Fall Color at Cloudcroft

I meant to go Saturday evening to check out the fall color in Cloudcroft, but didn't. That meant I had to dash up there Sunday. I am soooo glad I made the effort. 

My primary areas to find some autumn color were basically done - we had a strongish wind Saturday night that probably blew the majority of the leaves down. However, right outside of Cloudcroft - less than five minutes - I found a couple of stands of trees in the peak of their color.

Meanwhile, I am getting ready for a fall trip next weekend to Utah. I will be hiking into some canyons, getting my feet wet in the rivers. I scored a ticket to a place called the Subway in Zion National Park; that place has been on my bucket list for quite some time. Now let's hope for clear skies when I go!

Cheers,

Marc

Taos Fall Photo Trip

We were trying to time our trip to northern New Mexico for peak fall color. While I don't know that we hit peak we did get some fantastic color, and the weather was perfect, too.

We got an early start - we were on the road by 6:00 am, and didn't get to Taos until lunch. We did stop along the Rio Grande near Taos, as that was the first real hit of color that we saw. The Rio Grande is much different this far north compared to our usual neck of the woods.

We had a nice lunch in Taos, then took off to drive the Enchanted Circle - a pretty stretch of highway that circles Wheeler Peak in the Carson National Forest.

The trees had the most color (and leaves) at about 9000 ft, but there weren't always pull outs on the road to get out and enjoy. What was available was still very nice!

We got back into Taos just in time for dinner, and with all that driving (and stopping for photos), I turned in pretty early. We also knew we needed to get back for laundry and to get ready for the next week, with a 6+ hour drive home. We were on the road by about 6:30, and since we took the scenic route through the mountains back home, took a bit longer than the way there.

It was cold in the mountains - they had already had their first snows for the winter, and nighttime lows were in the low/mid 20's. We drove most of the Enchanted Circle with the windows down. The sun was warm but the air was crisp - perfect!

Cheers,

Marc

More Sunsets

Have we said that we have more than our fair share of spectacular sunsets?

Tonight was another of those nights. We've had some clear skies lately, which as been great to let me photograph some stars, but I love some clouds to catch the last light of the day.

I was just reading (No Man An Island) a book outside, when the skies started to light up. I grabbed my camera and let Catherine and the kids know. Catherine came out to enjoy the show. 

I stuck around until the winds started to kick up. I was hoping to photograph the Milky Way as it set behind the mountains here, but those clouds and the wind weren't going to be conducive. We are lining up a trip to northern New Mexico shortly to hopefully capture some fall color in the southern Rockies. Otherwise, Ian completed his drivers' ed, now we just need to get his learners permit and have him drive me around the base for a bit.

Cheers!

Marc

Trinity Site

I made the trip north to the Trinity site - ground zero for the world's first nuclear bomb detonation - for the open house.

If you look close, there are loads of people inside the fence. While the sign is ominous, the background radiation is only 10x the average background for the US, with places with naturally occurring higher levels. Still, I wouldn't camp there...

I went to see the sights, but I also had a couple of Soldiers working the open house that I visited.

There isn't much there - it is out in the middle of nowhere (which describes most of New Mexico), other than a slight depression and some Trinitite, some mildly radioactive green rocks. Most of the Trinitite has been pilfered, but with the recent rains, I am told more was showing than in years past.

It was also the first time since 2019 that White Sands has been able to hold the open house, which looked to be pretty popular. There haven't been that many people on the north range in one place in years!

Cheers,

Marc