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Update: A Funny Smell on the Trail

Southwestern New Mexico. There is so much change in altitude in the Southwest that you can stay comfortable all year, despite your winter hangout being only a few hours drive from your summer place. Considering the price of gasoline, tires, and a new pickup truck (over $60000) -- while the narco-keynesians pay zero interest in bank accounts -- it seems advantageous to concentrate in this area, and abandon the notion of transcontinental "channel surfing with gasoline", which is how the RV lifestyle used to be seen.

And so I have. But there's always pro-s and con-s. This morning I took a stab at a forest access road. I decided to hike since it seemed likely that it would get too steep for mountain biking.

Everything went well. Coffee Girl had a great chance to chase squirrels, while I was delighted with trees-that-have-leaves. (Actually there isn't a technical word for that, is there?) I was a bit astonished with the grandeur of a couple of Arizona Sycamores along the way.


Then suddenly the smoke from the nearby forest fires became more noticeable. Why so sudden? I started getting that yukky feeling that I was digging my own grave if I got macho and stubborn. Back at the trailhead kiosk the Forest Service's notice had said nothing about fire or trail/road closures in my area. But apparently I was getting closer to where the "action" was.



This is a good reason for not getting too attached to the high country of New Mexico and Arizona. Every May and June forest fires are at least a nuisance, and possibly a disaster. It's a good reason not to give up on places that are wetter, such as Colorado.

Comments

Sondra said…
Deciduous trees! There is a word for it.
Sondra, "Deciduous" never seemed like a great term for "leaf bearing" since oaks keep their leaves all winter, and certain needle-bearing trees lose a lot of needles in autumn.

Is folioferous a word?