The Stark Beauty of New Mexico

View toward Mimbres, NM

 In early summer 2021 we visited friends Lynn and Philip in Mimbres, NM. A hike up the nearby mountain once more demonstrated the stark beauty of southern New Mexico as well as the harshness of life for some of the animals. 

Here are some pictures. Beauty reaching toward the sky...

10 ft tall Yucca


... and close to the ground.

Thistles

On the return hike we descended in an arroyo. Suddenly we came upon a demonstration that life is harsh for many of the animals.

Remains of a small deer

The deer probably was overcome by a mountain lion. Just 200 ft further down, we were surprised by the remains of another small deer.

Bones of another small deer

Both cases are a reminder that the safety we have created for our existence doesn't extend to the world of animals. Many of them live in constant danger.

It was a sobering reality check.

Then another thought popped up. On the trip from Dallas to Deming, NM for the visit, we flew under a 1,500 ft ceiling at 1,000 ft, approaching the Andrews airport in West Texas for refueling. A potentially nasty situation developed. Here is the story.

The visibility is unrestricted. 

We see on the Garmin Pilot a plane right below us, with altitude difference listed as -800 ft. The pilot must be skimming the ground of the flat terrain. And then he picks the same speed and direction as us! 

We watch like a hawk, worried about the plane rising. Then the plane veers off, and we land at Andrews.

Minutes later the other plane lands, too. It is a Cessna, hence high wing.

We talk with the pilot. He is on pipeline patrol and has stopped for lunch and refueling.

With us in a low-wing airplane and him in the high-wing Cessna, we could not see each other. If he had been rising or we had been descending, it would have been a deadly collision.

But with ADS-B we had a clear picture and were ready for evasive action.

Have any questions or feedback about this post? Please share your thoughts in the comments. 

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