services provided by Casual Astronaut (casualastronaut.com).

Dorado magazine will not assume any responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts or materials. © 2017 Ballantine Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.

This publication may not be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means without prior written permission.

CST 2059347-50

Explore a mystery 1,000 years old crowcanyon.org | Cortez, CO | 800.422.8975

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1275 Main Ave., Suite 737 • Durango, CO 81301 ballantinecommunicationsinc.com

CONTRIBUTORS

CL AIRE ANTOSZEWSKI (GR ANT)

C OM F ORT

Photographer Douglas Merriam (Sticks & Stones, page 48) has a passion for anything related to travel and food. He splits his time between Santa Fe and Portland, Maine, traveling frequently between the two locales and shooting everywhere in between. As a result, he has an affinity for green chile, lobsters, blueberries and piñon. He just published Farm Fresh Journey: Santa Fe Farmers Market Cookbook.

Katherine Mast (The Trembling Giants, page 36) is a freelance science writer in Santa Fe. Hailing from the hills of Appalachia, she landed in the Southwest 10 years ago, captivated by the deserts and mountains, hot springs, green chile and perfect autumn light. She is a regular contributor to Edible Santa Fe and has written for High Country News, Modern Farmer and Sierra.

FAVORITE PLACE IN THE SOUTH W EST Santa Fe “My favorite spot? Duh, Santa Fe, for the weather, landscape and food.”

San Antonio Hot Springs, New Mexico “It takes some work to get to these cascading pools, miles from the nearest paved road, but a soak in the forested valley makes it worthwhile.”

Kate Russell (Spaceport, New Mexico, page 54) is a photographer whose work has appeared in Monocle, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

With her wildly diverse background — ranging from a traveling circus to competitive mogul skiing to a brief stint exploring aerospace engineering — it is only natural that she found a home in the high mountains of Santa Fe.

Writer Will Grant (Spaceport, New Mexico, page 54) was born and raised in Littleton, Colorado. He wasted a perfectly good bachelor’s degree in natural resources to live the good life as a Texas cowboy and horse trainer for six years after college. He’s been working as a journalist since 2010 and writes about the people, land and animals west of the 98th meridian.

FAVORITE PLACE IN THE SOUTH W EST

FAVO R I T E PL AC E I N T H E S O U T H W E ST

Northern New Mexico “It’s that moment when you drive away from the Navajo Dam as the San Juan River unfolds below and you see the birds swirling high against the rugged terrain and, beneath, the bounty of green.”

Needles District of Canyonlands National Park, near Moab, Utah

QUA L I T Y

C OL OR

FAVO R I T E PL AC E I N T H E S O U T H W E ST

“The Needles District represents what I love most about the Southwest: It’s a rugged, labyrinthine landscape of sandstone and solitude.”

T H E BE S T B O O T S YOU ’ L L E V E R BU Y. Custom quality, without the wait or price.

S HOP U S ON L I N E

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PANORAMA A S N A P S H O T O F T H E S O U T H W E S T ’ S E V E N T S , C U LT U R E & P E O P L E

FO O D

Guacamole, 3 Ways Make your tacos tasty and party dips fresh with these simple and delicious takes on guac ANDREW CEBULK A /STOCKSY

BY ASHLEY M. BIGGERS

PLUS:

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| Craft

18

| Shop

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| Art

22

| Drinks

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PANORAMA Before avo on toast was the must-have breakfast item, humble guacamole was a staple of Southwestern cuisine with its creamy, piquant flavor. Purists pair it with tortilla chips, but it can also top dishes from tacos to nachos.

With guacamole, essential components such as avocado, salt and lime are quickly elevated with fixings like tart pomegranate seeds, a signature of chef Silvana Salcido Esparza, the mastermind behind Barrio Café, who

The key to great guacamole: Make it fresh and eat it quickly.

These decadently healthy tweaks bump up a superfood already bursting with good fats, vitamins, and minerals like potassium.

1. The Easy Classic Mash an avocado with salt, onion and lime juice for a definitive Mexican take.

Esparza recommends you serve it over carne asada or tacos.

Pro Tip: For optimal flavor and vivid green color, make your guacamole right before serving. Even with lime juice, it will begin to brown if it sits. At Esparza’s restaurants, it’s prepared tableside.

“There are no rules for guacamole other than eat it up fast,” she says.

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2. A Little Heat, a Little Sweet To create a buzzworthy dip rather than a topping, add tomato, cilantro and peppers (serrano or jalapeño) to the classic guacamole base. For “bright flavors,” top your creation with dried fruit or fresh pomegranates, raspberries or pineapple. These decadently healthy tweaks bump up a superfood already bursting with good fats, vitamins, and minerals like potassium.

Pro Tip: As you continue to mash, you’ll find the flavor changes. Keep it chunky — fork-mashed just enough to bind the ingredients together.

3. Fish and Chips Guacamole meets its creamy match with fresh seafood flavors. At his Arizona and Colorado restaurants, chef Richard Sandoval serves a tuna tartare guac with serrano and chipotle peppers, and a crunchy jicama salad. He also pairs spicy crab with chipotle, lime and cilantro in a version that will transport your taste buds to seaside Mexico.

GREAT GUAC-SPECTATIONS For tasty guacamole recipes, visit doradomagazine.com/guac.

MEE PRODUCTIONS/STOCKSY

has been shaping Phoenix’s tastes since she opened her first restaurant in 2002.

She has been featured on Food Network favorite Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.

With this versatile dish, Esparza says, “the possibilities are endless.” No matter which variety you enjoy, start with fresh avocado. “Sounds silly, I know. You see, when eating guacamole at your favorite Mexican joint, you are not always getting fresh, let alone real, avocado. There are bags filled with avocado pulp that is sold to restaurants, and most folks use this,” she says.

Old World Craftsmanship with a Modern Attitude

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R E BE LW I TH CAUSE TX.CO M Sales And Wholesale Opportunities Please Email: sales@rebelwithcausetx.com

@rebelwithcausetx MARCH/APRIL 2017 • DORADO

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PANORAMA

CRAFT

A Perfect Fit After a soggy start on a winter’s day at the Grand Canyon, Bisbee’s S. Grant Sergot has become one of the world’s leading hat makers

BY TOM WEEDE PHOTOGRAPHY BY JILL RICHARDS

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A

t the age of 22, S. Grant Sergot decided to head west, leaving behind Ann Arbor, Michigan, and eventually landing at the Grand Canyon during one of the worst winters in years. As he was driving his truck from the South Rim to Havasupai, he happened to spot something that would help him weather the storm, and change his life forever. “I found this old ranch hat on the side of the road, all blown out,” he recalls.

Later, as he settled by a campfire, Sergot put on the worn-out hat. “Big wet snow was coming down; the brim started getting wet, getting malleable,” he says. “So I started shaping the brim to gutter the water off.”

The next morning, as the hat was drying in the sun, Sergot continued molding, and like clay the hat held its form. “I realized, wow, I can reshape this for my look, my style, whatever I want,” he says. “I was hooked.”

G HO ST HO R S E OF T HE PALO DURO CANYON RA K U A N D MI XED MEDI A AVA I L A BLE AT 2 0 1 7 C O WG I R L U P !

W I C K E N B ER G , A Z

The Óptimo Custom Hatworks workshop in Bisbee, Arizona, handcrafts bespoke hats using classic tools and techniques.

After some years of self-teaching in the early 1980s, Sergot turned his passion into a business in Bisbee, Arizona, launching Óptimo Custom Hatworks.

Today, at age 66, he says he is one of only a handful of milliners left who provides a truly customized experience.

Sergot’s bespoke process considers a client’s body type, skin tone, eye color, the line of the jaw and proportions of the face, as well as the hat’s intended use, in finding the ideal fit and style.

His old-world talents and tools hark back to a time when goods were

carefully handcrafted by highly skilled tradesmen. His instruments include a conformer from 1860, a device that sits atop the client’s head and provides precise measurements. Production starts with a simple hat body, which then undergoes a handmade process of steaming, drying, shrinking, stretching and trimming into a one-of-a-kind design. “Every hat has its own parameters,” Sergot says. “It’s always a little bit of an adventure.”

Also skilled at restoration, Sergot tells how people are thrilled to see a hat brought back to life: “When the client picks up granddad’s hat, and it looks like it’s brand new and it now fits the client, it’s very satisfying,” he says.

Ta m m y Ly n n e P en n 806 994 0737 TA M M Y LY N N E P E N N . C O M MARCH/APRIL 2017 • DORADO

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PANORAMA

RECIPE FOR SUCCESS

Hopi artist Don Supplee may have turned to jewelry making after tiring of being a chef, but the hand skills that once went into chiffonade are clearly apparent in the three-dimensional carving work on his designs. Using the lost-wax process and mixing gold with bold turquoise, Supplee produces singular pieces that draw on his Hopi heritage. $4,500, waddelltradingco.com

LAYER TAKE

Starting his jewelry-making career by studying the lost art of leather braiding, Dennis Hogan moved on to incorporate the hand touch into his distinctive silver pieces. This sterling silver squash blossom necklace incorporates both the artist’s signature clasp and vintage coins into an iconic Southwestern motif. $475, ddranchwear.com

ETCHED IN

You could say that engraving is the opposite of typing on a smartphone: time-intensive, and painstaking. We’ll take this as an antidote to tech fatigue. William Henry made its name with pocket knives but has broadened into a full range of men’s jewelry, including this hand-finished, sterling silver take on the classic twist anchor link bracelet. $950, williamhenry.com

SHOP

Make Your Mark

Complete your signature style with a piece that bears the unmistakable hand touch of the designer

BY MELISSA LIEBLING-GOLDBERG

WELDED BLISS

This is jewelry forged by the bonds of holy matrimony — that is, created by a husband and wife who are both also secondgeneration metalsmiths. Nicole and Harry Hansen individually forge each piece they make, so no two are the same. Better yet, each of these cuff bracelets is made for the recipient’s wrist size to ensure a perfect fit. $75, sterlingandsteel.com

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AMERICAN MADE

Fourth-generation Texan Dian Malouf has spent more than 30 years designing one-of-akind jewelry (over 10,000 pieces!), which are each handmade in the USA. Inspired by unique finds from her global travels, Malouf ’s work combines textural silver and gold with vibrant semiprecious stones like turquoise in this three-stone ring. $1,130, maloufontheplaza.com

CAST AWAY

Holly Masterson’s work may make you recall antiquities, which is no accident.

The designer works in a style she calls “ancient contemporary,” which refers to her combined technique of primitive hand casting and modern hand finishing.

The result is hard to place, perhaps, but utterly wearable in any century. $245, santafedrygoods.com

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PANORAMA Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, circa 1932.

Spring Sensations From Frida to film, you won’t want to miss these art exhibitions this season

BY E L L E N R A N TA O L S O N

Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera

Cady Wells

APRIL 11–AUG. 20 • HEARD MUSEUM, PHOENIX

MARCH 25–SEPT. 17 • NEW MEXICO MUSEUM OF ART, SANTA FE

More than 30 works by the famed Mexican artists — and sometimes spouses — will be on display in Phoenix this year, offering viewers a glimpse of iconic pieces such as Kahlo’s Self-Portrait with Monkey and Rivera’s Calla Lily Vendor. The exhibit will also feature more than 50 photographs taken by the likes of Edward Weston, Lola Alvarez Bravo and Kahlo’s father, Guillermo Kahlo, along with clothing and jewelry fancied by Frida. heard.org

This 25-piece collection of Wells’ watercolor paintings, dubbed Ruminations, is a reflection of the East Coast native’s experiences living in New Mexico in the 1930s. Southwestern landforms and religious icons are easily spotted in his modernist pieces, while more timely influences, like the nearby Los Alamos atomic bomb experiments, are known to have subtly imbued his work with slightly darker undertones. nmartmuseum.org

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THIS PAGE: FOTOSEARCH / GETT Y IMAGES. OPPOSTITE, FROM TOP: COURTESY TUCSON MUSEUM OF ART; COURTESY ALBUQUERQUE MUSEUM

ART

From top: Henry C. Balink’s Steals Horses, oil on canvas; a lobby card for the film Kit Carson, 1928.

Hollywood Southwest: New Mexico in Film and Television THROUGH AUG. 27 • ALBUQUERQUE MUSEUM

From Billy the Kid to Breaking Bad, take a look at the myriad ways that New Mexico has been portrayed in movies and TV shows throughout the years. Guest curated by American cultural historian Paul Andrew Hutton, the exhibit includes Westerns, war movies, comedy and science fiction. albuquerquemuseum.org

Henry C. Balink THROUGH JULY 23 • TUCSON MUSEUM OF ART

Born in Amsterdam, Balink was inspired to make his way west by a Taos travel poster he spotted in a train station. After a few visits, he relocated to New Mexico for good and began painting portraits of Native American people and culture. Today, his works are some of the most recognizable Southwestern portraits of the early 20th century. tucsonmuseumofart.org MARCH/APRIL 2017 • DORADO

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PANORAMA DRINKS

Pop! A Southwest Sparkler Two French siblings are producing a champagne-style bubbly in New Mexico — and it’s some of the best sparkling wine this side of the Atlantic

BY KARA NEWMAN

Y

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THIS PAGE: HELEN RUSHBROOK / STOCKSY; TOP RIGHT: COURTESY GRUET WINERY

“

ou are in the wine business for a lifetime, not a short time,” declares Laurent Gruet, winemaker at Albuquerque-based Gruet Winery.

Compared to France’s wine dynasties, which span centuries, a mere three decades is just a drop in the champagne bucket.

But Laurent and his sister Nathalie Gruet have made a substantial impact in the winemaking industry in that short period, landing their champagne-style sparkler on wine lists at prestigious restaurants across the nation and racking up the awards.

Their story starts in France’s storied Champagne region, which gives the bubbly wine its name. There, Gruet et Fils was established by the Who knew family patriarch, Gilbert Gruet, in 1952. Indeed, that the sandy Gilbert Gruet was born and remembers growing loam soil of up in Champagne, and learning how to make wine New Mexico there with his father.

Spurred by fierce was perfect for competition in the region in the 1980s, Gilbert started exploring winemaking great making regions in the U.S. The family had heard of bubbly? the Franciscan monks’ successful vineyards in New Mexico; some Swiss and German winemakers also had relocated to New Mexico to raise vineyards. In 1983, the Gruets purchased a vineyard on the outskirts of Albuquerque, and the following year, speaking barely any English, the younger Gruets moved to New Mexico to make sparkling wines in the style of old-world champagne. The first release was in 1989.

Who knew that the sandy loam soil of New Mexico, plus the hot days and cool nights, would create the perfect climate for making great bubbly?

The Gruet family began making wine in France’s Champagne region in the 1950s. Today, two new generations carry on the tradition at their Albuquerquebased winery.

“It’s very good to grow grapes for champagne,” confirms Laurent Gruet.

“We are in high altitude, about 4,300-foot elevation.

It’s very dry, free of disease.

The quality of grapes are very consistent from year to year.”

The end result is as close to champagne as a domestic wine can get — although it’s not identical, and that’s part of its beauty. Gruet is firm about following the rules of méthode Champenoise — a precise protocol for making and aging champagne in the classic style. Yet, “the terroir is different,” yielding a bit more fruitiness, particularly in the younger wines, notes that suggest green apple and grapefruit, Laurent says. Gruet also produces nonsparkling wines, notably chardonnay and pinot noir.

Meanwhile, Gruet’s sparkling wines have developed a cult following among sommeliers who want to focus on locally made products, appearing on wine lists from New York (“our biggest market in the country,” Laurent says) to California.

So what’s next for Gruet? Expansion, of course. In addition to Gruet’s three existing vineyards, the winemakers are hoping to plant additional grapevines. That expansion theme applies to the family, too: In 2015, Nathalie’s son, Sofian Himeur, was appointed as assistant winemaker, ensuring that the family business continues. After all, compared to centuries of winemaking generations back in France, America’s answer to champagne is just getting its legacy started.

JFORKSDESIGNS.BIGC ARTEL.COM SAN ANTONIO / A -P R 17 2 1 0M-A3R C6H3 0I L7 240 8

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SPECIAL SECTION

P E RFECT FOR :

BOOTS FOR TOWN OR TRAIL

A DAY OF GALLERY HOPPING

Explore all the Southwest has to offer, from its high-end art galleries to the backcountry trails that beckon explorers. Six boot makers share their top picks for every Southwestern adventure The Liberty Black Chita Miel combines fringe and leopard print for a fun take on the classic ankle bootie. $285, libertyblack.com

Add a pop of red to your look with this pair from Rebel With Cause. $229, rebelwithcausetx.com

Make a style statement in the Passion Ranch Knee Highs from Rockwell Tharp. $438, rockwelltharp.com

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SPECIAL SECTION

P ER F ECT FO R :

P E RFECT FOR :

P E RFECT FOR :

A SOUTHWESTERN MUSIC FESTIVAL

AN AFTERNOON OF TRAIL RIDING

BRUNCH & BOUTIQUE BROWSING

Chippewa’s Black Odessa General Utility Service Men’s Boot offers the comfort and durability you need for a day spent pushing to the front of the crowd to catch the headliner. $279.95, chippewaboots.com

Subtle and sophisticated, the Tony Lama Black Conquistador Shoulder Men’s Cowboy Boot can take you from tack room to taproom seamlessly. $199.95, tonylama.com

If your tastes are a little more country than rock-and-roll, dress the part in a pair of the luxe-yet-simple Bowies by City Boots. $650, cityboots.com

Opt for simple suede in a modern, overthe-knee style, like this pair from Rebel With Cause. $389, rebelwithcausetx.com

A classic black leather boot never goes out of style. Case in point: the Manchester Riding Boot by Rockwell Tharp. $548, rockwelltharp.com

Stand out in a sea of brown leather cowboy boots with the chic Milam by City Boots. $650, cityboots.com

Effortlessly cool, the Brown Bomber Original Roper by Chippewa features a distressed suede that gives it a perfectly lived-in look and feel. $329.95, chippewaboots.com

The Red Baja Vaquero women’s cowboy boot

by Tony Lama features a striking ruby leather exterior accented by a modern silver stitching design, perfect for taking you from trail to town. $214.95, tonylama.com

This goes-with-anything ankle boot from Liberty Black is the perfect addition to your festival wardrobe. $235, libertyblack.com

MARCH/APRIL 2017 • DORADO

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ADVENTURE

SA NDS OF TIME Great Sand Dunes National Park in southern Colorado is a landscape unlike anything else on the continent. Jayme Moye journeys across the colossal drifts for an otherworldly camping adventure

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BR ADEN GUNEM / AUROR A PHOTOS

D

uring the four-hour drive from my home near Denver to Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, I can't help but wonder how on earth this place is going to live up to the hype. In my 18 years as a Colorado resident, I’ve heard countless superlatives about Great Sand Dunes’ unique landscape — 30 square miles of sand nestled up to the snowcapped Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the southernmost subrange of the Rockies.

One fact I have been able to verify: The wind-swept dunes are indeed the tallest on the continent, cresting as high as 755 feet above the San Luis Valley floor. As for the other accolades, which include “most surreal,” “most scenic” and “best stargazing ever,” I will soon see for myself.

Of course, I want the weekend to be about more than whether a legendary Colorado landscape lives up to its reputation. I am also looking for an adventure, and so I plan to camp — not at one of the 88 sites at Piñon Flats Campground inside the park, but on the sand dunes themselves. I don’t know anyone else who’s done it, but I have read on the park’s website that camping is permitted anywhere in the dunes, so long as you stop at the park’s visitors center first to secure one of the 20 first-come, first-served permits and agree to pitch your tent beyond the designated

NIGHT WATCH

Great Sand Dunes National Park's 30 square miles of shifting sand creates a scenic and haunting landscape — especially set against a starry night sky.

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MOUNTAIN HIGH

Colorado’s wind-swept dunes are the tallest in North America, cresting as high as 755 feet above the San Luis Valley floor.

evolving. Recent research, from 2015, refutes the long-held belief that the sand originated from a former lakebed known of years are responsible for funneling the sand toward as Lake Alamosa, and said it instead came from smaller lakes further east in the San the Sangre de Cristos, and depositing it in the natural Luis Valley. Either way, strong southwest winds over thousands and thousands of pocket at the base of a low curve where it now sits. years are responsible for funneling the sand toward three mountain passes in the Sangre de Cristos and depositing it in the natu“day use area,” at least 1.5 miles into the dunes. ral pocket at the base of a low curve where it now I know that hiking up and over steep sand dunes sits. During storms, the winds blow in the opposite won't be easy, especially with a backpack full of direction, from the mountains back toward the camping gear. But I am hoping it will be worth the valley, which makes the dunes grow vertically. The effort to have more of a true wilderness experience, Utes called them sowapophe-uvehe, “the land that and not another person in sight. moves back and forth.” To the Apaches, they were seiMaking the final turn onto the road that leads nanyedi, “it goes up and down.” into the park, I get my first glimpse of the dunes. I Also at the visitors center, I pick up my free backneedn’t have worried about the landscape meeting country camping permit and am surprised to hear my expectations. Directly ahead, at the base of the that, at 3 p.m., I have gotten the last one for the day. mighty Sangre de Cristo range, swells up an ocean of “Oh, yes,” the ranger says, “they go fast. You’re lucky.” sand; golden wave after golden, wind-sculpted wave.

She advises backcountry campers to arrive as early in I pull the car over and take the first of many, many the day as possible to get a permit (and no, sorry, you photos. can’t reserve one in advance). She also gives me a tip Scientists don’t know when the sand dunes for choosing my campsite. She says to drive past the started to form, or how, exactly. I learn at the visitors main parking area to the more remote “Point of No center that the dunes’ creation story is continually Return,” where I’d find a handful of parking spaces

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PATRICK MYERS/NPS PHOTO

Strong southwest winds over thousands and thousands

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TENT EXPECTATIONS

Luckily, once I get to the top of the first dune and can see the rest of the terrain, it is obvious that I will not have to go far to find total immersion and utter seclusion. Before me stretches a seemingly infinite swath of rolling dunes that extend all the way to the horizon line. I see no other people, or tents, or even other signs of life.

I may as well be in the middle of the Sahara.

I see that the hard part isn't going to be finding a solitary place to camp — it's going to be finding my way back out. Sand dunes look eerily similar. I drop down the other side of the dune I’d just ascended and decide to go up and over two more and then make camp. If I get completely disoriented, I’ll know I just need to walk toward the mountain peaks and cross three dunes to find the creek again.

I am pleased to pitch my tent with time left over for a quick dinner before the sun sets. I kick off my sand-filled shoes and sit down for the show. The waning light casts long shadows across Before me stretches a seemingly infinite swath of rolling the dunes, and a breeze kicks up, blowing a few billowy clouds across the sky.

As grains of sand pelt my bare arms, I dunes that extend all the way to the horizon line. I see pull on a fleece and watch the sky turn purple. Once the stars begin to pop, I no other people, or tents, or even other signs of life. lie flat on my back and stare up at hundreds of thousands of tiny lights.

I may as well be in the middle of the Sahara.

Just as I'm starting to get drowsy, a gust of wind rips across the dunes. and a short trail leading to Medano Creek, which Then another. And another. I retreat to my tent. should be shallow enough (it dries up completely by Outside, the winds whip up into a frenzy that makes the end of the summer) to cross over to the dunes. sleep impossible. I’ve heard that the San Luis Valley “It’s pretty secluded over there,” she says. is notorious for paranormal activity. I think of the She is right. Just one other car is parked in the djinns, the spirits of Morocco’s high desert that are small lot. Tiptoeing carefully across the creek, I placated with trance-inducing ritual or music. Why notice how sharply the first dune climbs up from the not? Sleep isn't happening. I creep out of my tent and bank and steel myself for maximum effort. I want to into the relentless wind, spinning like a dervish in the make camp with enough time to sit and admire the darkness, feeling the sand fly up all around me. sunset, so I aspire to move relatively quickly. After trudging up the first 50 or so feet of the first dune, I adjust my expectations. It is painfully slow going.

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PATRICK MYERS / NPS PHOTO

Camping is permitted anywhere in the dunes, so long as you secure one of the 20 first-come, first-served permits and agree to pitch your tent at least 1.5 miles into the park.

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CULTURE

HOLY WATERS Long appreciated by Native Americans, the mineral pools of New Mexico’s Ojo Caliente now attract luxury spa-goers in search of rest and rejuvenation. Sam Moulton joins a group of Buddhist monks for a blessing of the spring’s healing waters P H OTO G R A P H Y BY B I L L ST E N G E L

T

he first blessing begins at the Iron pool not long after the lunch hour. It is a sunny, bright and brisk Monday, and the outdoor pools at northern New Mexico’s Ojo Caliente, one of the oldest spas in the country, are filled with the usual mix of soakers: retreating couples of all ages and a handful of locals who, like me, are playing hooky in search of a little serenity.

Although the visiting monks — 10 men from India’s renowned Drepung Loseling Monastery — are dressed in their customary saffron-and-red robes and crescent-shaped yellow hats and were carrying an urn of consecrated sand and an assortment of traditional instruments, the ritual begins with little pageantry. At the appointed time, they quietly arrange themselves in a line around the pool. A small crowd of guests have gathered and, after a brief introduction, the monks begin the multiphonic chanting for which they’re famous.

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“First we have to summon the water spirits,” Geshe Laden, the group’s unofficial spokesman, had told me earlier at lunch.

“Then we nourish them with the sand.” After several minutes of call-and-response chanting, punctuated by bells, symbols, horns and drumming, a small amount of sand is ceremoniously sprinkled into the pool. Then the chanting subsides, and the monks deferentially take off their hats. For a few moments, the only sound is the spring water trickling into the pool.

It is a fittingly moving but low-key ceremony for a resort that respectfully and deftly balances its deep spiritual roots with modern spa culture.

The springs and the surrounding valley have been a hub of human activity for thousands of years. Ancestors of today’s Tewa tribes STOKING built large pueblos and terraced garTHE SPIRITS dens overlooking the springs. Legend A Buddhist monk from India’s Drepung Loseling has it that the springs' therapeutic Monastery summons properties were so revered that warring the water spirits at Ojo Caliente spa and tribes would, at least temporarily, set nourishes them with aside their weapons and conflicts to the sand in a traditional blessing ceremony. gather, soak and heal together.

The rejuvenating allure of the place has persisted ever since, and today the resort is more popular than ever. Over the past 15 years, it’s been slowly and more or less completely updated — everything from new suites and cottages to upgraded pools and mud baths. There’s now a wine bar, 12 miles of single-track mountain biking trails and even a 2-acre organic farm. And though all the improvements have only made the place more enjoyable, an unpretentious vibe still prevails. The focus remains on the legendary springs, the only ones in the world that contain four different minerals — iron, soda, lithia and arsenic — each said to have its own unique healing properties.

The blessing of the waters caps off the New Mexico leg of the monks’ annual Mystical Arts of Tibet Tour. A monthlong circuit in which a rotating cast of the monastery’s 3,000 monks travels the U.S. performing music and dance ceremonies and creating mandalas, the tour’s primary goals are to promote global peace and harmony and raise awareness about the Chinese occupation of Tibet, where the monastery was founded.

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STRANGE SPA-FELLOWS

Clockwise from top left: Monks chant at the Iron pool while guests and spagoers look on; a monk blesses individuals with a peacock feather dipped in Ojo Caliente’s water; the religious ceremony features bells, cymbals and drumming.

It's a fittingly moving but low-key ceremony for a resort that respectfully and deftly balances its deep spiritual roots with modern spa culture.

This is the eighth time the monks have blessed Ojo’s unique waters. Marcia Keegan, a devotee of the Dalai Lama and renowned local writer and photographer, first arranged for the monks to visit the area in 1989. Keegan had spent the latter part of her career documenting the similarities between Native American and Tibetan cultures.

“Although the ceremonies and spiritual beliefs differ, the core human values are the same,” says Harmon Houghton, the local organizer of the event and husband of the late Keegan. “They’re both sustained by a legacy that has transcended the industrial age and promotes a culture that respects the dignity of the individual and sacredness of nature.” Incidentally, there happen to be lots of hot springs in Tibet as well. “Yes, yes,”

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Geshe told me with a smile, “we like to soak in them too.”

For the past week, Geshe and company have been in Santa Fe making one of their signature mandalas. After days of meticulous work, they let everyone have a look, consecrated it, and then promptly dismantled it, a reminder of the impermanent nature of our existence. As is the custom, it is now time to disperse the sand. “Each grain contains unique energy and healing properties,” Geshe had told me beforehand. “Distributing the sand in the water sends the healing energy throughout the globe.”

After the monks bless a second pool, the whole procession move into the resort’s lobby, where the group performs a final chant. The monks bless individuals with the wave of a peacock feather dipped in water, and hand out small baggies of blessed sand. Houghton had suggested putting the baggie under your pillow, “to have wonderful multicolor dreams.” It was good advice. I’m not sure if it was the soaking or the sand, but I slept really well that night.

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TREE TROUBLES

Across the West, vast clonal aspen colonies cover mountainsides and valley floors. New threats endanger their existence.

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NATURE

THE TREMBLING GIANTS In the mountains of the West, the world’s largest and possibly longest-living organisms have thrived for thousands of years.

Katherine Mast looks at how these ancient groves of quaking aspens may also be dying

MICHAEL CLARK

T

he Earth’s largest living organism, they say, is a patch of forest in south-central Utah.

It sprawls across more than 100 acres and likely weighs around 13 million pounds. To the casual observer, the roughly 47,000 tall white aspen trunks that make up Pando — Latin for “I spread” — may look like individual trees, but their genes tell a different story. They’re clones, every one, genetically identical and connected by one underground root system.

Across the Mountain West, clonal aspen colonies like Pando cover hillsides and valleys, filling in open spaces after fires or logging or avalanches disturb the ground until, eventually, slowergrowing conifers overtake those aspen colonies. And while aspens are one of the iconic trees of the West, they also grow in Mexico and Alaska, along the West coast in the Sierra Nevada and east to Newfoundland. Sometimes they spread through their roots, and sometimes they send out seeds — billowy catkins like their cottonwood cousins. They are North America’s most widespread tree.

My favorite spot to hike among these expansive groves is at the edge of Colorado’s Raggeds Wilderness along Kebler Pass. It’s a spot I discovered a few summers ago while hiking the 14-mile Dark Canyon trail. The path weaves along Anthracite Creek — where in mid-July tart serviceberries ripen on leafy bushes — and then up the precipitous Devil’s Staircase. As the trail climbs, it opens eventually to a quiet grove of aspens whose vibrant green canopy shelters a carpet of lush ferns, blue lupines and yellow mule’s ears.

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expand until a knife mark is as thick as my finger, but I can still make out the numbers, tumbling back decades, some into the ’40s. peering from behind a slender trunk, or the This glimpse into recent history makes it feel as though these forests will last forever. But scientists say eye-shaped branch scars just might wink. these aspens could disappear if we don’t slow our carbon emissions. Since the end of the 20th century, western It looks like a fairy tale, like a wood nymph might be aspens have been in general decline. Fires, which help peering from behind a slender trunk, or the eye-shaped them stay ahead of competition from conifers like pine branch scars just might wink. and spruce, have been routinely suppressed. Increasing In the fall, the scene transforms, and the aspens’ heat and drought, coupled with insect infestation and leaves turn shades of golden yellow and reddish orange, disease, contributed to a syndrome called Sudden Aspen shimmering against alabaster bark. It’s an ephemeral Decline roughly a decade ago. Then, in 2015, researchand cinematic sight that has been playing out for thouers discovered how heat and drought — two conditions sands of years. expected to increase in the Southwest because of climate Just how many? To measure the age of a tree, you change — can produce air bubbles in the tubes that count its rings. But how do you measure the age of an carry water through an aspen tree, killing the trees. aspen clone? The individual trunks in an aspen grove If you pick up an aspen leaf and roll its stem between might be 60, 80, maybe 100 years old, but the grove your fingers, it won’t spin smoothly like other leaves. itself could be far older. People have wagered guesses Instead, square edges make the stem twist unevenly, based on the history and ecology of a region, and sending the leaf gyrating. That’s what makes an aspen scientists have studied patterns of mutation to get an forest seem to shiver in the slightest wind and gives the estimation. Some scientists say our western aspens may tree its descriptive Latin name: Populus tremuloides. be a few thousand years old, while others believe a more In this grove, a few fallen logs offer a resting spot for shocking 80,000 years, but no one has yet found a way weary hiking legs. I like to stop — to rest, and to listen. to say for certain.

When even a gentle breeze whispers through the forest, While the age of the grove is still being debated, the all the leaves rustle in concert. In autumn, they’ll shimspan of one tree is roughly the span of a human life. And mer golden against an azure sky, drawing crowds who’ll etched into some of these trunks on Kebler drive the 30 miles over Kebler Pass to get a Pass is the evidence of people who have passed glimpse and a photo before the pass closes for GOLDEN YEARS this way before. Maybe lovers, or a sheepScientists estimate that winter. But in this moment, on this log, time some aspen clusters in herder or logger, have carved initials and years seems suspended, as if the seasons and this Utah and Colorado may into the white trunks. Over the years, the scars be as old as 80,000 years. forest will never change.

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MICHAEL NICHOLS/NATIONAL GEOGR APHIC CREATIVE

Underground, a whole other world awaits. Journey below the surface and explore the Southwest’s great caves

BY JORDAN MARTINDELL

GLAM ROCK

A UNESCO World Heritage site, Carlsbad Caverns is just one the great natural wonders that lie below the Southwest's landscapes.

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Carlsbad Caverns National Park covers 70 square miles of the Chihuahuan Desert in southern New Mexico. The park’s scenic Walnut Canyon Desert Drive as well as the rare desert wetland at Rattlesnake Springs can be explored via car, but visitors are encouraged to explore the park’s many caves on foot. The awe-inspiring, yet strenuous 1.25mile descent into the Natural Entrance (one of the cavern’s two self-guided tours) immediately establishes the impressive vastness that awaits visitors. An easier approach to the cavern is accessible via the Big Room Tour and provides ample wonders — without the huffing and puffing. For those looking to get down and dirty in a more personal experience, the four-hour Spider Cave Tour requires belly crawling and climbing, and results in seriously mucky boots.

NM

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Hidden beneath New Mexico’s Chihuahuan Desert sprawls an ancient expanse of more than 100 caves

Once Arizona’s bestkept secret, Kartchner Caverns dazzles with “living,” dripping formations

Between Tucson and the Mexican border sits Kartchner Caverns State Park.

A fairly new addition to Arizona’s abundance of protected spaces, the cave system was discovered in 1974 by two young cavers, but kept private until it finally opened to the public in 1999. One of the more strictly protected caverns in the Southwest, tours of this “living” limestone cave feature still-growing formations like striped “cave bacon” and pencil-thin “soda straws” thanks to a steady source of dripping, mineral-rich water. If you can brave the Saturday crowds, take the Helmet and Headlamp Tour. On this specialty half-mile expedition, the cave formations take on an eerie personality by headlamp. The welcome center and desert gardens are also well-designed, making the visit an enjoyable one both above and below ground.

AZ

TO THE BAT CAVE

In late spring, migrating bats establish a maternity roost in Kartchner Caverns’ Big Room.

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A stunning fusion of man and nature, the handcarved creations of a New Mexican artist inspire awe Self-proclaimed “digger of caves and piler of rocks,” Robert “Ra” Paulette is anything but a conventional sculptor. A cross between an artist and an amateur archaeologist, Paulette has spent some 30 years creating masterful man-made sandstone caves that are sprinkled across hidden parts of New Mexico’s deserts. Using only hand tools and a wheelbarrow, Paulette carves intricate and unique caves — each with its own distinct identity — sometimes using existing hoodoos as his blank canvas. The soft, malleable sandstone of the desert allows detailed designs that would otherwise be impossible at the speed of Paulette’s creating. He views his work as a gift to the public and expects the spiritual nature of his art to be transformative and enlightening to those who experience it. While knowledge of cave locations has become highly guarded, those who seek them out honorably will be rewarded with the exquisite nature of a more refined cave experience.

NM

ROCK GOD

JEFFREY K AROFF

Ra Paulette has spent some 30 years carving works of art into the sandstone hills of New Mexico.

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DEEP DIVE

To explore more of the Southwest's best underground wonders, visit doradomagazine.com/caves.

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LEFT: GARY BERDEAUX. RIGHT, COURTESY CAVE OF THE WINDS

These Texassize caverns are densely packed with spiky, showstopping crystal formations

Discovered in the 1920s, the Caverns of Sonora were opened to the public by the Mayfield family in 1960. One of the warmest cave systems in the Southwest at 72 degrees, the caverns provide a spacious playground for hiking, camping and, of course, subterranean exploring. Located halfway between San Antonio and Big Bend National Park, the caverns offer 2 miles of passageways accessible by guided tours in small groups. The Crystal Palace Tour dives down 360 steps at which point the tour wanders through stunning cave rooms sprinkled with some of the most diverse cave features in the world, including a wide array of calcite crystal formations. For those brave enough and with the stamina to last four hours, the Discovery Challenge Tour rappels visitors 50 feet into the Devil’s Pit, an adventure followed by twisting and turning through tight tunnels and confined spaces.

TX

The big adventures continue above ground at this cliff-side amusement park While Manitou Springs may be more well-known for its quaint downtown and historical mineral springs, just up the road from town is Cave of the Winds Mountain Park. Perfect for those seeking an adventure, this park offers educational caving programs along with adrenaline-filled cliff-side attractions. The Lantern Tour lends a spooky hand to the traditional caving tour with eerie stories and tales of ancient folklore. Or satisfy your wild side and plunge 200 feet into the canyon (at nearly 100 mph) on the Terror-dactyl. Race across Williams Canyon with the park’s high-speed zip line, the Bat-a-Pult, or test your vertigo on the Wind Walker Challenge Course, which is suspended off the edge of the canyon cliff ’s 600-foot drop.

CO

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Sticks+Stones

CAVE MAN CUISINE

Having worked in Spain during the height of the molecular gastronomy movement, Edgar Beas brings eye-catching, modern flourishes to ancient cooking techniques.

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Chef Edgar Beas is playing with primitive cooking techniques and challenging the farmers and producers of New Mexico with his new take on Southwest flavors. Jen Murphy finds the taste (and crunch) irresistible PHOTOGRAPHY BY DOUGLAS MERRIAM

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SECRET INGREDIENTS

Beas wanders the mountain trails near his Santa Fe home, gathering juniper branches and stones to char and smoke locally grown ingredients.

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Posole, carne adovada, green chile stew, enchiladas. Over the past few days I’ve been eating my way around Santa Fe trying to understand the essence of New Mexican cuisine. I’ve tasted chile in all imaginable forms and have eaten dozens of stuffed and smothered flour tortillas.

After dining at the city’s iconic tables and hot spots like Cafe Pasqual’s, Atrisco Cafe & Bar, Coyote Cafe and La Choza, I’ve finally pinpointed my problem with Southwest cooking. It’s missing texture.

Melty, cheese-coated chile rellenos are the epitome of comfort food, but they’re also a bit mushy. Throughout my food crawl, I couldn’t help thinking that my dear denture-wearing grandmother would be in dining heaven. I craved a contrasting crunch.

When I share my observation with Edgar Beas, the young, dark-haired chef at the Rosewood Inn of the Anasazi, he softly chuckles and nods. “Southwest flavors are distinct,” he says. “The textures — well, let’s call them subtle.” Beas arrived in Santa Fe in early 2016 to take over the renowned boutique hotel’s restaurant; his new menus — which fuse modern and old-world techniques with indigenous cooking practices and seasonal, native ingredients — shatter any preconceived notions of Southwest cuisine.

Having worked in Spain during the height of the molecular gastronomy movement, Beas knows a thing or two about playing with flavors and texture.

He still keeps a few avant-garde tricks up the sleeves of his chef whites, like extracting melt-in-your-mouth chile threads from a $200,000 machine, but he largely believes molecular gastronomy is obsolete. “Chefs today are innovating by looking at what was being done hundreds of years ago,” he says.

Beas says his family’s Hispanic roots informed his respect for the tenets of indigenous cooking from a young age.

He began researching native culinary traditions, like smoking and charring, as soon as he took the job. “A lot of what I’m doing in the kitchen is actually quite primitive,” he says. “I gather rocks and branches and play with smoke and fire.”

The result, however, is way more refined than cave man cuisine.

I watch as Beas wanders the mountain trails near his Santa Fe home gathering juniper branches and stones. “The stones MARCH/APRIL 2017 • DORADO

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“A lot of what I’m doing in the kitchen is quite primitive.

I gather rocks and branches, and play with smoke and fire.”

THE ART OF THE PLATE

Meat plays a supporting role to vibrant seasonal vegetables, fruits, flowers and herbs in Beas’ kitchen.

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have to be flat but not porous, or they’ll absorb all of the flavor,” he explains.

After the stones soak he covers them with branches and kneels to light a fire.

Someone could easily mistake the setup for a Boy Scouts wilderness survival workshop. Beas places a half-dozen sunchokes atop the heated stones. Once their thick skins are nicely charred, he moves them to a pile of smoking branches to develop flavor and seals it in by poaching the sunchokes in stock.

Beas uses a similar technique to impart an earthy zing to meat and even oils. For example, he’ll fuel the restaurant’s smoker with locally foraged apple and juniper branches, and will place a metal container of olive oil inside so the oil takes on those flavors. Most chefs would simply drizzle the oil atop meat, but Beas gets creative, poaching egg yolks in the smoked oil and then serving them with a venison carpaccio. But he insists, the root of every technique is simplicity, not science. “We grind our own grains, like farro, just like native people have done for years,” he says.

Ingredients are at the heart of Beas’ cooking and having previously worked at Madera, the Michelinstarred restaurant at Rosewood Sand Hill in Menlo Park, he’s had to adjust to seasonal availability. “California’s year-round growing season really spoils you,” he jokes. “I was a little skeptical

about what I’d find in New Mexico, but I’ve really been surprised.”

He’s already developed relationships with more than 20 local farmers and foragers, and buys directly from them seasonally. “It was really important for me to reach out to the growers and express the kind of products I wanted,” he says. “I don’t think they’d been challenged like this before. It’s been exciting for both of us.” The heirloom tomatoes featured in a dish of housecured pork belly, smoked yogurt, squash blossom, cherries and avocado come from Growing Opportunities, a hydroponic grower in Alcalde, 40 minutes north of Santa Fe. And Beas works with a forager out of Taos to source the local morels and piñones that accompany a dish of local lamb saddle.

The dining room at the Rosewood Inn of Anasazi is the perfect backdrop for Beas’ cooking. The intimate space was redesigned in 2015 and melds sophisticated touches like leather chairs and a sleek, backlit tequila bar with subtle nods to Southwestern and native heritage like stone walls and large murals by Santa Fe-based Navajo artist Armond Lara.

Each artisan-made plate displays a Jackson Pollock-esque presentation.

Meat seems to play a supporting role rather than be the star. “I have a real love for produce,” Beas confides. “I find seasonal flowers, herbs, vegetables, berries more inspiring. There’s so much variety to experiment with. Last spring, I found six types of cherries I’d never worked with before.”

Santa Fe’s ubiquitous chile is used sparingly, appearing as super-fine threads atop a bowl of venison tortellini and melted leeks. A decadent bite of seared foie gras with candied fig brings a smile to my face. There’s that crunch I’ve been seeking. I look to chef for an explanation. “I’ve been toying with puffed grains,” he says. Toss quinoa in the fryer and the result is a Rice Krispies-like snap, crackle, pop on the plate. “I believe that when you eat, you should get an explosion of flavor from every bite,” he says. “No one wants to eat mush. Sometimes texture is restrained, like finishing meat with very coarse salt, and sometimes it’s surprising, like biting into puffed quinoa with your foie.”

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A WILDLY AMBITIOUS HUB FOR COMMERCIAL SPACE TRAVEL HAS RISEN IN THE DESERT OF SOUTHERN NEW MEXICO.

S P A C E P O R T,

IF YOU BUILD IT …

Spaceport America, the only facility in the world built exclusively for commercial space travel, sits ready to make astronauts out of paying customers.

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DESPITE MUCH PROGRESS AND IMPRESSIVE COMPETITION, WILL GRANT FINDS THE FINAL FRONTIER STILL WAITS

K ATE RUSSELL

NEW MEXICO

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EEPING SECRETS IS EASIER IN LONELY PLACES.

But there are secrets out there. Particularly on the east side of the Jornada, about 30 miles southeast of Truth or Consequences. That’s where Spaceport America, the only facility in the world built exclusively for commercial space travel, sits ready to make astronauts out of paying customers. Not surprisingly, building spaceships involves secrets, which makes the Jornada a good place to do business.

“The commercial aspect of the Spaceport is a very sensitive, very proprietary market,” says Dan Hicks, who took over as CEO of the New Mexico Spaceport Authority last fall. “One advantage we have that makes us incredibly lucrative to the industry is our remote location. You don’t have a lot of encroachment from cities or demographics where it would be difficult to keep public eyes off what you’re doing.”

Still, the public is watching. The state of New Mexico has so far spent about $220 million on the facility since its groundbreaking in 2007. At that time, the optimistic prediction for commercial space travel was that private companies — most notably Virgin Galactic, which signed a 20-year lease as an anchor tenant at the Spaceport — would be ferrying people to zero gravity by 2015 or so. That hasn’t happened.

Jeff Foust, a staff writer for SpaceNews, attended both the groundbreaking ceremony and official

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COURTESY VIRGIN GAL ACTIC; K ATE RUSSELL (INSET)

The Jornada del Muerto in southern New Mexico is such a place. Stretching from Socorro to Las Cruces, the stark desert is mostly rock and wind. There’s no grass, there’s no water — there’s basically no vegetation higher than your knee for the roughly 100-mile swath of desert named by the Spanish conquistadors for its inhospitable character.

… THEY WILL COME

Some 30 miles southeast of Truth or Consequences, private companies like Virgin Galactic and Elon Musk’s SpaceX have built exploratory hubs.

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FOR $250,000, YOU’LL GET A FEW MINUTES OF ZERO GRAVITY,

FAILURE TO LAUNCH

The state of New Mexico has spent about $220 million on the facility since 2007. At that time, the prediction for ferrying customers into space was 2015. That hasn’t happened.

opening of the Spaceport. Foust earned a Ph.D. in planetary sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and speaks with the crisp, rapid vernacular of someone familiar with the industry. The most salient issue confronting the Spaceport, he says, is the misconception about the time frame of events.

“If you look back a decade or so ago, people were expecting the suborbital commercial space flight industry to grow — to take off, so to speak — a lot faster than it actually did,” he says. “As it turns out, this actually is rocket science, and it can be a challenging endeavor. Things can be more difficult than at first anticipated.”

Paying its own bills has been one of the Spaceport’s challenges. It still can’t cover its annual bottom line, but, according to CEO Hicks, that’s not for lack of trying. In 2017, the facility will host three non-aerospace events as part of an effort to involve more civilians in the place, bring in money from outside sources, and generate some tourism. The Spaceport’s main source of income is its tenants. According to Rosa Banuelos, a member of the New Mexico Spaceport Authority business development team, four of the five renters are Virgin Galactic, Elon

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Musk’s SpaceX, UP Aerospace, and EXOS Aerospace Systems & Technologies. I ask her about the fifth and tell her I read that Google had been working out there.

“Again, I’ve mentioned four of them,” she says. I push her a little about the other tenant, and she balks. Just another secret, I guess.

N

O ONE HAS SO FAR TRAVELED TO SPACE FROM

the Spaceport, though the facility has to date completed 31 horizontal launches and six vertical launches, most involving test flights and unmanned rockets. The facility will see an increase in activity this year as host of what it’s calling the three signature events: an intercollegiate rocketry contest, a drone summit and as the finish line for a 200-mile endurance footrace from El Paso to the Spaceport.

In 2015, the Spaceport opened its doors to public tours on the weekends. Buses shuttle guests from Truth or Consequences to the facility for the “Spaceport Experience.” Through a partnership with Ted Turner Expeditions, the Spaceport last year started offering use

K ATE RUSSELL (3); COURTESY VIRGIN GAL ACTIC ( AERIAL VIEW)

A RAREFIED VIEW OF OUR PLANET AND THE TITLE OF ASTRONAUT.

of its runway and terminal to jet-setting visitors headed to vacation at one of Turner’s nearby ranches. Foust appreciated these additions to the schedule as Spaceport’s attempt to broaden its sources of revenue but says there’s still pressure to see progress on the aerospace front.

“The state talks about diversifying its customer base, but they’re still really expecting Virgin to show up in the next year or two,” he says. “Virgin Galactic, though, has had its set of delays.”

In 2014, Virgin’s spaceship blew up over southern California after taking off from the Mojave Air & Space Port, a nearby hub for test flights and a site of Virgin’s research and development. That slowed Virgin’s timetable, and the company has since been working mostly out of the Mojave field, though it reportedly intends to return the majority of its operations to the Spaceport. SpaceX has had at least two rockets blow up in what it calls rapid unscheduled disassemblies. Both those rockets were attempting to land on drone barges at sea.

Whenever suborbital commercial space travel finally happens, Spaceport America will almost undoubtedly be its Earth-side dock. No one really knows when that

will be, though Spaceport CEO Hicks foresees a significant uptick in activity at the edge of Earth’s atmosphere within the next five years. While other facilities in the U.S., like the Mojave field, send vehicles to space (a total of nine have been licensed to do so by the Federal Aviation Administration), none are as equipped to handle paying customers as would-be astronauts than the Spaceport.

A ticket to space on a Virgin Galactic flight will cost you $250,000. You’ll get a few minutes of zero gravity, a rarefied view of our planet and the title of astronaut, reserved only for those who have been 62 miles above the surface, as compared to the altitude of jetliners, which travel about 5 miles above the surface. So far, more than 700 people have signed up. To Hicks, those 700 future astronauts are just the beginning.

“I think the number of astronauts that the world has — now it’s about 550 — will dramatically increase, and this area in the next five years will be the leader in the world in getting astronauts into space,” he says. “So I think the real market potential going forward in the suborbital world is going to happen right here in southern New Mexico.”

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DESERT BOHEMIA A nomadic, spirited style blooms in Arizona's Sonoran Desert, where sculptural shapes, Southwestern colors and native cultures converge P H OTO G R A P H Y BY

CHR IST INE J O HNSO N ST YL I N G BY

MARGA R E T M E R R IT T

Shirt by The Row, and skirt by Carolina Herrera; both available at Neiman Marcus. Striped scarf by Ever Veritas, available at Santa Fe Dry Goods.

Hat by Free People.

Black bolo by Vanessa Mooney, available at Nordstrom.

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THIS PAGE: Blouse by Etro, and maxi skirt

by Haute Hippie; both available at Neiman Marcus. Hat by Nine West, available at Macy’s. Scarf, stylist’s own. Jewelry by Devon Leigh, available at Neiman Marcus.

OPPOSITE: Caftan and belt by Oscar de la Renta, available at Saks Fifth Avenue. Earrings by Devon Leigh, available at Neiman Marcus.

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THIS PAGE: Dress and hooded duster by Haute Hippie, and jewelry by Devon Leigh, all available at Neiman Marcus. Boots

by Frye, available at The Frye Company, Northpark Center, Dallas. Scarf by Ever Veritas, available at Santa Fe Dry Goods.

OPPOSITE: Dress by Etro, available at Saks Fifth Avenue. Hat, stylist’s own. Jewelry by Devon Leigh, available at Neiman Marcus.

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DORADO • MARCH/APRIL 2017

Rendi dolor modignis restiustiae niscips untiis eatem eatur?

Rorpore perferrum dolorenduci consequiam aciis dem niet id ma doluptaque duciatint ea cum reperum quid ut rae cus, voles voluptat

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DORADO • MARCH/APRIL 2017

Gown by Monique Lhuillier, and jewelry

by Devon Leigh, both available at Neiman Marcus. Boots by Frye, available at The Frye Company, Northpark Center, Dallas.

MARCH/APRIL 2017 • DORADO

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DORADO • MARCH/APRIL 2017

THIS PAGE: Chiffon gown and scarf by Monique Lhuillier, embroidered leather moto jacket by Alexander McQueen, all available at Neiman Marcus.

OPPOSITE: Top and skirt by Oscar de la Renta, available at Saks Fifth Avenue. Jewelry

by Devon Leigh, and bag by Valentino, both available at Neiman Marcus.

Model: Gwen at The Agency, Arizona.

Hair and makeup: Diane Aiello.

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AT HOME

REFINED SOUTHWESTERN LIVING AND STYLE

The Wild, Wild West Inspired by iconic fauna, these five pieces will add a bit of animal spirit to your home décor B Y E L L E N R A N TA O L S O N

1

Paper Chase

Barneby Gates’ wallpaper designs have a distinctly British feel, but many of the prints translate well into a Western home, like this stag skull and thistle pattern.

Deer Damask in Duck Egg Blue and Antique Gold, prices vary, walltawk.com

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AT H OME

3

Where the Wild Things Are

For a more playful take on the traditional animal hide rug, dress your floors with this whimsical woven version instead. House of Rym, $575, bon-boutique.com

2

Horsing Around

Hide and Seek

What’s the allure of adding a little animal-inspired décor to a Southwestern home?

Using a real hide to upholster a chair or ottoman lends a sense of authenticity to a space — more than anything else, a space should feel authentic and genuine.

5

Pony Up

Inspired by the spirit and allure of the American West, Coloradobased artist Maura Allen creates pieces beloved by museums and casual collectors alike. Her unique style of popart-goes-west is the perfect accent piece for any Southwestern home. Pony Road, prices start at $600, mauraallen.com

DORADO • MARCH/APRIL 2017

The interior designer and owner of Anteks, Anteks Curated and J. Alexander Home Accessories, explains how to go wild with style.

When it comes to decorating with things like animal prints and furs, how do you avoid it looking kitschy?

Try to use the real thing whenever possible. Whether it’s a hide or taxidermy, the real thing is always more impressive.

Crafted from bison robe, handdistressed leather and Colorado juniper wood, this is a chair fit for a king — or maybe just a cozy reading nook. Buffalo King Chair, price upon request, buffalocollection.com

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Jason Lenox Anteks Home Furnishings

What are three must-have items for any Southwestern home?

Vintage Navajo rugs, antique wooden furniture and good pueblo pottery.

These three elements go a long way toward establishing a solid design foundation in any Southwestern home.

Sometimes less really is more.

This simple sketch is the perfect addition to that gallery wall you’ve been working on. The Usual Suspects by Dan Metz, $900, legacygallery.com

4

Q&A

Too much rustic décor can sometimes feel like you’re living in a ski lodge. How do you avoid that?

Striking the right balance and blending Southwestern or rustic elements can be tricky. Focus on key elements and fewer, “better” things; this will help to keep your home from getting filled with too many secondary, less important pieces.

It seems like everyone has a cow skull on their walls these days. Is there a more modern spin?

I’ve never been a huge fan of cow skulls. We’d much rather use a caribou mount. They’re gentle in appearance, always have great color and look good in almost any setting.

TOP: PHOTO BY JODY HORTON. BOTTOM LEFT: PHOTO BY DEWEY NICKS, TRUNK ARCHIVE. BOTTOM RIGHT: PHOTO COURTESY OF AWE COLLECTIVE.

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Photo by Wally Pacholka, astropics.com

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EXPLORE

DINE

4 fresh takes on turquoise

3 Southwestern hikes through history

Where to eat in Flagstaff, Arizona

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MARCH/APRIL 2017 • DORADO

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BOUGH WOW

A shady, tree-filled lot in notoriously pricey south Austin offered a young family an affordable price tag, enormous potential — and the challenge of building around protected “heritage trees.”

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AT H OME

A

HOUSE IN THE TREES A young Texas family finds the perfect plot on which to build a modern home in Austin. Sam Mittelsteadt discovers how they put down roots — while leaving others undisturbed PHOTOGRAPHY BY RYANN FORD

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AT H OME

I

“

did not want a modern house — in fact, I hated them.” Becky Shaheen had always envisioned living in a traditional, Craftsman-style dwelling, but thanks to fate and thoughtful planning, she and her husband, Eric, ended up building an archetypal-modern jewel box of a home in Austin’s Bouldin Creek neighborhood, a stone’s throw from funky South Congress and just across the river from downtown.

The family had lived in the southwest suburbs for three years, but south Austin’s unique charm always beckoned. “Our house was out there, but most of the time we wanted to come down here,” recalls Eric, founder of an Apple tech support business. “Whenever

STILL LIFE

The home’s expansive windows, wood-paneled walls and modern Southwest furnishings create a warm, light-filled space.

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DORADO • MARCH/APRIL 2017

we did, though, the event parking was unreal, and we kept thinking, ‘What if we lived down here?’ You can get around easily, walking or biking most places, and it’s close to South Congress and Barton Springs. You can get the best bang for the buck.”

But when it comes to bucks, Austin’s ruthlessly competitive real estate market means you usually need a lot of them to score a home within biking distance of downtown. “A lot of opportunities came and went because the market was insane,” Eric “It’s so ridiculously says, “so there was a lot of disappointment.” urban-cool. …

He stalked the real estate listings and neighThe scene ends borhoods regularly, and one morning in September up looking very 2012 he noticed that a landowner who’d been trying in vain to sell three lots curated — and yet, as a package had finally given up and broken them that’s just how they into singles. “I was in his living room that afternoon park their bikes.” making a deal,” Eric says.

Eric’s favorite lot offered a leafy canopy, thanks to enormous live oak trees, which — unlike deciduous oaks — keep their foliage year-round. The live oaks would be not only beautiful but also energy-efficient during blazing afternoons.

But the oaks posed a significant challenge to planning a homesite: The city protects such “heritage trees” and their expansive, critical root zones from being compromised by construction.

On this lot, a pair of particularly neighboring oaks appeared to hinder any chance to build a home.

“Everyone kept saying it was unbuildable,” says David Webber, whose Webber + Studio architecture firm had been a client of Eric’s company. “But I didn’t believe that, and I love a challenge that forces you to use your creativity. I always feel like some of the best ideas are those that result from problem-solving and aren’t solely style-focused.”

At the literal center of Webber’s plan is a wide, glass-walled passageway that squeezes between the two oaks and connects larger living areas at each end of the house.

“When we put together a list of what we wanted in the house, our top ranking was the ability to see outside — to have the front and side yards clearly visible so we

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AT H OME

BUILDING CODE

Durable, low-cost cement siding — installed vertically and in varying widths — mimics the lines of a bar code, paying homage to the owner’s tech background.

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could watch our kids while they play,” says Eric. Floor-toceiling windows on both sides of the passageway, as well as the facing perpendicular walls, open up the sightlines and visually connect the kitchen and dining room at the back end of the house with the living room at the front.

“The passageway is a room that almost anything can happen in,” Webber says. Case in point: When the Shaheens host a gathering, the hallway is large enough to hold a spare table with seating on both sides — but on normal days, it’s where they store their bicycles. “It’s

DORADO • MARCH/APRIL 2017

so ridiculously urban-cool,” the architect says. “The way the setting has been created, the scene ends up looking very curated — and yet, that’s just how they park their bikes.”

When it came to finishes, Webber instituted some cost-saving measures that “also ended up making their house feel like a millwork jewel box,” he says. “There’s a way to use low-cost materials in a way that’s rich and interesting.”

The interior walls downstairs, for example, aren’t Sheetrock — they’re finished with panels of ¾-inch cabinet-grade plywood. “Up until a week before, we were going back and forth,” Eric recalls. “But we put a lot of trust in David, and now it’s my favorite part “I love a challenge of the house.”

Becky, meanwhile, that forces you to appreciates the plywood’s easy maintenance — gooduse your creativity. bye, kiddo fingerprints! — and now regrets that in a I always feel like moment of impatience, the Shaheens opted to use trasome of the best ditional wallboard upstairs in the children’s bedroom. ideas are those “In a few years we’ll have plywood up there, too,” she admits. that result from The building’s exterior eschews expensive wood problem-solving.” siding for HardiePlank fiber-reinforced cement boards, which Webber only half-jokingly refers to as “a miracle, low-cost material. It’s much more durable as far as long-term maintenance, so it made lots of sense.

But most people have an issue with it because they think it looks cheap, so we thought, ‘Let’s make it more special.’ ” Installed vertically instead of horizontally, and in varying widths, the end result is a riff on boardand-batten siding that mimics the lines of a bar code, paying homage to Eric’s tech background. “I can’t tell you how many people slow down when they’re driving by,” says Becky, who now proudly declares her love of modern homes — well, at least hers, anyway.

It has a unique set of merits, says Webber. “It’s low-cost, and it speaks to the nature of the scrappy entrepreneurial spirit of Austin, … and yet it doesn’t look like anything I’ve seen in Austin at all. It’s experimental and funky-looking, and it’s a little bit of a treasure.”

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M Y DOR A DO GREAT SALT LAKE, UTAH

I grew up in the suburbs of Salt Lake City, but my family had a condo in St. George, Utah. On many weekend road trips south, I’d stare out the window mesmerized by the vast open plains and red rock landscapes of Zion, Canyonlands and Arches national parks.

As an adult, I still find myself in awe of the geologic masterpiece.

JA I N E E D I A L , C O - F O U N D E R O F W Y L D E R , A N O N L I N E R E TA I L E R D E S I G N E D TO INSPIRE AND OUTFIT WOMEN FOR OUTDOOR ADVENTURE

Photograph by Tory Treseder

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Tag your photos on social media with #MyDorado to show us what you love about the Southwest. We’ll share our favorites at doradomagazine.com.

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The New West Washable leathers and more.

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