H Paul Garland: Hillsboro, New Mexico USA

My little black dog and I took our little teardrop trailer and the battery powered ultraviolet lamp and went up to Hillsboro, New Mexico yesterday. From El Paso it is a 121

mile drive (195 km) which going slow to conserve fuel and with numerous stops along the way takes us about 2-1/2 to 3 hours.

Hillsboro is an old mining town that was founded in 1877 after gold was discovered.

Between 1893 and 1898 100,000 troy ounces (3,000 kg) of gold were produced there.

It is located up in the rocky mountains west of the Rio Grande rift valley and Caballo lake, and just east of the Gila National Forest and the Aldo Leopold Wilderness. The town itself is at 32.92008N, -107.56995W.

It is a beautiful little town at about 5,500 feet above sea level (1.700 meters above MSL).

I visited a friend of mine there in town. She wanted to go to lunch, and we walked over to the restaurant. Since Betty has a cat I left my little doggie Inu in her front yard.

We walked down Elenora Steet, turned left on 2nd street, and when we got to Highway 152 we turned right and walked to the General Store which is also a nice little restaurant.

I guess we had been sitting there in the General Store for about 10 minutes when we saw this little black doggie stick his nose up to the screen door so that he could sniff inside. I was truly amazed. Inu had never been to Hillsboro before, and he certainly had not walked around the town. I guess he had jumped or climbed over her fence and then had tracked my trail over to the General Store using his wonderful little cold wet doggie nose!

I went outside and talked to him for a moment, and explained to him that this restaurant did not allow black dogs inside, so he would just have to wait outside right next to the highway. Without a leash or anything.

So just like at Wal-Mart, Inu became the greeter, saying pleasant things to everyone who came in or went out of the restaurant. In between greeting times he wandered around town, doing the sniff and pee routine.

While we were eating lunch my friend asked some of the other locals about nearby mines and mine tailings. I got some great advice. So after lunch Betty, Inu, and I drove over to one of the places. The road really demanded a high clearance vehicle and 4 wheel drive. I should have been in our Toyota 4 Runner, but I wasn’t. But the little Toyota Corolla came through! We left the teardrop trailer out there in the outback and brought Betty back to town.

We were at 32.92877N, -107.55885W. This is an old late 1800’s placer gold mining

area. It is beyond a chained gate, but there is no lock on the gate, and it really is OK to open the gate and go through. Just be certain to shut it correctly behind you. There are lots of tailing piles and rocks left behind from the placer gold mining operation.

After leaving my friend off back in town, Inu and I drove back to where we had left the trailer. Sure enough, the Corolla got up that really steep hill much easier when it wasn’t dragging a camping trailer behind it.

We wandered around a bit, then a very nice thunderstorm came up. Inu and I had to run and get inside of the teardrop. There was a lot of New Mexico style Thistle in bloom. There was an absolute orgy or polinating going on. This Thistle is a little paler in color than what I am used to

in Scotland, but it is just as pretty once you get used to it. One of the bees had an absolutely Satanic look on his face. I had to make the sign of the cross!

After the rain stopped I sat in my lawn chair and read my Diana Gabaldon book until it started getting dark. Inu wandered around chasing rabbits and lizards. From time to time he would come back to camp and jump up onto my lap.

About 8:00 pm it was just about dark enough to begin searching for glow rocks. We got out Don Newsome’s Superbright II and started walking. This really is Don’s own

personal light and battery. I bought it from him at the Tucson mineral show this year.

We were not disappointed, that is for certain.

It is really just so incredibly neat to wander around after dark in the wilderness with only an ultraviolet light for illumination. I own a black cloth barbecue cover, and I can go hunting during the day. But it just isn’t the same.

When you go out at night, and the stars are illuminating the clear western sky, and down below you occasionally there is a bright flash sort of like the reflectors that your headlights illuminate at night on the highway.

The dog is wandering around on his own. It is his job to not lose me, not my job to

keep up with him. And from time to time he needs to show me the correct path back to camp. He generally takes his job very seriously. Unless a rabbit wanders by, and then he simply forgets that I even exist.
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PRICELESS. Really.

And you don’t even have to use your credit card.