Cliff Swallows Inspiration

If you head down Buckman Road off Camino La Tierra on the Northwest edge of Santa Fe, you will eventually get to the Rio Grande. Buckman is a dusty dirt road a bit more heavily traveled than most in the Caja del Rio area. It leads to the well-known Diablo Canyon, just before the river. Here you'll see fantastic cliffs covered with grafitti, a lot of broken glass and shotgun shells. I prefer less popular destinations.

As you drop downhill, you will see a great rocky cliff across the valley. This is made of cooled magma which flowed over the land in the not too terribly distant past, perhaps a bit over one million years ago. The magma poured over earlier layers of compressed volcanic ash, called tufa. Oxides have stained the rock brilliant reds, oranges and golds, with the slate grey basalt capping the massif.

Directly ahead as you descend is an intriguing cove, a dry canyon that glows in the sunlight. An old windmill marks the spot to turn off the main road, just where Buckman road bends down the valley. Ranch tracks will let you get closer to the cliffs. The biggest problem with this hike is the level walk across the flats, where invasive alien plants have established. These leave prickly stickers in socks and shoes...a pain!

The last time I went to this area, it was torn up because of work on the Buckman Diversion Project. They had put in a perplexingly wide dirt road going down the valley. I imagine the weeds will reclaim it in short order once the work is done.

This is a favorite nearby hike for us. We can get there in about twenty minutes. As long as it's been dry for a few days the road is passable. It is a rough uphill hike to climb the slope to the base of the basalt layer, but there are plenty of beautiful spots to rest along the way, and ample shade.

We usually climb the slope on the outer edge of the cove. While a steep climb, it is the easiest route up. The bottom of the canyon is filled with huge boulders of broken basalt. The last time I went there I was alone with Cassidy and I tried to go up through these boulders. It proved to be impossible for my poor old dog to follow me through the jumble of giant rocks. About 2/3 the way up I gave up and headed towards the side, which was a relief...I'm getting old, too!

There are many unsung natural wonders in our state. It seems that no one ever goes to this one, although there is ample evidence of human presence in the past. There is a cave at the top which had been used as a shelter, and recently I found what might be evidence of a gunfight: pock-marked boulders some distance apart. Maybe I've just seen too many old Westerns.

On the slope are some big old junipers, many bearing ax scars. This has to date back fifty years or so, when burros still carried firewood to Santa Fe. Today no one would go so far from where they could drive a truck to get wood.

As the we ascend, the slope gets steeper. We pull ourselves up from boulder to boulder. The rocks are cleaved into smooth facets, and are warm from the sun. This is a hike for the cool time of the year.

Looking back over the valley, it's hard to believe we are just a few miles from the city. Unfortunately this view is now scarred by the new road.

The Junipers cling to life in a harsh environment. Their twisted forms are expressive of their will to survive. Sometimes they appear to dance with the landscape.

As long as we stay out of the No Dog's Land at the bottom of the canyon, Cassidy has no trouble with this kind of trek. Indeed, she runs circles around us!

Looking through an ancient fractured juniper towards the Rio Grande, just beyond the hills.

At the top of the slope rise the basalt-capped cliffs. There is a place 3/4 of the way around the cirque where these can be climbed, although Cassidy needs a leg up. Here you can see the layers of compressed ash capped by the basalt flow. This is the place I painted in my oil canvas entitled Cliff Swallows.