Unless You Look…

Can you see what is hiding
in this picture?

A lot of modern life has built up around the past. So, in seeking out old stories and legends, one often finds themselves tracing a trail that winds in and out through cities, freeways, and downtown areas that look the same as similar places all over the world. People are busy going back and forth to work in small circles of their own daily lives, while children and teenagers can be seen hanging around organized sports fields and local fast food establishments. 

Up to this point, the surrounding area of the metropolitan places has seemed stark and dry. A combination of high desert and farmland irrigated by local rivers enough to produce huge fields of one specific thing. We see very few small farms or ranches from the Interstate highway. But you can pull off the road almost anywhere, and the first thing that strikes you is the peace and quiet. Then the freshness of the air. Next you might hear the distinctive call of a bird, or the rustle of wind through one of the short, sparse juniper trees. 

Right now, we are in a campground on an Indian reservation, above a lovely lake. We've asked around a bit about the lost Dupont Mine, but so far, the local people are too busy living in today to know anything much about yesterday. We know more just having read up on it via the Internet. 

But we did take a short hike just to look around a little, and tomorrow we will move up the road a few miles and see if we can find Hopewell Lake. There is a dam across the Rio Grande River, now, and a good possibility that some of the smaller placer creeks might be underwater. But even on this southernmost prong of the Rocky Mountains, the rock formations are fascinating enough to spark the imagination.

There is an interesting hole across a ravine that reminds me of pictures I have seen of deserted mines… but maybe it is just some sort of natural cave. It was hot by the time we noticed it, and the elevation here is high enough to bring shortness of breath if you are not used to such things. Tomorrow, we will try and track down some history at a local library, or museum, and set out on a more sure trail. If we can't find one, we will move on. But any way you look at it, we will have to look hard.

A true mystery never gives itself up easily.