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Valle Vidal Vertebrae
I may have had the Rio Grande Gorge all to myself on Memorial Day weekend but the rim was beset with motorcycles. I’ve always liked bikers – they’re generally kind and generous to fellow travelers – but I have a low tolerance for noise. So I headed somewhere I’ve long wanted to go, somewhere I knew would be quiet, even on a holiday weekend: the Valle Vidal in northern New Mexico.
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Crossing the Valle Vidal- totally worth the $10 I had to spend at the car wash to get all the mud off the Teardrop! Those are bison on the right.
The Valle Vidal – Spanish for “Valley of Life” – is a stretch of no man’s land between Costilla and Raton in northern New Mexico. Home to the largest elk herd in the Southwest and all manner of fanged, furry and flying creatures, the Valle Vidal is stunningly beautiful: high open meadows ringed by aspens and ponderosas, lorded over by Costilla Peak.
This place was once home to a number of remote ranches and homesteads, the ruins of which are scattered throughout the region on either side of forest road 1950, which runs for 60 miles from Amalia to near Cimarron. Sure enough, 60 miles of dirt roads were enough to keep out the holiday weekend warriors. I just about had the whole Valle Vidal to myself!
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The Ring Ranch
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Hanging out at the Ring Ranch. This place was lived in until the 1960’s so it’s relatively intact.
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I thought this might be a horse skull, but I’m pretty sure it’s an elk.
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Bowie says “I can haz elk skull?”
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The original front door to the Ring House
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Like most homesteads, this house was built in stages. The center section here with the bricked up fireplace is the original cabin.
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Homestead Wall
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The Ring family raised 7 girls on this ranch in the early 1900’s.
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Ring Ranch Irises
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Ring Ranch Treasures
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Following the interpretive trail out to the Ring Ranch
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Of course all the markers have ben shot multiple times. This is New Mexico!
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Other buildings on the Ring Ranch have fallen into ruin
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The Ring Ranch well
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Another elk skull. The elk hunts in Valle Vidal are legendary. You have to win a lottery to get a permit and then it’s literally a once in a lifetime hunt: One permit, per person, per lifetime.
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Any guesses what this might be? It was hanging from a tree on the way out to the McCrystal Ranch. Hung with wire, so not really weight bearing. Hmmm…
After a rainy night at the McCrystal Campground, I set out for the McCrystal Ranch. This remote outpost was once one of the crown jewels of the Valle Vidal. My hiking guidebook said the main house was still standing but I guess a stiff wind blew through at some point since the book was published in 2001.
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Mattress springs at the McCrystal Ranch
As I approached the ruins, at the end of a long, overgrown road, I spotted two coyotes in the field in front of the house. They didn’t notice me; they were occupied hunting prairie dogs. One would dig at the end of a burrow while the other lay in wait at the other entrance. I didn’t point them out to Dio, but when he noticed me watching intently, he followed my gaze and found them.
As soon as Dio saw them, both coyotes stopped hunting and looked right at us, as if Dio had sent them some kind of psychic canine message. Then the two coyotes trotted over to the edge of the trees and lay in the shade, watching us, watching them. While I circled the ruins, I had to remind Dio a couple of times to stay with me; he wanted to go meet his coyote cousins, who I could still see through the trees. Once we returned back to the road, the coyotes came out of hiding and resumed their hunt, unfazed by our brief intrusion.
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McCrystal D.O.G.
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McCrystal Wagon Wheel
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The Old Road to the McCrystal Ranch
For more bones, check out my post Bare Bones, Skulls & Skeletons. I do love New Mexico, but it’s time to head farther afield. Next up: southern Utah!
Image may be NSFW.
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Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
