Another chance for a weekend escape into the open country of Northern New Mexico, another chance to fall in love with this land, and another chance to remind myself how grateful I am to be part of this community here.

Jeremy and I stitched together two overnighters last weekend. The first involved just the two of us; we left late and battled into wind and darkness, drank a Coors Light that had jettisoned out of a truck bed, found a home in the belly of a piñon tree, sipped matcha tea stirred with a juniper twig, saw a coyote and a rattlesnake, then circled around the ghost town of Rechuelos.

The second, an all singing, all dancing, all stick-fetching family affair with Rickey and his kids Willa and Wyatt, plus Mehedi and Rami, plus furry Maybe too! Mehedi has an untold number of short overnight routes in the back pocket of his woodworker’s trousers, and they’re perfect for both adventurous families, and anyone who just wants to get out for a night under the stars, forgoing the pursuit of miles to seek instead the pleasure of good vibes and friendship. When he suggested we head out to the Valle de la Piedra Lumbre, I didn’t even need to hear the details to know it would be wonderful.

I don’t think I can put it any better than Rickey in his Instagram story from the trip: “What’s got 10 wheels, 18 legs, 3lbs of meat and an infinite amount of stoke? This bike pack posse. Great ‘lil overnighter with good friends and little people.”

Here here!

Rolling late out of Abiquiu on night 1, we stopped first to sip on a roadside can of Coors Light that must have jettisoned out of a truck, like the one that crossed us soon after.

The sun slipped behind the mountains, signalling the time to remove my sunglasses and enter another phase of the ride…

Oh Pedernal!

To add further sensations to our adventures, it was really blowing a hooley. Not that we really cared. We had a sun-baked dirt road to point our wheels down, and an open night ahead of us.

Me: Wind, Wind, stop your blowing for a moment, please!

Wind: I’m just being me.

Making time to stop and gaze at stars and wonder at mountain shapes. And don layers…

A couple of hours in, Jeremy received some welcoming frequencies from a giant pińion tree. He threw down his bike and dived straight in to investigate. It would prove to be a fine home for the night that was as protected from the wind as we could hope for.

Morning came, and with it matcha and milk, stirred with a juniper twig.

Jeremy back at it, pedalling hard into the yonder.

Soon after crossing paths with a rattlesnack, we had time to poke around the ruins of Rechuelos. We also saw a coyote and elk that day.

In our imagination, Rechuelos’ crumbling old school house would make the perfect backcountry pizza joint. Bring ingredients for a discount…

I’ll need Emma to help me identify this one. They were flowering across the hillside.

At the end of the valley, the dwindling remains of several timber structures revealed further evidence of this pastoral community that dates back to the 1920’s and ’30s.

An arborist by trade, with a vast knowledge and empathy for New Mexican flora, the ethnobotanist in Jeremy got to work. He pointed out apple and plum trees that once served this community, and took note of the plants that had overrun its adobe walls.

Film seemed the right medium to capture this moment in time. Clunk. Whirrrr. I look forward to seeing it in 2 weeks or 2 months, or even 2 years.

Fruit blossoms and candy floss clouds.

There are no wrong answers out here.

Onwards we flew, the wind behind us, New Mexican dirt beneath us, sunshine above us, and light within us, back down to the valley floor.

Bodi’s grocery store makes a classic pit stop for any bicycle trip through Abiquiu, as Great Divide cycle tourists and bikepacking racers know only too well. Its bench is wide enough to serve as a picnic, and has a fine patina too.

Back at Mehedi’s, we connected with the extended Santa Fean gang to fine tune the logistics for our second night out. Jeremy has an old Subaru and Rickey has owned Orange for 24 years, both telling clues to their characters.

Jeremy and I scooted alongside the Chama, with the intention of meeting the family posse further upriver, where a dirt road climbs north into the Carson National Forest.

And rejoin them we did, just as they were taking a break in the shade of some trees, post kid meltdown, to a backdrop of Cerro Pedernal, of Georgia O’Keefe fame.

It had been some years since Mehedi had last followed this road, as part of a bicycle tour with his father. His memory of the terrain and its conditions likely didn’t factor kids and trailers at the time…

No matter, the road was quite stunning and we made it to our camping spot. Rickey & Family took up residence outside the empty homestead.

So perfect was it here, and with such a fine view of Pedernal, that we suspect this cabin may well double as a film set...

I pitched the Durston Exped 2 with an uninterrupted view of this iconic cerro, one I circumnavigate last year and wrote about in the latest issue of the Bikepacking Journal.

Maybe, Rickey’s collie, quickly sensed I was a weak link within our entourage, exploiting me for eternal stick throwing until darkness fell.

Jeremy rolled out his sleeping apparel, morphing into a plump silk worm fir the night. Not only was he cowboy camping that night, but he’d also brought a steak, cut into morsels on a slab of rock, and cooked over the fire for dinner…

Is it really morning again, so soon? How I love to catch the sun lighting up the world.

To usher in the new day, Ricky played his Vietnamese mouth harp for Willa, to her delight.

And he kept a wandering Wyatt company too.

In case you aren’t aware, Rickey Gates is a world class ultrarunner, with a beautiful cross country photography book to his name and a wealth of creative, movement-inspired projects too. A client on one of his running trips had even made him a special sleeve for his mouth harp.

While we’re on the subject of creativity, Mehedi is the most wonderful of woodworkers, as is his father, who first moved to the area to help build the local mosque, which we visited later that day. Mehedi taught me to carve spoons on one of our trips together, and this particular example is my favourite one of his!

Coffee and conversation with friends. Is there anything better?

Meanwhile, the sun continued its mission to illuminate the world. From our prime camping spot in the Valle de la Piedra Lumbre, we could spy the edge of Ghost Ranch and look out towards the Mesa de los Viejos – where we toured last year – which form the outer edges of the Colorado Plateau.

Camping with kids is a joy to experience, even if they’re not your own. I miss my Sage!!

Who doesn’t love a morning fire? There’s no better way to set a relaxed tone for the day and imbue it, and our clothes, with heady, woodsy aromas.

Families doing their family things.

What a kid crew: Willa, Wyatt, and Rami.

And what fabulous people. I am honoured to call them my friends.

And of course, Maybe too. (another day, another stick fetch)

I’ve mentioned this before.. but I’m stoked on my current bikepacking setup. My previous post dives into it in more details for those who take interest in such granular matters.

Is it a dangle mug if it’s not dangling?

Time to get rolling after one last ditty from Rickey, who had also packed his travelling ocarina.

Leaving this most sublime of camping sites, we retraced our tyre tracks back towards Abiquiu.

Winding through pińons and junipers. Quintessential Northern New Mexico.

As are bouts of the very rockiest and jumbliest of terrain.

Mehedi and his family… legends of Abiquiu and beyond. I especially enjoyed this short film that was made about him, whilst riding the Monumental Loop in southern New Mexico. I resonate with so much of what he says.

A fine entourage and a fine view.

I do love this scene so.

Back alongside the Chama River.

Where giant cotton woods do grow.

That afternoon, we visited Dar Al Islam and the slot canyons of Plaza Blanca, a most wild and wonderful ending to this fine weekend. Thank you all!

Field Notes

For the family trip we rode some 7 miles each way together, which was ample, given the number in our entourage and our afternoon start. Rickey pulled a double trailer containing Wyatt and gear, a bike seat along the top tube for Willa. Maybe trotted along behind. Mehedi accommodated Rami on his Surly Krampus. The terrain was lumpy, so kids got out to skip and run where necessary.

The Route

What a beautiful part of the world to explore by bicycle! Here’s our route, both Part 1 and Part 2. These days I seem to favour low miles and high experiences.

Be sure to register first if you want to visit Plaza Blanca.

All pics taken with the little Fuji x100v and processed in Lightroom to taste, for those who take interest in such matters.

That’s it for now! Thanks for reading, and any questions, do drop them in the comments.