Windmill: A windmill surrounded by cacti and desert grasslands adds to a colorful sunset in January in the City of Rocks State Park between Silver City and Deming. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Gila Mountains: A portion of the Gila Mountains north of Silver City, N.M the ranges of rugged peaks and valleys of the region. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Horses: Horses graze in a small pasture near Chloride, N.M. The area remains home to one of few remaining mines in the state. As mining has diminished, this area is now home to many ranches and some farming. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
By GARY WARREN
Photographer
Formerly of Los Alamos
The landscape in New Mexico is magnificent in so many ways. The plains, high desert, rolling hills, canyons and majestic mountains blend to create this beautiful state. The arid southwestern climate creates some of the most stunning skies that you can find anywhere.
New Mexico was our home for 30 years and we will always hold the memories of those years in our heart. We loved to explore areas of the state as time allowed and we saw much of the state along many of the backroads.
There was one fairly large portion of New Mexico that remained unknown to us as we never explored or even traveled through during the time we lived in Los Alamos and that was the southwestern portion of the state. Other than a couple of trips passing by on the interstates, we had never experienced this section of the state until we retired and began traveling in our RV.
We have now traveled some of the roads on our “bucket list” in southwestern New Mexico and we have come to love that portion of the state. There are still many highways and backroads in the area that we have not traveled but that will change over time.
In the photos in this Post From the Road, I will feature some of the roads that we have traveled as we explore the southwest portion of the state. The area I am referring to is bordered by I-25 on the east and U.S. Highway 60 on the north and the state borders on the west and southern sides.
The landscape in the southwest is high desert and mountains with rugged valleys and canyons throughout. We have seen a lot of agriculture land, ranching, grazing pastures with cattle, horses, sheep, goats and other animals along with some quaint small towns and some towns with surprising characteristics and charm. As we have seen around the state, a large portion of this area is state and federally owned land featuring parks, forests, and desert land.
Our journey on the backroads of southwestern New Mexico has just begun. We will share more of this area of New Mexico over time as our travels lead us to the Gila Mountains and beyond.
Editor’s note: Longtime Los Alamos photographer Gary Warren and his wife Marilyn are traveling around the country, and he shares his photographs, which appear in the “Posts from the Road” series published in the Sunday edition of the Los Alamos Daily Post.
Curvy Road: A section of the curvy Geronimo Trail National Scenic Byway created an interesting photo while I was returning to the RV after photographing other scenes in the area. Many of the backroads including this Scenic Byway are curvy as they wind through hills and valleys in southwest New Mexico. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Cattle: Several head of cattle appear to be ‘taking it easy’ on a beautiful but chilly and breezy January afternoon near Cuchillo, N.M. Many ranches can be seen on the valleys and flat lands in the southwest area of the state. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Red Dirt Road: A red dirt road winds through some hills on a ranch along the Geronimo Trail National Scenic Byway. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
