Alright, let's ease into the Taos blogging with the least complicated entry (of three planned entries, that is) and show you some landscape photos.
I'll comment a little more on the town of Taos in another entry, I think, but it was not what I expected. Sitting in the shadow of Taos Mountain, spread out on the broad mesa below that complex of peaks, it wasn't the lush little river valley or something that I had sort of expected it to be. From where we stayed outside of the town, we could see down to the mesa and the sweep of it, larger and flatter-seeming than I would have guessed. Slashed through that flat expanse, though, was the Rio Grande Gorge.
Yes, that Rio Grande. The same river that is the border between Texas and Mexico, its source lies north of that, in the mountains of Colorado. From there it flows south through New Mexico, and as it exits the mountainous area in the north of the state, it gashes the earth deeply. More deeply than you might imagine - at its greatest depth, it is some 800 feet deep. There, at the bottom, at this time of year, at least, is a slight ribbon of a river.
It really does give you pause.
The six of us remaining that afternoon made the drive west of Taos, crossing the gorge
on a bridge
on which it is now forbidden to stop or to walk because of suicides in recent times. That's sad, and I hope the efforts prevent other such deaths. Once across, we stopped in a rest area and took a few photos before following the gorge south and then driving down into it.
We got down to river level, more or less,
crossed back over it,
and continued on to a picnic site. There, in the afternoon sun, we toasted our day
with a New Mexico sparkling wine,
enjoyed a very good picnic, and took some photos by the river.
Golden autumn leaves in the sun around us,
but the surprise of some yellow flowers in bloom on a branch as well.
It was a lovely afternoon.
We packed up the picnic, climbed in the vehicles, and climbed up out of the gorge, heading to a - yes, truly - early dinner. How cool, though, to have seen the gorge and the very famous river.
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