32 • JUNE 2019
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Blacktail rattle snake Desert spider beetle
The entrance to Box Canyon west of Las Cruces beckons to the hiker. (Photos by Gabriele Teich)
HIGH PLACES • GABRIELE TEICH
Box Canyon Dam
S
ometimes you feel like you just gotta’ get out. Maybe you don’t even know or acknowledge it to yourself consciously, but when you look back that’s what it was. That little bit of outdoors saved your mind from going crazy that day. And that is a very good thing. Believe me, I know. Immersed in three books at the same time, all the while running your usual busy life, even an hour out in nature can be a life saver. It puts everything else into perspective. Like those posters of the universe with the arrow pointing to a speck, proclaiming “You are here.” So on this particular Thursday we made it our priority – for once there were no winds in the forecast – a blessing on any given spring day in Las Cruces. Driving out on I-10 towards Deming we took the Picacho Exit and headed North on Box Canyon Road, along the Eastern border of the Airport. One of my – many – New Year’s resolutions was to explore more of the vastness of the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument, right in our backyard – which already turned 5
A short hike in a remote area – very close to town
Blooming ocotillo
this past May, would you believe it? – the monument, not the backyard. That’s much older actually. Which brings me back to that afore mentioned poster. But I digress. The box canyon just below the Box Canyon Dam is a neat little area to explore when you don’t want to go far but still get ‘out there’. It’s as desolate as it can get this close to town. No cars, no other people, just you and the great
outdoors. And of course the usual assortment of critters. You know they are there, although invisible to your eyes. On our way back to the car we found our own footsteps crossed by the slalom line of a snake in the sand. But remember that the biggest danger out there is your own ego, overestimating itself, not bringing enough water, not wearing sunscreen, or the right
footwear. We parked about a mile before we reached the dam because the road was too washed out even for our four wheel drive. I do not recommend this dirt road for any regular car. From there we walked towards the dam and then turned right in the direction of Picacho Peak to drop down into the canyon, all on wide jeep trails. The dam is an interesting piece of history. Built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1940s as a flood control dam, it supposedly protected the city. And a second one, called Apache Dam is not far off. A strange undertaking though because even today the city isn’t even close and wouldn’t the water simply feed into the Rio Grande from there? Or was it protecting the farm and ranch land? The neighborhood of Picacho Hills was still a far off pipe dream in the 1940s. The canyon is a lovely meandering hallway, closing to about 12 feet at its narrowest point. Grinding holes, called metates in the rock floor are proof that the area was
well known to our indigenous forefathers as well. I vowed – like so many times before – to come back early in the morning or maybe right before sunset for the best photography light. The bright late morning sun launders all colors out of the pictures and also makes for a hot little hike, even early in the summer. At least we still got to enjoy some of the desert blossoms: ocotillo, prickly pear and even a few wild flowers dotted the landscape. The next hike description will be in some shady canyon or at much higher altitude, I promise. Summer is here. Of German origin, Gabriele Teich has called Las Cruces her home for almost 20 years — and loved every minute of it, hiking the mountains in the immediate surrounding area and all over this beautiful state.