Problems with plumbing always cause me more grief than is strictly necessary, even when it’s nothing to do with me. The fact that my shower leaked ino the bathroom below while I was using it was just pure bad luck. The shower hasn’t been used regularly for a long time and the seal around the drain had dried out over the years. Neil fixed the problem with the help of a friend.
By way of escape, Gabe drove Liesel and me to the Three Guns Spring Trail, a hike postponed from a few days ago.
I thought this was a good place to balance a large boulder, just above the car park.
From here, the trail was up and up. In places, the gravelly path was quite steep. Gabe was a good guide, both as a geologist and a cactus-specialising horticulturalist.
It was very quiet. I could hear the silence even above my tinnitus. Strangely, no birds and very few insects.
This pair seemed to be having a good time though, we look forward to seeing the next generation in due course. There were a few other beetles, including stink bugs. And later on, a couple of bees did buzz around.
I think this was the longest, continuous climb I’d done for several months, and of course my old issue, shortness of breath, affected my performance. We reached a point where reluctantly, I had to stop. I parked myself on a rock, in the shade, and listened to the silence. A gentle breeze cooled me down. Liesel carried on, reaching our erstwhile goal, The Post, and a bit beyond.
Sadly, neither of us saw the spring that gives the trail its name. Nor three guns, come to that.
Surely, there was other wildlife? Liesel saw a single lizard but most/least exciting was seeing less than 25% of a deer on the trail on our return to the car park.
At least my chest no longer felt like it would explode. But other things happened too. Dear body of mine, if I’m so dehydrated, why do you keep producing so much snot? Just stop it.
There’s a house on the road leading to this trail’s car park that is very well decorated. I for one didn’t expect to see this famous statue here.
This guy (I assume it’s a guy, a gal would have better things to do with their time) has built a bird house in the style of an old pueblo dwelling.
Lisa arrived tonight. She is Buzz and Neil’s daughter, Leslie’s niece, Liesel’s cousin. I really should draw up a family tree.
The following day, I went on a road trip with Neil. Neil and Buzz have a cabin near the Zuni Mountains about 80 miles west of their home in Albuquerque. On the drive, Neil and I had a good conversation about philosophy, even if I didn’t recognise many of the names that Neil dropped.
We saw a few long trains on the way too, including a couple passing by each other. Another great photo opportunity missed.
Once we turned off the main road, the bumpy road was a roller-coaster ride. Luckily, we’d come in a vehicle with plenty of clearance underneath.
The cabin is at an altitude of 8200 feet, significantly higher than the house, so lower air pressure and more chance of a nose bleed, grrr.
The second building will be Buzz’s design studio in the fullness of time. It’s definitely a remote location, and Neil should be very proud of having constructed the cabins pretty much by himself.
After enjoying the packed lunches carefully put together by our spouses, we went for a short walk towards Cinder Cone, through the woods, more of a forest really.
Lisa and her sister Andrea (Andi, who now lives in Richmond, England) used to play on this tree when they were younger, according to Neil. No wonder it’s bent.
There is quartz all over the place here in the woods, plus fir cones and all sorts of things that our grandchildren would love to pick up and collect such as…
We drove back along the old Route 66 as much as possible, through Grants. At least Route 66 is paved, not like this road through the Zuni Canyon as we left, which has been newly gravelled (if that’s the right word), so we left a cloud of dust behind us.
The canyon itself was stunning, more stratified rock structures than you could imagine.
By the time we arrived home, Hannah was there too, she’s Lisa’s daughter and you can work out the rest of the relationships yourself.
Mick and Liesel's Antics 