Gardening... in pictures

Seeds!

Spinach and Kale getting ready to go

my gardening help.... an eager Lennox, while a reluctant Chicory hides in the shade

Planting in containers

Best gardening book ever! and I found
it in a random used bookstore. Fate!

Meanwhile, in Carlsbad -

Lavender for the front bed

Cutting off awesome blossoms makes
the plant healthier - we hope.

Let's hope these guys grow big and awesome

red potatoes bought in Albertsons and planted
in the backyard

the beginnings of broccoli

the family farm... and Lennox. Potatoes in the bins on the left, broccoli behind the chiminea, cilantro
in front chilling with herbs bought to provide instant gratification. 

drilling drain holes in bins. guess they aren't
all the same size.
Oops!

Winnie wants to help too

to be continued....

Lost Journal Entry...

When I was posted outside the cave at Carlsbad Caverns, I got to witness some truly glorious spring days. You know those days when the sky is that perfect shade of deep blue, a few fluffy white clouds sail past to remind you of unseen winds, the landscape is a desert postcard of deep greens and accent greys, birds chirp and flirt and build homes for future chicks, and ravens play overhead to taunt you and your earthboundedness... yeah, those were the days I was inspired to write. I'd write on a tiny notepad I kept in my sexy NPS-provided fanny pack. I would write thoughts, aspirations, travel plans, and memories.

I recently found that notepad, and on it I had written this.... 

I discovered who I was the summer after college. I went to Virginia looking for something but not sure what. What I found was myself. The self that was hiding deep inside; the self that cried out for every trail that went into the woods along the highways we traveled during family vacations and led me down old farm roads during one of my drives. I realized that I was happiest when I was simply putting one foot in front of the other in the wilderness. I spent lazy summer afternoons lying on a mountain peak with a book in my hand, some good company and a beautiful view. I hiked through the ethereal Blue Ridge fog, the life-stealing heat of Utah's desert and sand dunes in the Rockies. I've seen alligators, badgers, mountain lions and bears along winding wooded paths.

My life has taken me to many new places. I have met some wonderful and interesting people along the way. There was the practical joking law enforcement officer who engaged me in a battle of the wits, the guys who lived next door who rappelled from the roof of the house and the drunk, with whom I shared a wall, who had a heart of gold and a never ending supply of weed and beer. I have met mortal enemies and kindred souls, sometimes living with one or the other. The most interesting souls I've run across have been the thru-hikers along the Appalachian Trail. So many different walks of life and reasons for hiking the AT yet they all came together for one common goal; to finish the 1,200 mile-long historic trail.

I grew up a nervous child always pestering my parents with "what if" questions. Who would have guessed that I would grow to experience all that I have. I've been chased off a mountain peak by bolts of lightning that rained down around me and spent hours deep within the red-rock canyons of Utah never quite believing that I could get out. I have witnessed first light from the top of a 2,000 foot cliff and been woken by cowboys moving herds of cattle around my tent. I have hiked through the 120-degree heat of a Utah summer, camped in the howling winter winds of the Guadalupe Mountains and bagged a peak in Virginia during a blizzard. But none of that prepared me for the tiny holes and crevasses that awaited me my first season as a park ranger at Carlsbad Caverns. There I learned the true meaning of the words "pitch black" and understood just where the term "pinch" got its name.

I have lost toenails, gotten sun poisoning and developed a stress fracture for my love of hiking. I sold my apartment and all of its furnishings to follow my dreams and I've never been happier!

Happy discovery!

This was one of those perfect spring days

El Paso's Tin Mines

This last weekend, M and I hiked to a series of tin mines in the Franklin Mountains. I discovered the trail from a great local blog, elpasonaturally. The first thing we noticed about this hike was although it was in the middle of the city, there weren't any sounds of the city, no sign of the suburbs; not even a plane flying overhead.

a rare El Paso scene... no signs of the city!

The first 2 miles of the hike were on old mining roads that have been converted to hike/bike trails. This made for great easy walking over hard-packed gravel. We saw lots of small yellow flowers and a few early-crop poppies.















The old mining roads were built around 1901 as a way to cross through the Franklin Mountains, where the present-day Transmountain Road/Loop 365 runs. Several roads also ran from the railroad and highway heading up towards Alamagordo to springs located along the eastern edge of the Franklins. The geology of the Franklins is mostly limestone with some granite intrusions. The tin was discovered in these granite intrusions. Tin is very rare in North America. However, it wasn't profitable enough so the mines were shut down in 1915.

The small dark dots on the left are mine grates... Up above you can
see the lighter bands of limestone.

Grates covering mine trenches and shafts.

M striking his usual photography pose

After a few wrong turns, we made it to the entrance to the main mine. Luckily, I had cell service the whole hike and was able to follow the GPS map from AllTrails. It saved our asses several times. After some really loose rock-scrambling, we made it up to the entrance and were delighted to discover you could walk into the mines! I've never been inside an un-manned mine before.

We had brought headlamps because we thought we'd be able to look into the mine. Little did we know we would be able to walk pretty far back into the shafts.

My first thought was Mountain Lions and drug-runners would enjoy living in these unlocked abandoned tunnels. Should we come across any, we would resort to defending ourselves by whipping them with our cameras and water bottles. (Not a fantastic plan....)

I was enjoying the features of my new camera so we shot a quick video of M playing in the mine... Its on my YouTube page.


Also, you can check out this YouTube video... The guy recorded a half hour of exploring the tunnels. It'll make you queasy in that Blair Witch sorta way.

The vertical pit that made it impossible for me to
continue into the tunnel. What if it contained a
mountain lion, or big scary cave monster?!

M or scary cave monster?

No scary cave monster... just M :-)

After leaving the upper entrance, we found a route down to a lower entrance. This tunnel was much smaller than the upper one. You had to stoop over to walk through it, or crawl on your knees.









M went in and explored this tunnel. It was lit in the back by the trench that we walked along earlier in the upper entrance. It branched off in several directions, some tunnels going quite far back. From the looks of the 30 minute video on YouTube, we didn't miss too much by not exploring it fully.

M heads in!

After leaving the mines, and getting a bit off trail in a washed out gully, we retraced our path back down the mountain to the neighborhood where we had parked. It was a very cool hike, a great place to take kids, and I'm glad we did it (in spite of my pulled thigh muscle that cramped up for most of the trip. I pulled it hiking a few weeks ago).

The muscle-pulling hike we did last time. See the tiny trail down below....
The car is parked down there.