Broad Canyon Ranch ( NM State Parks property)

 

Last winter, I walked through this little remnant of bosque, with its cottonwoods, netleaf hackberries and screwbean mesquite, on my way to a hike on the other side of the river. I thought it would be nice to return here in the fall, and so that's what we  did on a very warm November afternoon a little over a week ago. We parked at the gate across from the Broad Canyon Dam and then walked down the road, which is the boundary between private lands and the NM State Parks property which, although acquired around 10 years ago is still not a state park, although it would make lovely  one. Someday.

 One new thing of note came into  view shortly after the road goes up on the levee. A sign posted by the International Boundary and Water Commission declares the area closed to all uses.  Put off, we stopped. While we were standing there, contemplating our next move, a jogger passed us, then a woman who had been frog gigging. Down by the river, ATVs were heading up the outlet of Buckle Bar Canyon and then over the railroad tracks and up the canyon itself. Hmm. . . not too many people paying attention to the sign. If you are worried about it though, just turn to south before the roads goes on the levee and then follow the foot of the mesa where you will pick up the remains of another road, or go up on the mesa itself where there are ravines to work your back down to the bottom. In either case you will avoid trespassing on that mean old International Boundary and Water Commission's sliver of property.

We walked on the old road/path through heavy vegetation, admiring the cliffs along river and the fall colors close at hand. 

As we got closer to the old ranch entrance and the highway, we abruptly turned back northwestward deciding to go over  a couple of hills of dark volcanic rock to return to our car. Not much to report from up there. We found one little rectangular enclosure someone had built with the loose rock that seemed to be of a fairly recent vintage.

 Close at hand was another square enclosure of rock that was definitely much older.  The land ownership switches to BLM through here, as walked down a small arroyo and then back up the taller hill. On top  there was the usual rock pile. We had to descend to the little mesa on the east from where we carefully made our down a steep ravine of loose rock, to keep on a direct line back to the 4Runner. Worse ways to spend lazy Fall Sunday.