2024 True Heroes: Greg Hallstrom
ONE BUSY AFTERNOON during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, retired Army Lieutenant Colonel Greg Hallstrom received a call at his Albuquerque office. A young man had been injured in a tragic car…
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2024 True Heroes: Michael McCann
ABOUT 10 YEARS AGO, three Taos teenagers tragically jumped from the Río Grande Gorge Bridge over the course of just a few weeks. While youth suicide in Taos is all too common, the deaths left Michael…
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Written in the Trees
THE EYE FOLLOWED ME. As I bent around the aspen for a better look at the symbol carved into its trunk, a gray pupil seemed to track me. A wind stirred in the forest crown. In the dappled light, I…
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Fly the Friendly New Mexico Skies
CHRIS DAHL-BREDINE CHASES THE LIGHT. “I’m moved by sunrises and sunsets,” he says. “There’s nothing quite like the beautiful New Mexico light, and I just want to be right there in it.” Flying high in…
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These Spots Are Paradise For Bird-Watchers
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER Rattlesnake Springs. You want a desert oasis? This is a desert oasis. Managed by Carlsbad Caverns National Park, these spring-fed ponds and streams were once an extensive…
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Elevate Your Birding Game
A SWAINSON’S HAWK LIFTED FROM THE CANYON rim and dropped below my own perch, 1,000 feet above the Canadian River. A light breeze hissed over the grasses. The hawk caught the wind, turned into a…
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Meet Expert Hiker Cindy Brown
I N HER EARLIEST MEMORY , Cindy Brown was on a trail. “My parents took our family out hiking, camping, fishing, and boating,” she says. “I always loved being outside. Anyone looking for me could find me…
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Dust Off Your Boots and Hit the Trails
DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNER Soledad Canyon Loop. This easy, four-mile loop northeast of Las Cruces offers a rich experience of the Chihuahuan Desert microclimates of the Organ Mountain–Desert Peaks…
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Hike Flag Mountain for Panoramic Views
THE TRAIL DISAPPEARED INTO THE OLD BURN SCAR. Young aspen and oak, regrown since the 1996 Lama fire, shimmered in yellows, reds, and oranges. We pushed into the growth and scrambled up the ridge…
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Three Hikes for Fall Color
Above: The Brazos Cliffs are made of some of the oldest rock found in New Mexico. Photograph by Jim O’Donnell. Jawbone Mountain A moderate 6-mile out-and-back hike along Placer Creek leaves from a…
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