For our fourth wedding anniversary, we wanted to do something crazy like we did a year ago on our third anniversary (when we hiked the Na Pali Coast on Kauai Island in Hawaii) or on our second anniversary (when we met some Mexican coyotes and some Border Patrol agents while hiking Miller Peak in southern Arizona). Instead, we had a nice dinner and evening out on the actual day itself, then planned a get-away for the weekend after to actually celebrate. We decided to make a return trip to Truth or Consequences in New Mexico. We were here last year and enjoyed the old quirky hotels in downtown, the hot springs themselves, and the fun hiking to be had up in the mountains immediately to the east.

The city of "T or C" (we just say "tork") sits in a broad valley, through which passes the Rio Grande on its way south toward Texas and Mexico. The Caballo and Fra Cristobal Mountains rise high to the city's east, with impressive cliffs coming straight down from the peaks on their west faces. The mountains are both uplifted, with gentle grades on the east side and the steep cliffs on the west. Many of the ranges along the Rio Grande seem to have this characteristic: the same is true for the Manzano and Sandia ranges up nearer Albuquerque. To the east of the Cristobal and Caballo ranges is an elevated desert plain called the Jornada del Muerto, or "Journey of the Dead" (or "Death", as the translation may be). It is a long, lengthy flat plain, with some parts covered in vast lava beds, and all of it wide open. Old-time travelers had to cross this plain to get to their destinations, and many didn't make it, hence the name. Today, it's home to some gigantic ranches (The Pedro Armendariz Ranch to the north covers 300,000+ acres and is owned by Ted Turner) and the future commercial spaceport being put in by billionaire Richard Branson near the locale of Upham to the south. My observation is that the Jornada del Muerto features more billionaires than most other vacant desert plains. Way to the east the plain is blocked in by ranges and peaks sitting on the White Sands Missile Range, which makes them off limits to the public.

We were here in May 2006. Aside from one overnight I did here in 2000, neither of us had even spent much time in the area, and Beth wanted to take in the mineral baths, so we stayed two nights at the Charles Hotel in downtown, on the corner of Broadway and Business-25. On that visit we wanted to explore this future spaceport. Plus, there is a lat-long degree confluence nearby, and of course, we had some interest in Timber Mountain, so there were many things up here to grab our interest. From T or C we drove up highway NM-52 past Elephant Butte Dam, through some hills and canyons, and soon, up onto the Jornada del Muerto plain. We drove to the highway's end, a T-junction in the tiny community of Engle, which is essentially the mailing address for the Armendariz Ranch. Running south and north from here is a good road, some of it paved and the rest all-weather gravel.

We went south, and about a dozen miles later came to a lonely Y-junction in the middle of nowhere, with a sign pointing to the Cain Ranch, and a simple green street sign mentioning "Spaceport" with an arrow. We followed that road, which led right into the Cain headquarters. No one was home, other than a overly-friendly border collie, and we had no luck finding roads that went past the Cain place. So far, no luck on the Spaceport. However, the lat-long confluence was located nearby, and we made an easy hike to document it, summarized on the degree confluence website. For more on this side trip, click here. We had no further luck in finding anything that looked like a spaceport. Afterwards we drove up the long lonely roads toward Timber Peak and got as far as some steep tight roads high on the peak's north ridge, where we had some great views down into the Rio Grande valley. However, it was getting late in the afternoon and a hike to the top probably would have had us coming out these roads in the dark, so we decided to skip the hike and make a return trip. So here we were again, 14 months later.

We left Phoenix friday afternoon after I had finished classes. We had a long 430+ mile drive ahead of us, and we decided to take the "high roads" through Payson, the Rim Country and Springerville into New Mexico, then catch Interstate-25 in Socorro down to T or C. The weather was stiflingly hot, 117 the day before and about 112-115 when we left town today, and my truck actually ran hot for the first time ever, according to its gauge. I had to kill the a/c on the uphill grades, which sucked, and the cab got toasty pretty fast. Soon, though, we were higher up in elevation, coming into Payson (elevation 5,000 ft) just as a thunderstorm cell came through and started dropping rain. This dropped the temperatures into the 70s, a wonderful feeling after weeks of 110s in the desert.

We got food and groceries in Payson, then put in lots more miles east, gassing up in Springerville, passing through the remote communities of Quemado, Pie Town and Datil in New Mexico, then coming into some fireworks in Magdalena. By this time it was dark. We drove the extra 15 minutes into Socorro, getting stopped at a DUI checkpoint, a first for both of us. We asked about the fireworks, why they blowing them up today instead of July 4th. Turns out they had rain the 4th, and decided to have the celebration on the 231st anniversary of the second day of existence of our nation instead. We didn't get into T or C until after 11 p.m. local time. We had to awaken the night-guy at the Charles Hotel, who came down to let us in to our room but wasn't too cheery about it. We got our stuff in and had a late night dinner of store-bought sandwiches and some pastries before crashing.

The plan for today (saturday) was to get a very early start for the hike so that we could beat the heat of the day, the potential thunderstorms that usually build by noon, and be back in time for some soaking in the baths and naptime. We were on the road by 6 a.m. for the short drive up past Elephant Butte and up onto the Jornada del Muerto plain. We didn't go as far as Engle; instead we turned south onto a substantial dirt road at about milepost 10 near some mailboxes. According to the map this is still on the Armendariz Ranch. In less than a mile we came to an odd junction with two gates; we took the right gate and proceeded south. Last year we spent considerable time figuring the road net here, getting lost and turning into some dead ends and lonely grim properties on occasion, before having success getting as far as Timber. This time, we knew which roads to stay on and had no trouble at all. Nothing is marked out here, and the maps show the roads incorrectly in places. Generally, we stayed south for about 9 miles to a draw at a ranch sign (The "Rocking S"), passed over a concrete ford, then went right to a small hill with towers, then right again at its base, then left at the first junction afterwards, following the road by sight to Timber's base.

The roads were very good for the first 14 miles from the paved road, then steadily rockier and narrower as we approached the base of the peak near Ghost Tank. This would be the limit for passenger vehicles (and appears to be used as an ad-hoc camping spot on occasion). I put the truck into 4-wheel drive for the short but steep uphill grades, getting us another mile up the hill and parking at the same spot we parked last year, a flat area near one of the hairpin turns, with stunning views in all directions, especially of the Rio Grande valley below. To here we had driven 17 miles from the paved highway, and a total of about 29 from our hotel. It was about 7:30 a.m. local time. The road from here is still fairly good, but we liked this spot for its views and provided for a nice starting point for the hike to the top. Beth opted to skip the hike, so we set her up with blankets, folding chairs, books, Diet Dr. Peppers, snacks and the best views of Central New Mexico.

I took off not long thereafter, and made excellent time up the remainder of the road, covering a shade over a mile and coming up to the towers lined along the summit ridge and cliff edges. I figured I'd done about a half-hour of hiking. The true highpoint is located a half-mile south, a rounded top covered in brush, standing about 20 feet higher than the towers, though not obvious to the eye. Past the towers I found a very old path (possibly an ATV route) that led down steeply below the saddle, about a 140-foot descent. The path continued up a few more yards before giving away to the brush near a white post partially hidden by a tree. To here went quickly, maybe another 15 minutes.

The rest of the hike was through the low shrubby brush and rock bands, coupled with me trying some paths that led to dead ends and having to double back. Actually I did fine, but took it very slow. Rattlesnakes were on my mind here as this was classic snake habitat: brush, lots of rocks, especially large flat rocks with nooks for them to hide in. In some places I could not see where my foot was going to land, which is always a bad idea in snake country. I took a stick and beat the area or tossed in little rocks to be sure. In any case I went slower then before. The route eventually leads up on top of a small rise, then down and up another 20 feet or so before coming up to the true summit, marked by two cairns and posts. A register is placed in the westernmost cairn and I signed in, taking some time to enjoy the views down the steep west cliffs into the Rio Grande below. I took a restful break, but in about 10 minutes I decided to get moving back down.

The hike back went well, going a little quicker as I knew the places to step now, and in short time I was back onto the more open paths and the towers themselves. Then it was just a simple walk down the road back to the truck. Beth was there, reading and writing. The day was still young and there was no hurry to get moving. I changed into some drier clothes then laid out a blanket and took refuge in the shade under my truck, laying down for a little nap. We stayed for another hour, chatting and watching the thunderstorms begin to build. There was nothing happening above us, but off to the north, a gigantic anvil-shaped cell was already in full form above South Baldy Mountain, while off to the west the Black Range had its own big cells growing. We could see veils of rain, too.

My round-trip hike had taken just under 2.5 hours, and adding in the extra hour it was close to 11 a.m. when we finally got moving, driving slowly off the peak then zipping out the remainder of these desert roads back onto pavement and back to T or C. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and watching the storms come into town. Some big mean-looking clouds covered T or C but other than some windy gusts nothing much came of them. We spent another night at the hotel, then the next day making a scenic drive over the Black Range into Silver City and on to Glenwood, setting us up for a short hike monday up Brushy Mountain.