Sagebrush personal hiking blog
The NMVFO returned to Morphy Lake for a second year to build trail at this man-made lake near Mora. Sixteen volunteers were the only campers at the state park, still closed for reconstruction of the outlet dam.
Joined by three staff from the state park, we continued to build a new trail around the lake, for use by fishermen when the park reopens later in the summer.
Related post: Morphy Lake 2018
South of NM Hwy 550 between San Ysidro and Cuba, atop a narrow sandstone pedestal 200 feet high, lies the Guadalupe Ruin, the one eastern pueblo outlier of Chaco Canyon, occupied between AD 900 and 1000, and later occupied by Mesa Verde migrants.
A dozen or so NMVFO volunteers, joined by BLM staff Jackie Leyba, placed sandstone blocks on the narrow steep trail to the summit, for better footing.
At the summit are remains of several ruins, and two excavated kivas now covered with metal roofs. Several others kivas, still buried, are visible from the top, and pottery shards and matates and other remains are easy to find.
Socorro’s Save Our Bosque Task Force (SOBTF) had a trash cleanup morning along the bosque trail and levee road, starting at Otero parking area. Over a dozen citizens were joined by several Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District (MRGCD) staff and two buses of students from Cottonwood School.
The MRGCD (AFAIK) provided a dump truck, backhoe, and dumpster.
This was my first project with the SOBTF. This stretch of trail may be included in the Rio Grande Trail that is being designed, and is part of the Socorro Alternate section of the Grand Enchantment Trail.