Summer along the San Juan River is still freezing in the water!
Navajo Lake and Navajo Dam is one of my favorite areas of New Mexico, and having just made my tenth visit to the area, this was the first time to be there in the heart of summertime. I thought this, finally, was my chance to go for a swim in the San Juan River. The air temperature was in the low 80s. This made me totally unprepared for just how cold the river was. You could not ease your way into the water, which is not my custom anyway, so I made the plunge completely under water, only to have to immediately bounce back up and make my way out. The cold was so intense I felt something like frost bite! After warming back up, I took out my brand new lens, the Sony 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II, and made a few photos of the river mostly from a low angle. Doesn’t the water look inviting on a hot summer day??
Though relatively nearby to Albuquerque, Cochiti Lake is not a place I have often visited, but almost on a whim made a return visit to recently. It was to the less used Tetilla Peak area where most of the time there, it felt like having the lake to oneself. This area did only just open up for the season the day before so that probably helped too! Is this a beautiful lake? No, not at all, especially since it only exists because of a dam. However, there are not many bodies of water in New Mexico, and if you go at the right time and to the right spot, it can feel like a small escape from the desert.
On a recent trip to Arizona for rural land real estate work, it turned out for one part of it I was only about 1 hour away from the Grand Canyon, so if one can do such a thing, I swung by the Grand Canyon for an afternoon stroll and made these panorama photos of the canyon in less than ideal light, but at least a few clouds swooped in to help add some drama.
When you visit Tucson, Arizona, you have the opportunity on the same day, to walk among a forest of saguaro cactus in the desert and snow covered pine trees atop a mountain peak. Tucson is definitely more famous for its cactus, but Mount Lemmon is a fantastic change of scenery to have just a short drive from town. If you time the drive just right, you can arrive at the peak (or rather near it, as there is no defined peak you can actually drive to) in time to see the sunset over the sweeping valley and smaller peaks below. This means when visiting Tucson you can pack both your shorts and your snow pants and use them on the same day!
Whenever I am out of town, or in this case out of state, on extended rural land real estate shoots, despite being very busy, I always try and visit some local point of interest. So while in Show Low, Arizona for three days, I fortunately had time one morning to take a stroll around Fool Hollow Lake. The fool part of the name comes from a settler in the 1880s thinking he could farm the rocky ground surrounding the lake area. As it is today, it’s a peaceful place to walk among pine trees with changing views of the lake as you circumnavigate it.
The beauty of Angel Fire in winter in drone aerial photos
For regular readers of this website, it is no secret Angel Fire has become my favorite place in New Mexico. I have been here many times in the past, but all in summer, and since Angel Fire is most famous for being a ski area, it was great to finally visit the town in winter with snow on the ground! I had a dual mission here, getting drone video of a vacation rental house (which the owner kindly let me stay in!) and working for my main rural land client getting drone photos of his property that just happened to be only 8 minutes from the rental house. I actually thought there would be a lot more snow on the ground here in Angel Fire, but it is the start of March, and the temps have been in the 50s the past few days. It has been great to be in the quiet and beauty of Angel Fire in winter. If I could only run my business from Angel Fire, that would be fantastic!
Tucked away in the far southeast of New Mexico, Rockhound State Park is a place you probably have seen in the distance if you have ever traveled on I-10. The mountains standout from all the dozens of miles of flatness. The first few times I was in the Deming area, I thought to myself, what an odd name. What is a rockhound anyway or who is it? Only very recently did I learn that a rockhound is a person that goes out looking for rare rocks. Who knew there was an entire state park for such a thing in New Mexico!
