Sidetracked Charley

Rio Grande at Embudo It is January. We are in the midst of January Thaw officially. But even before NOAA recognized it we where have gorgeous weather. Perfect to get out with the camera and search for pictures of ice. Of course. You do not want too much ice. You do not want it so cold it is frozen over and white. That is unattractive ice. The prettiest ice is like the photograph below. It is clear and transparent. This particular piece of ice, however, was only 4" across. Melting Ice sheet? Mind you the opening photo has some snow in it. Snow in the shady spots at least.  The the mid stream boulder in the picture below should be coated with ice and have an ice flow above it. But it was a high 40's kind of day without a cloud in the sky. I was clearly asking for too much. I wanted ice and what I got was beautiful, clear, cold water. I frankly could not believe the colors. The Rio Grande can be rather muddy from time to time. The colors are a reflection of th...

Map of Rio Grande Del Norte National Monument Took another photographic outing to the lower end of our newest national monument. There are other accesses to the beauty this monument holds but from where I live the lower end is the easiest to access. Many of the highway travelers to Taos are familiar with the scene below taken after the horseshoe turn. Turning north off of Hwy 68 on to 570 at Pillar gets you into the beautiful camping and day access areas of the monument. Rio Grande Gorge in the Taos Volcanic Plateau The Rio Grande River is very low because of the drought but my photographic partner and I were thrill to find the river a bit higher than our last trip due to recent rains.  The gorge and canyon walls that enclose the Rio Grande in the monument area are primarily basalt. The Taos Volcanic plateau was formed by seven different lava flows. The remnant cones of the volcanos are throughout the park area. But between flows the run off created layers of...

Big Horn Sheep My friend Jessica and I went looking for animals to photograph, and specifically yesterday we were looking for Big Horn Sheep. A few weeks ago, totally by accident, we stumbled on the Red River flock. I knew these gentle and magnificent animals had been reintroduced into Arizona and then New Mexico wilderness areas after having been almost totally killed off by diseases carried by domestic sheep. I did not know how well they were doing until I saw them in Red River, and then yesterday along the eastern and western edges of the Rio Grande River Gorge. In the two weeks since the accidental sighting along the Red River photographers have been quietly telling us where else they can be found. But as the picture above indicates you have to look closely. They camouflage quite nicely, and make you wonder how many I have seen but not noticed. Watching Us This small flock with two adult rams was along an escarpment defining the path of the Rio Grande Ri...