In New Mexico, some river names start with the Spanish word “rio” and others end with the English word “river.” The inconsistency of our waterway names is likely a byproduct of the fact that most of us speak Spanglish to one degree or another.
The Jemez River runs through San Diego Canyon and features steep red rock walls and numerous cottonwood trees. I think it is one of the most beautiful places in the world.1
The deep and narrow canyon the Rio Guadalupe runs through is equally gorgeous. It’s known, depending upon whom you ask, as the Guadalupe Gorge or the Guadalupe Box. The bright red vegetation climbing up the canyon walls above is Virginia creeper.
You can’t quite see the Rio Guadalupe in this last image, but it’s there — right between the sheer rock walls and yet more Virginia creeper.2 While I’m prone to thinking the only indigenous red leaves in the state are on the Rocky Mountain maples in the Manzanos, the reality is that Virginia creeper is often an even brighter shade of red.
This year’s Halloween photos were also taken in San Diego Canyon.
The leaning tree near the upper right of the last photo is a very large ponderosa, much taller than it appears from this particular vantage point.
Quite lovely!