Thursday, January 29, 2015

Miscellaneous Travels, Churches and Alien Landscapes

I spotted this white monolith from the highway and thought immediately that it looked like photos I've seen of Greece. We zigzagged through El Dorado until we found it. Sure enough, it's a Greek church.



 This old building is in Santa Fe, Canyon Road. Thought the restoration process was interesting.


This is our time machine - the vehicle that took us (Leon and I and a 100 pound Wiemerdor) from Connecticut on our journey to alien landscapes and other times.




Even though I've pretty much had it with religion, I do find church architecture aesthetically pleasing. This not so old church is on the Fort Stanton grounds. I love stonework.







Speaking of Alien landscapes, some are just tacky.

Things in New Mexico can sometimes be an odd mixture of beliefs and elements. I'm not sure what "Christian Supplies" are.

This little tourist attraction made me appreciate "black light" once again.












Now this church even lacks any nice stonework architecture. And the word "primitive" in this context intrigues me and scares me at the same time.

Landscapes that go to the horizon are not something we see in New England. These landscapes have a "time warp" factor due to moving in our spaceship at over 75 miles per hour. Leon was intrigued with the hundreds of square miles of farmland that had to be plowed and planted and harvested: When one begins, where does it end? Where do the tractors and harvesters refuel? There seems to be nothing for miles and miles. One wonders about the economy of farming - whether cotton as many of the fields here, or wheat, or corn, or whatever.

Time-warped power lines and poles.

Appreciate those who work the fields and grow our food. Theirs is a long and lonely row to hoe.


Saturday, January 24, 2015

Sun Mountain Trail

Went on a spectacular hike this morning at Sun Mountain. Didn't expect what we got ourselves into when we started, but after a mile and a quarter (it seemed like a vertical ascent at times) we finally made it to the top. In response to Mitch's comment on the weather: despite the snow on the ground   the intense sun makes it feel very warm during the day, the snow seems to just evaporate and not get slushy except when it first melted after the snow ended the other day when there was some slush in the roads.
The hike certainly got us sweating, but it was windy and much colder on the summit.
Have to share some photos.













 I don't know if Benni is just intelligent or lucky but he's avoided stepping on any cactus plants (especially low lying prickly pear which are often covered by snow). He got a thorn in his paw twice -from the cholla cactus whose pieces break off and get on the ground - and you know who had to remove them. Now I think he knows where to walk - the folks here tell us that dogs here rarely have a problem with cacti after one or two incidents.














About the Sun Mountain Trail
Location: Old Santa Fe Trail, 1/4 mile north of the intersection with East Zia Road
The dedicated public trail access is a sliver of land starting at Old Santa Fe Trail, moving uphill to the base of Sun Mountain and on to the summit. The trail provides access to 249 acres of city-owned open space on Sun and Moon mountains.
Condition: The Sun Mountain trail is an unimproved rustic trail not suitable for mountain bikes.
Altitude gain: About 700 feet from the trailhead to the summit of Sun Mountain.
[I THINK THIS IS A VERY CONSERVATIVE FIGURE - HAD TO BE 1000 FT+]
Visuals: The view from the summit is a breathtaking 360-degree panorama, and native plants and wildlife are abundant.
Rules: All City of Santa Fe rules for parks and recreation areas apply here.
Distance from Trailhead to foot of Sun Mountain - 0.4 km (.25 miles)
Distance from Trailhead to top of Sun Mountain - 1.45 km (.9 miles)
[OUR "MAP MY WALK" APP SHOWED US 2.4 MILES ROUND TRIP - ABOUT A 2 HOUR HIKE]
Roundtrip hike from Trailhead to top and back - 2.9 km (1.8 miles)
- See more at: http://www.santafe.com/article/sun-mountain-trail-opens-to-public#sthash.Jw72Eds0.dpuf

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