Southern New Mexico Explorer: Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument

Much of this hike covers ground I've been over before, back in the Spring of this year and in the Winter of 2014. After finding one very large petroglyph on a boulder in March, I've spent a considerable amount of time, this hike included, searching the many boulders that have tumbled down from the steep escarpment on the west side of Candler Canyon ( or Draw as it becomes known out in the flatlands). No more petroglyphs have turned up. I did find a large boulder, with low walls attached and a shell casing in the dirt beneath, that may have been used as temporary shelter.

I also found on the benches of the east side a site with many lithic fragments, including what looked like some unfinished arrowheads, of non-local material, plus a few sherds of light colored pottery. I searched for awhile for more artifacts, but in the shadowy, low angle, afternoon winter light, I realized it wasn't that easy of a task. I will try to get back earlier in the day, hopefully before winter is done, as it would be a shadeless trudge to reach this spot any time after March and before October.

As I had come so far up the canyon in my search for rock art, I decided to have look at the box section, which lies directly south of the Sierra de las Uvas highpoint, Magadalena Peak.

I hadn't been up there in six years, but I decided to have second look, partly just to make sure I hadn't overlooked any petroglyphs but also because I had only one photograph of the place. My memory of this defile as being ridiculously rough was pretty much on target. There was one gentle spot in the whole place, where the main streambed makes a big turn to the east, with patch of flat sandy ground beneath some old junipers hard against some low cliffs. It might've been nice for my picnic, except for it being completely in the shade, not that appealing in winter, and really never worth the effort to get there. I ate my sardines and crackers when I got back to the truck.