Saturday, August 8, 2009

Return From The Far Blue Mountains

I'm back. I went through a stage in my teenage years where I must have read a 100 Louis L'Amour books. One of my favorites was in the Sackett series and was titled To The Far Blue Mountains.

I think of it every time I head to the mountains in New Mexico and greeted with this view as I'm approaching.


Of course things look different close up. All of the following shots were taken in Cimarron Canyon between Cimarron, new Mexico and Eagles Nest, NM. The canyon is home to Philmont Scout Ranch, a 200 square mile property owned by the Boys Scouts of America. There is also plenty of state park land for public use.


For this trip we stayed in a cabin in the tourist town of Red River, New Mexico. We did a lot of hiking and fishing and it was nice to get away for a few days while enjoying the finest nature has to offer.


This mule deer doe did a bit of wading as we were fishing nearby.

Red River is a ski town and in the summer the chair lift offers a scenic ride.


A ticket enables the rider two way transportation but my family decided to walk down the mountain rather than ride. We'd already done a fair amount of hiking but the boys really wanted to walk. It took us nearly two hours to traverse the steep slopes on foot.



At the end of our long hike back down the mountain and to our cabin my seven-year-old flopped down in a chair, took off his shoes and sighing said, "Man, nature really hurts."


More vacation adventures to come, but for now I'll leave you with one last shot ...






For you fellow fisherman that is a 17 1/2 inch rainbow trout. I caught it on a blue and yellow Panther Martin spinner while flipping beneath some overhanging trees in the stream.

Come on now, you didn't really think you'd escape without seeing me in another fish pose, did you?

34 comments:

Being Beth said...

Louis L'Amour is one of my favorite authors. To the Far Blue Mountains is a good one, but the book I like best is Sackett which takes place at the headwaters of the Rio Grande, my families favorite vacation spot.

That trout is a beauty. My biggest catch was a 14 incher. Nothing like trout for fishing and eating. mmm mmmmm.

I'm glad you had such a great getaway.

Being Beth said...

family's -- duh...I make more mistakes on blog comments.

Cloudia said...

Nice country
nice fish
nice face!

Aloha-

Comfort Spiral

pattinase (abbott) said...

Darn, I wish I had come.

Debra She Who Seeks said...

Nice fish! When you eat it, remember: you'd pay big bucks for the same fish in a fancy shmancy restaurant and here is your wonderful fish for free and you caught it yourself!

Jenn Jilks said...

Nice fish. Good fun. Many happy memories!

alex keto said...

Hey travis, that picture of you and the trout is great. It should be your blog photo. Much more flattering and a trout is a higher class of fish than the bass you're holding up in the other one. Not that I would know anything about fishing although I kind of remember catching a jelly fish once.

Clare2e said...

Great pictures, and yeah, I though I might escape without a new fish pose. But I didn't want to.

Anonymous said...

Great bunch of photos. I know that part of the country well. I grew up in Colorado. When I was much younger I don't think a day went by that I wasn't reading a Louis L'Amour book. Your pictures make me a little homesick. Nice post.

debra said...

So glad you had a good trip, Travis. And you look wonderful :-)

Charles Gramlich said...

I remember TO the Far Blue Mountains with pleasure myself. Great great pics. You're fish is alot bigger than the one I caught on my vacation.

the walking man said...

Don't know about the fish but it looks like you're keeping the weight off...looking good there Travis.

G. B. Miller said...

We can always have pipe dreams, right? :-0

Anyways, some great natural scenery shots of area.

Sometimes finding more examples of God's handiwork is the best thing about a vacation.

sybil law said...

Love the pictures!

Lana Gramlich said...

Nice shots, all the way through.

Melanie Hooyenga said...

Wow, what a beautiful place. I love your son's comment. AND, you look great from the weight loss!

Mom'sLove said...

you look thin! Awesome fish! this is your new profile picture!!

Spy Scribbler said...

That looks lovely, Travis! Hmph. I feel the urge to get out my fishing pictures and post them! :-)

flutter said...

Oh those photos call to me! This state is so dry and BROWN.

Anonymous said...

looks awesome! great pics.

Unknown said...

What absolutely gorgeous pics! I love the yellow flowers! That is my fav. I am glad your boys wanted to hike.. that is wonderful. WHat a great escape!

My grandfather in law had and read every one of L'Amours books. He loved em. Now, looking at your pics I can see how the imagination must've sparked.

Chris Eldin said...

Is this a MTM post!!!??!!

Gorgeous! Absolutely breathtaking! Your photos are exactly why I love the West and wish I were there instead of the east coast.

I have to look for that book, To the Far Blue Mountain. SOunds like something my boys would like.

And on a different note....you have lost a lot of weight! Looking good. And your skin is flawless. I picture you doing a beauty secrets book soon.
;-)

Monnik said...

Beautiful pictures! It looks gorgeous there! I love seeing parts of the country that I'm not familiar with.

Looks like the fishing was productive too! Did you eat it?

Anonymous said...

...for a man with only three fingers on both hands... you look delicious!

Eric said...

Thanks for sharing, Travis. These are some beautiful images, particularly the trout. You're lookin' to be in pretty good shape yourself too (See, I'm secure enough in my manhood to be able to compliment another guy). You mentioned a while back about losing some pounds or something. Anyway, thanks for showing us the nice images.

Lauren said...

Beautiful pictures! Wow! I spent a summer in New Mexico as a child. It was a bittersweet time as we were there caring for my dying gramma. But we met many of my mom's college friends who took us to many places in order to get us out of the house and put our minds on happier things.

I am going though a "travel bug" phase right now so now I'm all wanting to go check the West out! I haven't been back since that summer and am thinking that I should go.

Design Goddess said...

Fantastic pictures you took. I feel as if I was there!

Congrats again on the big fish!! Did you get to eat it or did you have to throw it back in to preserve nature?

D.M. McGowan said...

Great pics and undoubtadly a great trip. My 'Partners' recounts some travels in similar country...the Crows Nest Pass several miles north of Red River. It was I that made the several trips through there but I'm not in the story ... the story takes place in 1866 and they didn't have a highway for me to drive on.
I don't have any pictures, but the cover of 'Homesteader' has a nice one of that kind of country.
Dave
www.dmmcgowan.blogspot.com

Phats said...

Awesome pictures Travis looks like you guys had a great vacation! I am with your son though haha I would have done the same thing.

That last picture really creeps me out I am deathly afraid of fish

Barrie said...

It's impossible NOT to relax on those kinds of vacations!

your other wife said...

It is funny I have some of the same pictures from our last "family" vacation. The ones from the ski lift and the walk down!!! It is fun. Everyone seems to like the new slender you huh? Nice fish!

AvDB said...

Tell your son I said, "Right on."

Great pictures. My brother went to that scout camp ages ago, but all of his pictures were of other scouts. I didn't realize it was so beautiful there, or I would have had the sense to be jealous of his trip.

Hit 40 said...

Nice fish! Do you ever show pics of it after you gut it and cooked a yummy filet?

Lana Gramlich said...

Great shots--particularly the foggy ones (& the trout, of course--Kudos!) Looks like y'all had a great time.