After spending a lovely morning listening to Estevan Arellano tell us stories, we traveled up to Dixon, a quaint mountain town, for lunch. After eating and spending an impressive amount of time in an old used bookstore, we took a side trip to see an unusual rock formation. As we headed back down towards Santa Fe, slumber took over the van; the first few days of the trip had gotten to us. When we got back to the house, however, some of us decided to go ahead and drive up to the Santa Fe National Forest for an afternoon hike.
As we began to wind up into the Sangre de Christo Mountains (north of Santa Fe), the roads got steep and curvy; Jeff remarked on our lack of fear. It’s true; gaining height, becoming level with the tree tops, sliding around corners…it’s a bit nerve-racking. But nbd. After passing several trail heads and a few camping spots, we parked the van a little ways below the peak. It always surprises me how much change occurs over the short drive up into mountains, in the temperature, wind, and of course the vegetation. The temperature became noticeably cooler. The pinon pine and juniper gave rise to spruce, fir, and aspen, and the air felt a bit thinner.
Anyways, off we went, up the trail. Within about three minutes, Jeff was at least 100 feet ahead of everyone else. And so here we discovered the pace of Dr. Kosierok. Somehow he can cover the ground of a jogger while appearing to stroll, an ability we’ve seen in action since. So as Jeff trail-blazed on, and Monica and Laura got on ahead on their own adventure, I hung back with Maya, Katie, and Dr. Hardin. We took our time, viewing the flora that lined the trail, which makes a totally different looking forest than Arkansas, even while many species do overlap. Dr. Hardin impressed with her identification, and Maya started pulling out medicinal herb knowledge. The yarrow, used as natural absorbent/ gauze kept catching my eye. The herbal knowledge made me think of Ultima, the curandera in Bless Me, Ultima, one of the trip readings. Ultima is magical indeed, but in the way that she understands nature so thoroughly that she can use it: an ability that was once ingrained in cultures here. (Monica, I have faith your curandera potential)
After crossing a fire road, we continued up on an uncleared trail. Aspen are soft, and the wind knocks them over easily; the number of downed trees was crazy. We stopped by a flowing creek, and eventually came across some huge boulders. From the top of the rocks, we were level with the tops of the trees, and could look out over the horizon. The huge stands of aspen, the mountains in the distance, and the fresh air were invigorating. Hiking in the mountains is certainly a humbling activity, and reminds me of my small place in the vastness of the landscape. To get borderline sappy, it’s awesome to be on a trip with people who all hold an appreciation for nature and an enthusiasm for exploring it, both physically and intellectually. The hike helped familiarize us with the forests of northern New Mexico, which have a central role in some of our readings and discussions.
-Emily Deitchler
ReplyDelete