Catherine is far too indulging of my desire to get up early and go shoot photos! I got up at 4 am this morning to drive 90 minutes to this spot along the highway between Hatch and Deming that I spotted on our drive back from Hatch when I took the scenic way home after a lunch out with Dad and Pam.
It was a bit tricky to find in the dark, but I found it and had time to spare to find my composition and shoot my photos. Sunrise lasted maybe 30 minutes - it was dark on this rural stretch of highway (no trains) and cool, but oh so worth the early alarm and longish drive. I didn't think I'd have an amazing sunrise, but New Mexico does seem to have more than its fair share!
Once the pretty colors of the sunrise were done, I packed up and drove the couple of miles to the start of the Lake Valley National Back Country Scenic Byway - Hwy 27. I saw fewer than 10 other vehicles, and a couple of those were ranchers who lived on the road. It was vast, empty, and starkly beautiful.
The road ends in Hillsboro, a sleepy little village with no gas station. I drove on to the Gila National Forest driving up out of the grassy desert into the mountains. These are not as high as the Lincoln National Forest, so no aspens, but still very pretty. This road snakes its way through the mountains - and is just as winding on the west side as on the east side (shown below).
This would be a fantastic drive in a Mini Cooper or on a motorcycle, assuming the deer, elk, bears, and mountain lions weren't crossing the road.
It was a great day for a road trip! I scoped out a nice camp area that I will take the family to, should be fun.
Cheers,
Marc
No comments:
Post a Comment