SantaFe.com

I’ve been told it doesn’t matter if lightning strikes or not. Artist Walter DeMaria’s Lightning Field—a grid of 400 lightning rods arranged across an empty southwestern New Mexico plain—is sublime due to the simple idea behind its creation, which seems to be that words are less important than the ability to speak. The more I think of it, that’s what the Lightning Field is: one artist’s means of speaking to the ether, be it filled with sunlight, stars, or stormclouds. Again, how the sky talks back is only part of the experience. Yes, one hopes for lightning, but a gorgeous sunset must often...

Thursday, August 14, 2008 at 3:00 PM
by Toner Mitchell • SantaFe.com

Children need the outdoors in extremely heavy doses. That is my opinion anyway, one that has been supported by many studies showing that a child’s imagination, body, and sense of responsibility, place, and purpose all flourish when he or she is frequently exposed to the unfathomable logic and beauty of nature. Children with outdoor habits are less likely to develop other, less healthy habits. Ask any kid who loves being outside and he’ll tell you I’m right.

When it comes to getting their children outside for some good, wholesome fun, parents in northern New Mexico face the same challenges...

Friday, August 1, 2008
by Toner Mitchell • SantaFe.com

Let’s assume all the basic criteria have been met. You slept well last night, didn’t drink too much, and you ate a healthy breakfast this morning. You’ve told someone where you’re going and what you’ll be doing. You wear your seatbelt. You stretch. In fact, these are the habits you keep for your outdoor life and they’ve served you well. But do you know what poison ivy looks like? Did you know I once got it so bad it got infected and I walked around—not itching—but in horrible pain for two weeks? Well, I did, and you can bet that I’ve kept my radar on for that God forsaken plant ever since.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008
by Toner Mitchell • SantaFe.com

To most people familiar with the cutthroat trout, the fish is the embodiment of the pristine, the quarry that lures us beyond our cities, to the ends of dirt roads, miles upon miles up forested mountain creeks where the likelihood of meeting a hungry bear surpasses our chances of encountering another human being. This jewel of a fish—with color variations of an almost infinite blending of orange, yellow, red, turquoise, maroon, and green—may be the ultimate proof of nature’s superiority as an artist. As though bent on driving this point home, our state fish seems happy to take an angler’s...

Tuesday, July 8, 2008
by Toner Mitchell • SantaFe.com

In a normal year, the majority of New Mexico’s land surface receives from 5 to 15 inches of precipitation. The rest of the state gets less than that. These two basic facts are why people who need a lot of water in their lives have difficulty surviving in our state, even if they want to. Such folks would do well, in my opinion, to sit down with one of our state’s many whitewater enthusiasts and talk about their water insecurities; maybe an actual rafting trip would help as well. These desert-phobes might be surprised at how easy it can be in this parched ecosystem to keep water in their...

Tuesday, July 1, 2008
by Toner Mitchell • SantaFe.com

317 cfs

The creeks are in good shape for dries, and the mainstem should fish well on deep nymphs, especially if they're stoneflies. The stonefly hatch is still below peak, but the bugs are moving so fish accordingly.

Some news items regarding the Pecos. The Upper Pecos Watershed Alliance is spearheading a campaign to switch NM Game and Fish areas such as the Mora "campground" (translation: Woodstock Festival) to State Department of Parks administration. This should be a good move as it will result in real management of these areas for cleanliness and less abuse by the noncaring public.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008
by Toner Mitchell

It’s safe to say that if you live in or near Santa Fe, you have an inborn craving for outdoor pursuits. You are either a gardener, a hiker, a skier, a fisher, a hunter, or just a lover of sitting in the comfort of your living room and watching our breathtaking part of the earth rotate outside your window. If it’s car camping that floats your boat, there are opportunities for you as well, plenty of them right beneath your nose.

Depending on how far you want to drive for a camping trip, right beneath your nose can mean more than this space allows. There are wonderful spots west of town in the...

Monday, June 23, 2008
by Toner Mitchell • SantaFe.com

It’s not as mean-looking as the Truchas Peaks to the north nor as accessible as Atalaya Mountain. It’s gentle, rounded form seems to disappear into the landscape, but every now and then I notice the mustache of spruce trees stretching across the mountain’s bare western face and wonder, “How do those trees hang on up there?” Then I forget the mountain again, as though Santa Fe Baldy, a mountain I’ve loved my entire life, is nothing but a 12,622 foot hill.

A friend of mine once climbed Baldy in March, and came back down on skis. Two weeks later a couple friends of his snowboarded and skied...

Wednesday, May 21, 2008
by Toner Mitchell • SantaFe.com