Journal June 28 Slip Sliding Away
Storm clouds were already swirling around as we packed up camp and headed up the canyon. Ponderosa pines began to appear again as we got higher in the canyon.
At Armijo Springs (bone dry) an abandoned ranch house still stands. Made of Adobe brick, a wood addition and pressed tin, it looks like a storied history of more than one use.
We crossed over a low divide into Sand Canyon and onto a better jeep road. Cows and occasional rabbit were all the wildlife these canyons seem to hold.
Midway down Sand Canyon we took a lunch break and I went for water, a half mile walk down a side road to a windmill, hoping that it was pumping water. It was, though the pipe spewed out water into a mudflat instead of a holding tank. A small herd of cattle were wallowing in the mud and fouling up the place. The water coming out the pipe was straight from the well, so should be good, but holding the nose was required while dipping the bottle into the oncoming rush of water.
Storm clouds swirled and grew in several directions. It was hard to say which, if any, posed threats. The worst, and closest storm cell seemed to be moving up canyon, towards us even though that was counter to the prevailing wind. We waited under the semi-shelter of a Juniper tree as few sprinkles fell, but finally had to leave in order to get our miles in for the day and it looked like the storm was dissipating
No sooner had we hit the trail than the skies opened up into a proper down burst. It poured rain, for what seemed like a long time, but was maybe 20 to 30 minutes. At the time it seemed like it would not end. As the rains let up, the road turned slippery. The hard packed sandy road turned into a clay/mud mess Progress was slowed as each step picked up cakes of mud/clay. We were just slip sliding away. As the rain stops, the clouds keep rolling around and a coldness grips everything.
Eventually we came to highway 117, turned right and started walking to the “Narrows”, a length of cliffs which stopped a young lava flow. We are smack dab in the middle of the Malpais, an area defined by volcanic flows.
We get as far as La Ventana, a natural arch set into the cliffs. We make camp not far away, as the evening skies do the unlikely and clear.
21 Miles
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