Rio Rancho is not a river...

The beauty of the forest survives the Las Conchas fire

Our visit to New Mexico took place during an extremely dry summer. In the Albuquerque area, the Rio Grande labors to enter the city. The river seems exhausted with a greatly reduced volume of water. It is hard to imagine the past grandeur of the river before the changing climate and heavy diversions of water reduced it to a mere stream. It is hard to believe that humans have been using water from this river for more than 12,000 years to sustain life. Pictograms and petroglyphs along its path attest to this. This year, due to the combined effects of limited snow melt in Colorado and little rain, the river is dry. At this point, only the Rio Chama has contributed tributary waters and no other river will do so until the Rio Grande reaches the Big Bend region of Texas. There the Rio Conchos will contribute a substantial amount of water from the mountains of northern Mexico. A trucker we spoke with said this is why farmers and ranchers on the lower Rio Grande pray for rain … in Mexico. Behind the scenes U.S. and Mexican officials debate how these new waters will be apportioned downstream. In recent years, these battles have involved the presidents of the two countries although they rarely come to the attention of the general public. In the future, climate change may make this the strongest source of friction between the U.S. and its neighbor.

Parched landscape along Route 528

Coni took only a few images of a river struggling to survive under the broiling summer sun.We move on towards the Jémez mountains surrounding the city of Los Alamos. 
















As we drive north and west of Albuquerque we skirt the usual array of bedroom communities that now surround many American cities. 

Suburban sprawl along Route 528 west of Albuquerque

Albuquerque is not immune to sprawl but we are not interested in shopping malls. Like the river itself, we move on. Our destination is Los Alamos on the western part of the state almost to the border with Arizona. 












Los Alamos, the bomb and a big fire


When we arrived in New Mexico several weeks ago the infamous Conchas wildfire had devastated northeastern Arizona. It had burned through the state border and headed toward Los Alamos. The city was evacuated but its residents had come back after the fire had been partially contained. Nonetheless, the absence of rain worried everyone in the area. As we drove in the direction of Los Alamos from Albuquerque, rain clouds began to gather for the third day in a row. This could be the day we have all hoped for. 

Route 4 Valle Grande, Valles Caldera

Past the Jémez Indian reservation the welcome rain began. It soothed the fire scarred forests. The cool breeze accompanying the rain brought out the aromas of the forest. The landscape was transformed from a parched forest to a cool alpine setting. During pauses in the rainstorm we enjoyed some of the most beautiful mountain vistas in the American Southwest, namely the Jemez mountains and most notably, the Bandolier National Monument.

Still standing

After the scenic drive through rainy mountain roads our arrival in Los Alamos was a bit anticlimactic. The city does not have the historical charm we had come to appreciate in Spanish colonial New Mexico. It is a modern, high altitude city with wide clean streets and all the conveniences of modern urban life. It is a city that would look fairly much the same if it were situated in the Northwest, Midwest or even in New England.

We can still find beauty among the ruins

Los Alamos' chief claim to fame is that it was the birthplace of the atomic bomb, an achievement that is not universally applauded as something deserving of civic pride. The truth, of course, is that few if any, residents of the city actually participated in creating the bomb. The team headed by Robert Oppenheimer was comprised mostly of European scientists who were brought there by President Truman. Nonetheless, the city proudly displays a sign at the edge of town claiming that this is the place “ where discoveries are made”. 

Awesome as the power of the atomic bomb may have been, we were much more impressed by the scenic beauty of the mountains that surround this city. This may qualify us as genuine tree huggers. So be it.

Rio Grande south of Los Alamos, New Mexico