copper canyon, NEW mexico

when i told people i was going to copper canyon over the weekend they thought i was loco. as everyone knows that's in chihuahua, mexico. well, i didn't know that. but nobody seems to know about copper canyon, NEW mexico. yes, it really exists. see for yourself, pedro.

the plan was for hilary and johnny to go on a hike through the college where i work, but jd's hip was out of commission and we were just glad he made it to see us that week. thanks for the prayers those of you who were on it. we decided i would replace jd for the hike, but thankfully he and hils still had their first weekend away together since august. on sunday i picked up my neigbor gerry (who pioneered her way to NM from new jersey) and we headed to abiquiu (abb-ih-cue) 50 miles north of santa fe. below is the chama river flowing behind the b & b where hils and jd were staying.

this is georgia o'keefe country. she lived down the road and up the road and painted all over the place.

here is annie, a little norwich terrier who lives at the b & b, las parras de abiquiu. she's after a lizard. she's so pretty.

here we are on the "moderate" hike with our extremely relaxed guide kirt (in the hat), a local geolist and adjunct professor at the college who enjoys stopping at sheer cliffsides to point out ancient rock formations. there is hils in the white shirt with her hands on her back. she was clinging to kirt's backpack on the way down as our group scrambled down loose sheet rock and clung to old junipers. after surviving we suggested he advertise this as a "challenging" hike.

there is the pedernal in the distance- the vista that drew all those artists, writers, dreamers, and cowgirl wannabes like us out to the romantic west.

speaking of cowgirls... here are me and gerry.

lovely view of the hidden canyon that no one seems to knows about. kirt taught us all about local geology. the red and yellow colors are from oxidized iron, not copper.

i'm a pretty quick learner. especially with my fly half-way down. nice.

we stopped at ghost ranch on the way back to SF. this was owned by all sorts of pioneers, including ms. o'keefe and now it belongs to the presbyterian church. you can attend all sorts of fun classes like discovering spiritual connections through pueblo pottery and self-expression through quilting and ofcourse, golf in the high desert: seeking the hole in one and the holy one. need a good retreat? come to the land of enchantment, baby!