Greetings from San Cristobal, NM. This week, Route 66 Centennial, and a composition created in collaboration with my good friend and business partner David to celebrate the upcoming Centennial of the “Mother Road” in 2026.
We have been creating murals and prints up to mural size on many subjects, including the image below, depicting the heyday of the cross-country artery that turns 100 next year. Is the song going around in your head? You know the one!
A composite of Route 66 images from Tucumcari and Albuquerque, NM.
Greetings from San Cristobal, NM. This week, Ute Mountain and the Rio Grande in the Wild and Scenic Rivers area of the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument. Taos Mountain is preparing for winter and mountain biking in the Taos Ski Valley.
I love it when we visit this location, I feel sure you know it, and the shadows from the fast-moving clouds pass over the landscape creating numerous composition possibilities. I hope my clients get some images they want to share.
Ute Mountain and the Rio Grande.
This picture of Taos Mountain has been popping up recently. One of these days I’ll print one for myself and hang it on our living room wall. It will warm up the room as we settle into the colder seasons.
Taos Mountain, Pueblo Peak, Sunset.
I watched this guy head down a trail at the terrain park in Taos Ski Valley. I composited nine images to get the shot. It looks like he was out on a Sunday ride, not a mountain biking course. There’s a nice trail to hike nearby.
As always, thank you for looking. Have a great week. G
Greetings from San Cristobal, NM. This week, sleepy bighorn sheep rams in the morning sun, birds in the garden, and the Rio Grande Gorge with Ute Mountain.
The Rams were shot on a photo tour at the gorge rim and weren’t inclined to do anything more than fall asleep or chew their cud!
Ram #1
Ram #2
There were eight rams in total, most were uncooperative regarding pictures. Still, I marveled at their primordial-looking selves. Those horns!
This week we’ve had Brown-headed Cowbirds return to the garden, male and female. See below for a full list of other species. And, the hummingbirds are back in numbers since we planted lots of colorful flowers and filled the feeders.
Male Brown-headed Cowbird, San Cristobal, NM.
Female, Brown-headed Cowbird.
This beautiful House Finch showed up for a singsong yesterday evening.
House Finch.
Today the Merlin Bird App recorded and confirmed a Warbling Vireo on a Taos Ski Valley trail. Unfortunately, there is no picture.
It’s greening up everywhere, and the Rio Grande below appears more grand. The runoff in the mountains is building as temperatures warm up. Some stream crossings I’ve made in the last few weeks are beginning to spill over onto the trails.
Ute Mountain and the Rio Grande Gorge.
Here’s the list of birds this week in the garden and neighborhood.
Brown-headed Cowbird House Finch Bullocks Oriole Pine Siskin Western Tanager Violet Green Swallow American Crow Common Raven Black-billed Magpie Northern Mockingbird European Starling Black-headed Grosbeak House Sparrow Evening Grosbeak Broad-tailed Hummingbird Spotted Towhee Mountain Chickadee Northern Flicker House Wren Berwicks Wren (according to the Merlin App) Yellow-breasted Chat Ash-throated Warbler Canyon Towhee Yellow-rumped Warbler Mourning Dove White-breasted Nuthatch Song Sparrow.
As always, thank you for looking and all the support, comments, and compliments. Have a great week. G
Greetings from San Cristobal and beyond. This week a tree with heart. You’ve got to love a heart wherever you find it, Ute Mountain, Raptors, and more.
We came across this tree a few years ago. Pami and I stopped here again on our first New Year drive of 2024.
I liked how the tree is isolated from the distant background, so I made another picture of it, always having to remove the two powerlines that cross directly over the tree. I think it is worth it. After all, the power company put them in my way!
A tree with a heart, Costilla, NM.
You might recognize this location with the road to Ute Mountain. It’s usually the last stop on the way home.
The road to Ute Mountain, NM.
The Red-tailed Hawk had no intention of leaving its perch, so we watched for a while. We moved on before it did. I enjoy watching them wherever they choose to sit. Powerpole sitting is natural to them. Any high vantage point suits them very well. I’ve often seen them drop in from a pole onto an unsuspecting vole or garter snake.
Red-tailed Hawk, Mesita, Colorado.
Two days ago I went for a drive in the clearing snowstorm and spotted a bald eagle perched on a dead cottonwood snag in Arroyo Seco, NM.
Bald Eagle, Arroyo Seco NM.
Red barn in black and white, Colorado.
Sometimes a thing catches my eye and I have to run with it.
Baling wire for the fun of it, Colorado.
This snowplow was still making passes at the snow accumulations on monday around 11 am on our way to town. It was nice to wake up to a decent amount of snow for a change. Here in San Cristobal today temperature was -1º F (-18º C) at 7am. It finally warmed up to 27º F (-2.8º C) at 3pm.
Snow Plow, Highway 522 north of Taos, NM.
As always, thank you for looking. I hope you had a good week. Stay warm where you are. G
Greetings from San Cristobal. This week some views of Ute Mountain.
“Ute Mountain is a free-standing, Dacitic, extinct Pliocene volcanic cone”. That’s a mouthful. Besides being one of my revered peaks, it is also set in one of my favorite areas, the Taos Plateau Volcanic Field and the San Luis Valley. The mountain also lies within the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument.
The images below encompass a span of almost twenty years.
On the home front, I feel the surgery on my foot will make my photo treks much more enjoyable for years to come.
A localized weather pattern over Ute Mountain.
Road to the mountain.
Old sheep corral out on the plateau.
A view from Guadalupe Mountain across the Taos Plateau.
Rio Grande del Norte National Monument. Do you recognize the peak back there?
The image below is the one that initiated my fascination with this iconic landmark. Often, I will take a drive north, a pilgrimage of sorts, to visit the mountain. Click here if you want to see more images.
Near Costilla, New Mexico.
Lastly, a couple of shots from closer to home.
The moon rise this week from the deck in San Cristobal, NM.
And a view across the plateau and beyond to Cerro Pedernal (not a volcano but very much resembles one), “flint peak” near Abiquiu, NM. Immortalized by the artist Georgia O’Keeffe it can be seen from a vantage point behind our home. In the photo, Cerro Pedernal is probably 65-70 miles as the crow flies. The views out west extend a hundred miles or more on clear days. The vistas open like nowhere else, and the skies go on forever.
Cerro Pedernal shot from Taos, NM.
As always thank you for looking and visiting. And thank you for all the continued well wishes, comments, and compliments.
If you want the name of a wonderful foot and ankle specialist I can give you a recommendation! G
More snow coming to northern New Mexico in the next few days. We’re going to head out for certain if it does. We’ll stop in here at Wild Rivers Recreation Area for a view of Ute Mountain, where the wild Rio Grande makes a nice leading line. Thanks for looking. G
Big cloud over Ute Mountain, New Mexico. Ute Mountain, like its companion, San Antonio Mountain create their own weather systems. Ute Mountain and San Antonio are both free-standing, that rise to over 10,000 feet above sea level. On the plateau, they are unmistakable. Thanks for looking. G
Ute Mountain with the red barn and crescent moon in the San Luis Valley, Colorado. I headed north to the state line and into Colorado yesterday evening. The sun and moon were setting as I drove forty-five minutes for a shoot at the dilapidated barn. Flocks of crows went where ever crows go at night and owls took up their nightly vigil in the cottonwood snags. The holes in the barn let the dusk and moonlight in. A few stray critters dodged my tires as I ran over their tracks in the twilight. Thanks for looking. G
Lone tree with Ute Mountain in the vast San Luis Valley, Colorado. I can’t pass up a lone tree. I keep a folder full on my phone for future photo prospects when the elements come together. I like the animal track, probably a coyote who frequents the nearby hamlet of Mesita, Colorado. Thanks for looking. G
