Memories of Apache Creek, NM

I’ve been to the Apache Creek region in New Mexico two times. The following notes are from those occasions.

My first visit to Apache Creek was in late May-2020, while returning from my first Texas expedition. I said goodbye to my friend Jerry in Albuquerque early Wednesday morning and drove south on the interstate to Socorro, then breathed a sigh of relief as I left the I-25 and turned westbound on US-60. I’ve never been shy about stating how much I dislike the push and shove of the busy roads. To be honest, the section of freeway south of Albuquerque wasn’t as horrible as interstates sometimes get, but I get a sense of relief when I leave the freeway because when I travel the two-lane blacktops I love, I’m able to stop along the roadside to look and listen to nature at my leisure.

This was not my first time traversing US-60. I’ve done it several times in the past, but it had been a while since my last ride on this road. I’d passed through Magdalena to Datil across the high plateau grasslands that lay below the peaks in the Apache Kid Wilderness. I’d seen the giant 82 foot diameter dishes of the Very Large Array on a network of train rails, and I knew these 27 dishes listen for extraterrestrial signals from “out there”. I also knew that the Continental Divide crossing over northern foothills of the Gila Range was gorgeous. 

I turned left on NM-12 at the town of Datil and continued toward my intended destination. I had hoped to pay a visit to the Catwalk trail east of Glenwood, where a network of bridges and trails provided entry into the deep canyon cut by Whitewater Creek through the mountains. In August 2003, I visited the Catwalk, and I had not been able to do so since. After a massive July 2012 fire decimated the forests in the Gila Mountains, a powerful flood took out a 30 foot section of the bridge and trail system in September 2013. I passed here again in March 2016, two months before they reopened following the reconstruction. 

Tired of driving, I found a wide spot above Tularosa Creek several miles before its confluence with Apache Creek. As soon as I arrived, a Western Wood-Pewee greeted me, followed by Ash-Throated Flycatchers, a Plumbeous Vireo, and a Chipping Sparrow. A juvenile Common Black Hawk foraged in the creek below me. Forty minutes later I was on my way again, re-energized for the drive ahead.

Later, in April-2023, I was beginning my expedition to the Canadian Great Lakes region. I stopped to visit friends and San Diego transplants at their digs in New Mexico. I learned their new home was but a few miles from where I stopped on that May-2020 trip

I arrived at their spread Wednesday afternoon after spending the morning in Glenwood. Then Thursday I enjoyed meeting the birds that were attracted to the feeders that Deb and James provided in their backyard. 

When time is limited, shooting birds at feeding stations can sometimes yield images with limited aesthetics because of unnatural settings, but the opportunity to collect otherwise elusive subjects is fair compensation. And let’s face it, all of us earth-walkers have limited time! 

When the day was done, I’d enjoyed the company of Acorn Woodpeckers, Broad-Tailed Hummingbirds, Cassin’s Finches, Chipping Sparrows, House Finches, Juniper Titmice, Pine Siskins, Dark-Eyed (Pink-Sided) Juncos, Say’s Phoebes, Sonoran Gopher Snakes, Steller’s Jays, Western Bluebirds, White-Breasted Nuthatches, and Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jays. However, there were several species that met my eyes, but not my camera. Included were Black-Chinned Hummingbirds, Golden Eagles, Common Ravens, Red-Tailed Hawks, Turkey Vultures. Black Phoebes, Great Blue Herons, American Wigeons, Green-Winged Teals, Mallards, and American Coots.