ABIQIUI
VICTORIO, APACHE WARRIOR CHIEF
Day 7-9
Day 4-6
IN SEARCH OF
Day 9-11
RATON
TAOS
25 SANTA FE
40 ALBUQUERQUE
Day 1-3
25
SILVER CITY
LAS CRUCES
An unforgettable exploration of an historical event in the Gila Wilderness - BY DAVE STANTON & KYLE DICKMAN
T
he Land Cruiser shudders as we cross what we hope is Las Animas, the last drainage the US Army’s 9th Calvary crossed before being massacred by 60 warriors from the Chiricahua Apache. That was a 130-years ago. We’re just hoping to see signs from the battle. Our driver Chip, the owner and founder of the Santa Fe, New Mexico-based Uncharted Outposts, jerks the wheel left to keep the tire from rolling from the hard-packed clay into the loose sand. “Hope I can actually drive to the battle ground,” he says to me with a chuckle. “We usually take horses—like the Apaches used to.” We’re 14 miles from our home base at Ted Turner’s 156,439-acre Ladder Ranch, 160 miles southwest of Al buquerque, New Mexico. The road, barely the width of the vehicle, winds through the canyon’s towers and pinnacles before disappearing in pine forest and a ridge leading to 9,000-foot Black Mountain. Beyond the two track, there’s no sign of humanity. This is the wilderness. When the 9th Cav. rode through this drainage in 1879 they intended to capture and subdue the ‘runaway’ band of Chiricahua led by the chief Victorio. The 60-some warriors were fleeing from an Arizona reservation back to the red-rock fins and reefs of their homeland in the Gila Mountains. The 9th Cav. Col-
lided with the Apaches when they carelessly tracked the band into the natural defenses of the 150-foot-tall Massacre Canyon—as it’s now called. Victorio’s warriors sprung the ambush, shots were exchanged, and 32 graves were dug (mostly for soldiers) into the flash flood washed sands of Las Animas Creek bed. Right now, Chip and I are hoping to see the graves still resting in the canyon, just one of thousands of archeological sites that make this state’s cultural history the country’s richest. New Mexico’s human history spans the millennia and includes countless tug-o-wars over land inhabited by native peoples and the colonialists who wanted it—invading tribes, Spaniards, Mexicans, the U.S.. The best way to experience the intersections of these cultures is to wander the 25 seldom-seen wilderness areas scattered across New Mexico’s deserts, forests, and peaks. That’s where the artifacts lie in the still-wild landscapes in which they were born. But like the soldiers from the 9th Cav., we’re finding New Mexico’s stark beauty often defends its secrets. The Land Cruiser lurches as it drops from a rock into a gully. Air rushing from the tire squeals above the engine. A flat. The sidewall’s punctured. Chip kills the engine and we get out. The wind blowing in from the peaks is cool for the first time since we arrived at the Gila Wilderness this morning. Bats are swoop-
SOUL OF THE
SOUTHWEST 12 DAY ITINERARY BY: ALLISON KELMAN & KYLE DICKMAN
DAY 1-3: Howl with the Wolves
Gila Wilderness
When famed-conservationist Aldo Leopold won protection for New Mexico's Gila Wilderness in 1924, it was the U.S. Forest Service's first wilderness area. After three days following Chiricahua Apache guides through pine-rimmed slot canyons, 11,000foot peaks, and the hand-carved caves of ancient cliff dwellings, you'll know why the Gila's 3.3 million acres spawned America's wilderness system. From binoequipped Land Cruisers, you'll glimpse bison and elk grazing in meadows shared by mountain lions and four packs of Mexican gray wolves. Spend rustic nights at a safari-style drop camp, just a 20-minute hike from Lightfeather Hot Springs, and sip locally distilled tequila while watching the sunset over the hills of the Chihuahuan Desert.
Day 4-6 Cultural Explorations
Santa Fe & surrounding areas
Dip into the art-filled nooks and crannies of 400-year old Santa Fe, America's oldest capital. Spend the morning strolling through the 100-plus art galleries lining a mile stretch of Canyon Road. Then stop for lunch at Maria's for New Mexico's signature corn-based pesole, fire-roasted green chilies and tortillas while sipping the best (Think: strongest) margaritas in town. Rise early to hike the renowned Dale Ball trails and catch the golden New Mexican sun warming the juniper and pinon trees flanking the 12,000foot Sangre de Cristo Mountains. On day five, climb ancient pinon ladders into Anasazi cliff dwellings, hike alongside elk and mule deer in the 90,000 acre Valles Caldera, then kick back for an al fresco lunch under an aspen canopy.
Spend your last day
in Santa Fe relaxing in the Japanese-style turquoise bracelets from open-air shops at the Plaza.
Day 7-9 O’Keefe meets Kit Carson
Abiqiui, Taos We'll head northwest to Ghost Ranch, the studio of American art-icon Georgia O'Keefe, to catch views of the settings she immortalized:
Pedernal Mountain's table-top mesa
and cottonwood trees twisted by high-desert winds. Post- Ghost Ranch we'll spend the afternoon soaking at Ojo Caliente's thermal springs before heading northeast to Taos Pueblo, America's oldest community, and the adobe farmhouse of frontiersman Kit Carson. That night, wind down in old-world luxury at the Bavarian Chalets, just beneath Kachina Peak and the southernmost spine of the Rockies. Wake up and raft Class 4 on the Rio Grande's Taos 'Box', then head back into the mountains for horseback rides beneath big horn sheep habitat and New Mexico's tallest summit, 13,161-foot Wheeler Peak.
ing for bugs feet above our heads and the night is coming. “We’re not getting up to the grave sites tonight, eh?” Chip says with a laugh, flipping up the carpet from the rear trunk and reaching for a spare. It’s another six miles up the road. “That’s trouble.” The jack is gone and there’s no way to change the tire. He tries the sat phone. No service. “Sorry guys, nothing else to do but hoof it out of here.” Two hours later, we’re hiking down the 13mile road that took us the better half of the afternoon to drive up. The jokes about eating grain-fed beef and sipping hard-earned Glenlivet scotch at the Ladder Ranch have long since been replaced by silence and the occasional scuff of a misplaced foot on uneven rocks. When the moon crests the peaks to the west, I remember this wilderness is significant for more than its cultural history. Junipers and sandstone pinnacles cast shadows in the cream-colored light. The Forest Service reestablished Mexican Wolves here when they released 11 wolves into the Gila Wilderness in 1998—just one of dozens of programs designed to cultivate the state’s biodiversity. Now, four wolf packs prowl the landscape. Playfully, like I’ve done at every full moon I’ve seen since I first saw Werewolf in London, I reach my head back and howl. The response: the long and low cry of a wolf calling back from Massacre Canyon. I turn toward the mountains. The wolf’s cry echoes through valleys that have remained wild
through the long history of human habitation. I don’t see any 130-year-old grave sites, but the call reminds me I’m a part of a world much greater than I am. I howl a return.
Tesuque Buffalo Dancer #1 | David Michael Kennedy
hot springs at Ten Thousand Waves or buy
ANCIENT ARTIFACT “Angel de la Caridad” a 200 year old plancha altar piece, made of sterling silver and gold, an example of Catholic heritage. Originating in Bolivia this an many more artifacts were carted up by the Spaniards who came to New Mexico in 1598.
ABIQIUI
Day 7-9
Day 4-6
Day 9-11
SOUL OF THE SOUTHWEST RATON
12 DAY ITINERARY
TAOS
Day 1-3 | Howl with the Wolves 25 SANTA FE
1 - Land in Albuquerque. Stay overnight, or motor down to the Gila that day. Explore the Gila and Aldo Leopold Wilderness. 2,3- Stay on the Ted Turner's Ladder Ranch
Day 4-6 | Cultural Explorations / Santa Fe 40 ALBUQUERQUE
4 - Leave out of Silver City for Santa Fe, stopping on the way to take in ancient Native American sites. Arrive Santa Fe in evening. 5 - base out of Santa Fe, and explore the Jemez Mts. 1 hr to the west- ancient Native American cliff dwellings. Back that night. 6 - A 'whatever you want to do' day in Santa Fe.
Day 7-9 | O’Keefe meets Kit Carson / Abiqiui, Taos 7 - Leave Santa Fe and drive to Georgia O'keefe country-Abiqiui. Then up to through Ojo Caliente to Taos. Check out the town and head up to Kachina wilderness, up beyond the Taos Ski Valley. Base out of here for 2 nights. Rafting the Rio Grande, Horseback trips, etc.
Day 1-3
Day 9-11 | Into the Wild / Valles Vidal, Vermejo Ranch 25
SILVER CITY
LAS CRUCES
9 - Head out of Taos through the Valles Vidal to the Northeastern corner of state to another crown jewel Turner ranch- 750,000 acre Vermejo Park Ranch. 10,11 - stay on the ranch, partake in all kinds of amazing conservation cultural and adventure activities.
Day 12 | Back to the ABQ and home.
Photo Š DON USNER
Day 9-11 Into the Wild Valles Vidal, Vermejo Ranch To reach our final destination, the renowned Vermejo Park Ranch we journey through 100,000 acres of wild lands in the Valle Vidal, a forested mountain basin in northeast New Mexico. We'll wind into the Sangre de Christo (the blood of Christ) mountains on one of only two roads in the valley, following the snow-fed Comanche Creek through alpine meadows splashed red with Indian Paintbrush and forests of aspen, oak, and blue spruce. Though the Apaches who originally settled the caldera in the 1500s have long since left, little else has changed. We enter Vermejo, where Black bear and mountain lion still roam its 550,00 acres of forests beside grazing herds of Castle Rock bison, the
Copyright, 2010, EcoNewMexicoLLC
only pure bison herds outside of Yellowstone. You'll see these animals on a horseback safari and join a local conservationist on a 4-mile hike who will explain recent conservation efforts around the region. Or opt to spend your final two days casting for wild cutthroat trout during our fly-fishing clinic on the Ranch's many pristine streams and lakes. Last act: candlelight dinner with a hearty Malbec, lamb flank, and views of Costillo Peak and the Vermejo Valley sprawling beneath you.
C O N S E RVAT I O N
. C U LT U R E . A D V E N T U R E