Mesa Alta Base Camp, Summer 2023

Though my thoughts continually dwell upon our treasured refuge, our days this summer have been spent elsewhere. We have been held hostage by domestic obligations, as our city home was long overdue for a kitchen update. Our summer also included a camping trip to Idaho for my dad’s 80^th, and a “farewell” send- off camping trip to Trampas for a beloved college-bound pal. Now the kitchen is finished, and I can’t wait to spend more time at MABC!

We did manage to dash up to MABC a handful of times over the winter and early spring. In March, we stopped by on our way back from a trip up north and confirmed that the road could be just as muddy in winter. The snow pack this year was unprecedented, and we did not even attempt to drive past the washout. Instead, we parked just off the paved highway and hiked in to assess how our fence repairs had endured the winter. Not great- downed limbs and wildlife breaches mocked our previous efforts. Discouraged, but more experienced, we conjectured about how much time this summer we might have to spend re-stringing sections we thought were done before we could move on. We also took some measurements, hoping to level up from the stretch gate to an actual 17-foot metal gate. Over the winter, we discovered Rangewood, a lumber recycler in Albuquerque, and in addition to every type of lumber, they also have salvage gates. Transportation of a gate would require a trailer….

In April we took a day trip and biked to the top of the mesa, and to our delight, found a pond alive with frog song. We rode along the lollipop 468CA on top of the mesa, a broad plateau dotted with rectilinear mounds, and posited that it had been inhabited by ancestral Puebloans. We crossed the CDT several times, but there was still too much snow to meet any hikers. We met a day hiker on the way, and he encouraged us to press on for the views- and after another half hour, we glimpsed north to see the snowcapped San Juans peeking out above the broad expanse of the Chama Wilderness!

In May, I took my folks up for a day trip and picnic. Avid naturalists, we chatted about the flora and fauna, and got some input about velocity breaks to encourage ponding. A large group of CDT hikers meandered past as we picnicked, so we watched what I like to call “CD-TV”.

Finally, in July, we had the chance to hunker down for a longer stay- 5 days – as our contractor was ready to install the kitchen floor and we needed to get out of the way. The extended stay required a much different planning strategy, but also gave us insight on how much more we could do in the better part of a week than in just a weekend…

Over the winter and spring, I had reflected upon what an ass kicker the ride up to the top of the mesa is for me. I fabricated the goal of getting up top with fewer stops, or faster, or both. On our April ride, I recorded 14 stops, and 2 hours’ time, from base (7,200’) to top (8,400’), which is 3 miles. I set the goal of reducing either or both those numbers. It would be an exaggeration to say I “trained”, but I did ride my bike more between April and July, in the hopes of an improved outcome. So, for our 5-day July trip I scheduled biking every other day for a total of 3 rides. The first ride I stopped 11 times, then the next ride I stopped 13, then the last, I stopped 11, and those rides were all about 1 hour 15 minutes. Curiously, I took little pleasure in the achievement. I recalled the one thing Nietzsche wrote that I agree with, “A goal is a servitude.” On the April ride, I was focused on what I was doing, not thinking I should be able to do, not thinking about the clock. I am not a very metric-oriented person, and achieving an improved metric was not gratifying because it required me to have one… The reward for all my efforts was the vast expanse of spring flora up top- more irises than anyone has ever seen! And absolutely hundreds of Sego lilies at lower elevations.

Also on this trip, we at last made it to the amphitheater! We trekked along the entrenched arroyo until we found a passage that was narrow and shallow enough to cross- I hope someday to utilize pallets, fitted with additional planks for wildlife safety, to make a bridge over the chasm. I’m going to call it “No-Echo” amphitheater, because the walls cantilever in towards the top and shouting towards them might cause them to collapse and kill someone. Kevin found it exhilarating; I found it terrifying.

When we weren’t biking and hiking, we tackled our considerable list of restoration and excursions. As usual, over the winter I had gathered flower seeds from my home garden, and in addition I purchased grass seed from Plants of the Southwest, so we planted the grass seed, as well as chocolate flower, amaranth, mullein, and sunflower, hoping for rain. I may have simply provided the field mice with some very expensive forage as the soil was bone dry.

On one of our bike rides, we met a retired biologist from UNM who offered to put us in touch with some restoration experts and funds. The grass seed is $25 for a bag that covers about ¼ acre, so additional funding would be most welcome!

We had taken both of our vehicles up, so that with the Tacoma deployed for camping, we could dart around in the Subaru. We traveled to nearby campgrounds, Resumidero and Rio Puerco, in the futile hope of finding another source of potable water to fill our water jugs, though to our delight we found that it is only a few miles between the eastern access to San Pedro Parks Wilderness and FR144. We drove from 316 to 453, and though the road conditions made us turn back, we must have been just a couple miles from 144- an easy enough bike ride if we wanted to park and bike from the intersection. On the drive back, we dropped by the Coyote Ranger Station, hopped on their Wi-Fi, and filled up a water jug from the indoor drinking fountain- not ideal. The next day we popped over to Bodes to restock ice – and yes, to buy more water…

Of course there was more fence repair- over the spring I pondered staples, conjuring up an alternative that would be easier to install and less likely to fail, despite any additional expense, and decided to spring for screw in q-hooks, which have turned out to be a real game changer. They cost about 3 x as much but hopefully we don’t have to replace them every time we return!  We are still convinced we are doing the right thing, even though the fence does not even follow the property line, with our ongoing efforts, as it would be much more difficult to remove and replace the entire fence, than to just repair it.

We also chatted with our contractor about getting a gravel road put in-  he’s putting in a road at his place in the country and promised to give us some tips when he’s done.

We also went up early August, and camped up top with some of our posse. After a couple weeks of intermittent rain, we hoped for mushrooms, but found none. We cooked some delicious campfire meals and gazed at the Perseids. The last day we took folks down to MABC, assessed the passablity of the road for their vehicles and trailers, and concluded that in a couple of weeks we would meet up for a work-camp weekend.

I’d still love to try to pitch the canvas “glamping” tent my folks gave me, though that may be put off until next summer. I’ve read that you can minimize critters by installing mesh hardware fabric underneath, and, interestingly, that ants won’t cross ash so scattering it around will keep them at bay. So I haven’t shortened my to-do list… trailer, gate, glamping tent, pallet fence… chipper shredder…. and on and on and on…