For the last few months, New Mexico has become my surrogate home. I still miss the ebb and flow of the open road, and my curiosity remains unsatiated for Latin America. But I’m enjoying my time here in Santa Fe, coupled with my investigations into the dirt roads that abound. With spring easing itself in to my riding life, I look forward to unearthing many more.
As a state, New Mexico feels overlooked… in comparison at least to its more worldly neighbours, Colorado and Arizona, with their jagged mountain peaks and fathomless canyons. Yet while New Mexico’s terrain is undoubtedly more subtle, the high desert landscapes here are nothing short of breathtaking.
And, like home, over a series of repeated visits the fabric of New Mexico has transformed from the unexplored and unfamiliar, to the well travelled and reassuring. The sense of space. The old frontier influence. The indigenous history. The wizened junipers. The tufts of sagebrush. That sky.
And, importantly, New Mexico is the birthplace of the boy Sage; perhaps because of this I sense a need to catalogue my travels here, to understand that which he will call his home.
Bikepacking around Hermit’s Peak, San Miguel County.
Overnighting in the The Cibola National Forest.
Camping out in the Gila National Forest.
Riding singletrack in Galisteo Basin Preserve, Lamy.
Juniper views, Galisteo Basin Preserve.
31 Mile Road, Carson National Forest.
Dirt roading in Santa Fe National Forest.
The Dragon’s Back, White Mesa Trail, San Ysidro.
The Capitan Mountains and Lincoln National Forest.
Polished smooth, the windswept Plains of San Agustin.
The Taos Plateau volcanic field.
Contemplating the impending storm, Taos. (with the merest hint of rain, New Mexican tracks turn to quagmire)
A ribbon of dirt and a relentless headwind, Plains of San Agustin.
Solitary singletrack, San Ysidro.
Two track bliss, the Lincoln National Forest.
The White Mountain, Lincoln National Forest.
Creek crossings on the WIndsor Trail, Santa Fe.
Bleak beauty, the Plains of San Agustin.
Foothills trail network, Sandia Mountains.
Fence hopping on the road to Diablo Canyon.
Anyone there? The Very Large Array, Socorro.
Railroad Canyon, south of the Continental Divide.
Sage, born in New Mexico, in keeping with his name.
Great pictures!!
aside from the great riding – sage-boy gets cuter by the day!
Wow, Cass. This has made me more homesick than anything I’ve maybe ever seen. Thank you. New Mexico is incredible.
Your photos never get old…
Scott
Thanks guys.
Sage-boy sure is a cutie. When he’s not in meltdown mode…
Scott – New Mexico misses you!
Looks like the kind of wide open space and peace that is hard to find in the UK, at least not on that kind of scale. Your posts always make me yearn for long days on beautiful trails, tyres crackling and dust rising…
Thanks for your comment Matthew. Scotland is the only place I’ve really experienced with a similar sense of space and peace in the UK. Weather aside, it’s what I most enjoy about living in South West USA.
Cass, you may lack the Native New Mexican title, but you sure have seen much of the beauty of our great state. Thanks for sharing this set of photographs- they’re golden.