Latir Wilderness - Rescuing Buddha from San Fran - 08.11.23
More nature moments in Northern New Mexico. This is Latir Peak Wilderness at the Cabresto Lake approach about 25 minutes out of Questa, NM.
The parking lot/campground/trailhead is at the end of a very bumpy road and was filled with the side-by-side people and a few shore fishermen. It’s not my vibe of folks but they were all well behaved and friendly enough. The good thing about that group is they hang close to their utility vehicles… which means I get the hiking trail all to myself. And I didn’t see another human on the entire hike.
It’s a 10 mile haul roundtrip to Heart Lake on foot. I didn’t have the time or the gear this round… so I only schlepped halfway. And my particular style of hiking is stopping at every fkg flower to say hello to every fkg insect on said trail, with photographic evidence that I do such a thing. If you hike with me… pack two lunches because it takes 4ever. Actually, pack 3 lunches… let’s share. 😘
The trail follows Lake Fork Creek and is filled with yellow coneflowers. Echinacea by another name and it’s medicinal and the insects lovvvvvve this thing. I think 77% of the 889 insect species of New Mexico are here… hugging on these flowers. And cuz I’m me… I try to take a picture of them all.
Anyboop, I had all kinds of fun on this hike. I’m getting in my NM moments while I can. I am making a run to San Francisco next week to rescue my 2-1/2 foot Buddha from the bondage of a storage locker. I just paid off the adventure pod this past week and I don’t want to do a 2,700 mile ‘there and back’ trip through the desert in the middle of the summer heat and add wear’n tear to MY newly owned car.
So… I’ve formulated a brilliant tactical plan to fly out to Oakland on the cheap, rent a car, rescue SeñorBuddha (and my fav books, the titles to my motorcycles, a vintage typewriter table, 7 motorcycle t-shirts, and a dehumidifier I bought in Berkeley because it rained 45 days in a row while I was living there)… then drive down highway 1 through Big Sur, plop in San Luis Obispo, see what the hub-bub is in that wee town of Los Ángeles and turn left on Route 66 to find my way back to the high desert… with my loot!
Then… then… write a mildly embellished, Kerouac-ish style tale of the adventure. Take my efforts to the pricey Santa Fe writers retreat that I signed up for; facilitated by the official/currently-unappointed Poet-Laureate of the State of New Mexico. Bullshit my way through 3-days of sessions by explaining how a visual artist with absolutely no formal training in writing, with atrocious grammar and spelling, is in a masterclass writing workshop... all the while making multiple trips to the snack table. ☺️
Well… it’s about art and expression… and that’s all the explaining I need to do. That totally works for me in many facets of 21st-century adult life. Like… why I illegally parked my car in front of a storage facility in Hayes Valley-San Fran and flush ALL of my jury duty notices, “it’s about art and expression… you jerk!”
Below is 31 of the zillion pics I took yesterday in a glorious riparian canyon in the magical Northern New Mexico. And delish…
🦋🐝🪳🕷️🦗🦟🐞🐛🦖💙💙💙
P and S… someone told me I should let someone know where I’m at if I travel solo. Do I do that before… or after? LMK… I’m brand new here.
#riparianlife4ever
#poetlaureatetown
#eastbayrules
