Diablo Canyon is located in a remote area North and West of Santa Fe. It’s about a 1 1/2 hour drive from our home in Northwest Albuquerque. Joe and I drove up to the canyon on Easter Sunday and had the most amazing day! We saw many folks hiking, some biking, rock climbers and many trailers filled with ATV’s to enjoy the rough terrain. We even saw a hang glider floating in the wind. There were two trails that we hiked, this one through the Diablo Canyon and one along the Rio Grande River about 3 miles further West called Buckman. To get here we traveled a very rough dirt road called Old Buckman Road which is pure washboard for a little over 10 miles. It was like getting a vibrating massage as you travel down this dusty dirt road. We read in our guidebook that parts of the movie 3:10 to Yuma were filmed in this canyon. We got there early and enjoyed several hours before the sky started to get dark with a few clouds blowing in. When we left there wasn’t a parking place to be found. Many families had the same idea as us and wanted to enjoy the holiday outdoors where it really does feel spiritual at times with such beauty all around us.
This formation to the left when we first entered the trail is where we found the climbers. It made us think of our youngest son Cameron who is an avid climber. For years Cameron has been going to Arkansas to climb over the Easter holiday and it was fitting to see other climbers enjoying the same thing here in New Mexico.
You can see a climber in a blue shirt climbing partway up the side of the rock formation. There are several people down below on the ground either waiting their turn or belaying.
See if you can find the climber in this pic. Hint; he’s on the right bottom side. From a distance these climbers look like tiny specks.
I zoomed in to get a closer look. We spent several minutes just watching and mesmerized by how meticulous they were in each move they made.
Moving on we started our hike through the canyon. There were so many rock formations on both sides that were amazing to witness.
As we wandered to the other side I captured this climber high above us with the blue sky and a crow flying overhead.
More crows flying overhead. They were a noisy bunch!
This formation was interesting with it’s curves and chiseled texture.
A closer look at the formation.
Further in we start to see some cedar trees dot the landscape with rock formations at the top and along the side.
This little tree is thriving even though the majority of it’s roots are exposed.
It’s amazing what can grow in the desert heat with very little water.
This was a really pretty view with the clouds rolling in.
This was our turn around point. We could go farther but we want to head up to the Buckman trail to see the sights along the Rio Grande.
This is the view across the Rio Grande River at the start of the Buckman trail.
There is a trail along the river that we enjoyed. So many beautiful sights!
A close up look at this pretty peak.
It was good to see the river full and flowing. We are under drought conditions so it may be from the melting mountain snow from up north that flows into the Rio Grande.
We wandered into an area with trees surrounding us. I looked up to see the tree tops framing a crow soaring above.
This was a sandy slope along the Rio Grande with tall sandstone formations above us. We had to watch our step as the path kept shifting under our feet. At that point we turned around to head back.
I will leave you with my favorite tree along the trail The bark was stripped away leaving behind the most amazing textures and color.
An Inspired Cook 