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In This Issue: Current Features
6 Great Lake Escapes
As summer peaks and temperatures soar, do you want to get away from the city? Outdoor writers Dan Williams and Karl Moffatt scout six of New Mexico’s prime watering holes for summer fishing, boating, camping, and overall fun for the family.
1 - Happy Trails: Pecos Wilderness Lakes
Town nearby: Pecos
Nearest highway: I-25
Known for: tranquil scenery and alpine hikes
They’re often called the jewels of the Pecos Wilderness: 15 crystal-clear lakes that mirror some of New Mexico’s most spectacular scenery.
Whether you’re up for a short excursion or an overnight trek into the wilderness, many Pecos lakes are just a day hike away from trailheads above Pecos or Santa Fe. Pick up a copy of Laurence Parent’s Hiking New Mexico or another favorite guidebook, and follow the well-marked trails through pine forests, aspens, and grassy meadows to favorites such as Lake Katherine, Spirit Lake, and Stewart Lake.
The U.S. Forest Service allows camping at all three lakes, as long as you’re at least 300 feet from the water. Expect a 14-mile round-trip hike to Lake Katherine or Spirit Lake, whether you enter the wilderness from Winsor Creek Campground in Pecos Canyon, or from the Santa Fe Ski Area. (The hike to Spirit Lake is a bit farther.) The trail to Lake Katherine is the most challenging, but its classic alpine scenery, under the cliffs of 12,622-foot Santa Fe Baldy, can be the most rewarding.
Along the way, keep an eye out for deer, elk, marmot, beaver, and grouse, among other wildlife. If you’re an angler, remember your fishing rod. All three lakes are home to the Río Grande
cutthroat trout, New Mexico’s state fish.—Dan Williams
2 - Good Catch: Navajo Lake
Town nearby: Farmington
Nearest highway: U.S. 64
Known for: sandstone cliffs, still waters, and fly-fishing below the dam
While Navajo Lake is New Mexico’s second-largest lake (after Elephant Butte), it’s the first choice of many of the state’s anglers and water-sports enthusiasts. It’s sometimes called New Mexico’s Lake Powell, and its long arms, numerous coves, and sandstone cliffs make Navajo Lake a great escape. Campers can rest under dark skies in one of two well-developed campgrounds on shore, or park a houseboat in a quiet cove.
Waterskiing and jet-skiing are popular summer activities, and angling is superb year-round for almost every species of game fish found in New Mexico. Rainbow and brown trout, northern pike, largemouth and smallmouth bass, kokanee salmon, catfish, crappie, and sunfish are all on the menu.
If lake fishing isn’t your fancy, take a short drive below the dam to the special trout waters of the San Juan River, where the average trout is 18 inches long, and anglers regularly snag fish
even bigger.
Fish aren’t biting? Stop by the Sportsman Inn below the dam, about 12 miles from Bloomfield on N.M. 511, for one of the juiciest green-chile bacon cheeseburgers of your life.—Dan Williams
3 - Making Waves: Elephant Butte Lake
Towns nearby: Truth or Consequences and Elephant Butte
Nearest highway: I-25
Known for: full-throttle party atmosphere on holiday weekends, family fun the rest of the time
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The original Dam Site Marina sits below the majestic butte for which Elephant Butte Lake is named. Inset—The 40-mile-long lake includes 200 miles of shoreline and sparkling white beaches. |
When New Mexicans head for the beach, they usually end up at Elephant Butte Lake, in Elephant Butte Lake State Park. With more than 200 miles of shoreline, white beaches, and lakeside camping, the 40-mile-long lake is one of the state’s most popular recreation sites.
Located in the lower Río Grande Valley and flanked by the high deserts of southern New Mexico, Elephant Butte Lake irrigates the Hatch and Mesilla valleys’ highly productive farms. Unlike some of the other lakes mentioned here, Elephant Butte isn’t known for its wildlife, unless you consider young crowds in excess of 100,000 on Labor Day and Memorial Day weekends. At other times at the state’s largest lake, boaters will find plenty of space to play, great striped bass beckon the angler, and kids can build castles in the sand.
Heading south from Albuquerque or Santa Fe, one would be remiss in failing to stop at the Owl Bar and Grill or Manny’s Buckhorn Tavern in San Antonio, just south of Socorro, for one of the state’s best green-chile cheeseburgers.
And while at the lake, a visit to the Historic Lodge at Dam Site Resort will provide a great view of the butte for which the reservoir is named.—Karl Moffatt
4 - Gotta Motor: Conchas Lake
Town nearby: Tucumcari
Nearest highway: N.M. 104
Known for: fast boats and watersports—without the crowds
Far out on New Mexico’s windswept, lonely plains is an oasis where making waves is what it’s all about. If you’re into big, fast boats and watersports, then this summer, 25-mile-long Conchas Lake, in Conchas Lake State Park, is your place to be.
The reservoir features plenty of campgrounds, a historic tree-shaded pavilion, and 9,600 acres of boating, fishing, and swimming. Built in 1933, during the Depression, by the Civilian Conservation Corps, the dam site and buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Because of its remote and rural setting, visitors should gas up and chow down before heading out to the lake.
If you’re traveling east from Albuquerque on I-40 toward Santa Rosa, stop at the Stuckey’s about six miles west of town for gas and a classic Route 66 treat of a burger and shake, before taking N.M. 129 north to the lake. If you’re coming south from Santa Fe, take I-25 to Las Vegas and stop at Charlie’s Spic and Span, near New Mexico Highlands University, for excellent northern New Mexican fare, including empanadas—pastries filled with mincemeat, apples, raisins, and piñon nuts—before heading out on N.M. 104 to the lake. The lake’s nearest “big city” neighbor is Tucumcari, 35 miles to the southeast.—Karl Moffatt
5 - Relaxing Retreat: Lake Roberts
Town nearby: Silver City
Nearest highway: N.M. 35
Known for: the surrounding mountain terrain and nearby cliff dwellings
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A couple of anglers try their luck at Lake Roberts, among the quiet, cool pines of the Gila Wilderness. |
Along the gateway to the Gila Wilderness road, weary travelers will come across a pleasant place to stop among the cool, quiet pines surrounding Lake Roberts. Visitors will find a newly remodeled, mesa-top campground overlooking the 70-acre lake, another camping area down below, good fishing, easy hiking, and spectacular scenery.Nearby are Indian ruins with interpretive signs and a two-mile loop trail leading through the wilderness. Camping for large parties is available in the area. There’s a lakeside picnic area with grills and restrooms, and a boat ramp. The lake hosts stocked trout, small-mouth bass, and catfish. Fishing supplies, groceries, and beer can be found at a nearby Lake Roberts Cabins & General Store (which has wi-fi, too, by the way.)
The lake is named for New Mexico Department of Game and Fish pilot Austin Roberts, who was killed in an airplane crash in 1960 while dropping bales of hay to a herd of antelope stranded by snow. It’s just an hour’s drive from Silver City; along the way, you can stop and enjoy a great steak at the Buckhorn Saloon and Opera House, in historic Pinos Altos. And the nearby Gila Wilderness, the nation’s first designated wilderness area, has ancient Indian cliff dwellings and exceptional backcountry hiking, as well as camping and fishing.—Karl Moffatt
6 - Still Waters: Heron Lake
Town nearby: Chama
Nearest highway: N.M. 95
Known for: kayaking, sailing, and 30-pound trout
Clear skies and water stirred only by the wind and an occasional fishing boat or kayak make Heron Lake one of New Mexico’s most popular destinations for sailors and anglers.
A five-mile drive on N.M. 95 from Los Ojos, just south of Chama, brings visitors to the lake, in Heron Lake State Park, which was filled in 1971 by the San Juan River, through a 13-mile tunnel dug under the Continental Divide. Continue driving another mile west to the historic Stone House Lodge, where you can lunch at the summer café, overlooking El Vado Lake State Park to the south.
Heron Lake is a favorite spot for sailboats because it’s designated a “quiet lake”—it’s off-limits to speedboats and jet skis. (Motorboats may operate at no-wake speeds only.) The New Mexico Sailing Club operates a marina under an agreement with New Mexico’s State Parks Division. Campers, especially, enjoy Heron’s clean, well-groomed sites, where they can pitch a tent or park an RV and enjoy some of the most spectacular sunsets northern New Mexico has to offer.
Itching to fish? Heron Lake is home to the state’s largest trout—lake trout that can reach 30 pounds or more. It’s also stocked with rainbow trout and kokanee salmon.—Dan Williams
Burlesque Baseball
By Jim Kelly, Illustration by Dennis Larkins
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In 1888, The “Fats” and the “Slims” pose in front of the Timmer House, which was Silver City’s finest hotel at the time. It was later undermined by floods in 1904 and demolished the following year. |
Before Americans were singing about peanuts and Cracker Jack, citizens of 1880s Silver City enjoyed a Wild West version of the national pastime—complete with cowboy hats, a pistol-packing umpire, and plenty of beer.
They called it “Burlesque Baseball,” though the players kept their clothes on. That was probably a good thing—the athletes were some of the fattest and skinniest men of Grant County, Territory of New Mexico, in the late 1880s.
Baseball fever had already captured the hearts of the hardworking folks in the small communities clustered around a newly established mining camp called Silver City, and by 1887, players and fans alike were looking for new ways to add to the game’s inherent fun and excitement.
An article in the August 19, 1887, Silver City Enterprise carried the first news:
There is fun on foot for Sunday, for “men about town” have arranged for a great game of ball for the afternoon. Grotesque and fanciful costumes have been provided for the members of both nines. Prof. Langer’s band has volunteered to head a procession to the ball grounds, and Al Hood has donated a keg of beer for the benefit of every player who reaches the third base.
Apparently, there had been some trash talking about the athletic abilities of a team of more portly “men about town,” as compared with those of their leaner counterparts. Each team claimed to possess the greater sportsmen, and so a game had been arranged.
It was established that a townsman named E.P. LeDoux would present the winning team with an appropriately engraved silver cup, on the understanding that it would always be subject to
challenge by the losers. The contest was formally titled “The Slim Jims vs. The Fat Fellows.” The Fats, as they proudly called themselves, tipped the scales at an average of more than 200 pounds, while The Leans, on average, weighed in at little more than half their opponents’ weight.
The Leans wore uniform shirts with a skull and crossbones emblazoned across the front and, on the back, in the interest of good commerce, an advertisement for porous plaster. Each player carried a “dudish cane,” the Enterprise proclaimed. The Fats’s shirts, by contrast, sported pictures of beer mugs, and both teams favored cowboy hats over baseball caps.
The players weren’t the only ones whose costumes entered the spirit of the game. At third base, manning an ice wagon disguised as an ambulance, stood a stout fellow in wooden shoes and Dutch peasant garb known only as “The Jolly Teuton.” It was his job to provide any player who passed his station on the way to home plate with a plentiful supply of beer
Players who didn’t make it to third base on any given play were referred to the cooler at the White Elephant Saloon to enjoy refreshments—at their own expense—after the contest. Players who failed to reach third even once received a free White Elephant check. (The Fats were admonished not to think this an intimation that they were White Elephants.)
The umpire for the match was no less fancifully dressed, and sported a big revolver. According to official accounts, not one of his calls was challenged.
As the game progressed, it was obvious that the Slims had underestimated their more rotund opponents. Their strategy had been to tire the big men out, but it soon became clear that not only were the Fats made of sterner stuff than anticipated, but their proficiencies at the plate were indeed awesome. According to the Enterprise,
The pitcher and the catcher of the big men “did the business,” and the muscle of the monsters sent the balls away over the heads of the men of match-like form.
The final score of that first game was 20–6, in favor of the corpulent conquerors.
As crowds for the Fats vs. Slims games grew, the costumes evolved and the games became more entertaining. One Sunday, a prominent bishop attended the match, then, later from the pulpit, criticized the game at great length. His criticisms, however, didn’t keep him from attending the next week’s game.
The uniform requirements broke down a bit in the 1890s; at one point, players were instructed simply to dress in the most ridiculous manner they could devise.
By 1892, local poets had begun to celebrate individual games in rhyme. That year, the editor of the Enterprise ran a rather long bit of doggerel, “Corpulence vs. Jejuneness,” which concluded:
The game was five long innings and at the
end the standing was thirty-two to thirty-one, The Thins triumph commanding.
One of the more memorable play-by-play accounts of this particular contest appeared in the Silver City Southwest Sentinel in 1892:
The game was amusing in the extreme, and after five innings the score stood 31 to 32 in favor of the anti-fats. Dick Hudson distinguished himself by making some terrific hits at the ball after it had reached the catcher’s hands. George Hauser made some lively scrambles for the ball, losing his footing and striking on his ample abdomen, where he remained as a turtle on his back, while the shadowy forms of the anti-fats flitted from base to base and the spectators yelled with delight.
Throughout the 1890s the teams engaged in good-natured competition, and branched out to play clubs from Deming and other Southwestern towns. By then, the Fats vs. Slims contests had even acquired a modest national reputation; the Deming game was written up in the Chicago Times.
Burlesque Baseball in Silver City gave rise to other novelty forms of the sport. As the 19th century came to a close, games between various teams of big men, most notably pitting the Fats against the Puddin’ Brothers, took the spotlight, and teams of both short and tall men began burlesque series of their own. By that time, the 50-year-old sport of baseball was already known as “America’s National Pastime,” and Silver City’s boys of summer had given the game a flamboyant twist.
Retired journalist Jim Kelly recently relocated to Silver City from California’s Yucca Valley. His work has appeared in the Daily Review in the Bay Area and the Hi-Desert Star. In his “other life,” he’s appeared in several television series, including Little House on the Prairie, Little House: A New Beginning, Father Murphy and Highway to Heaven.
Purple Passion
Story by Linda Thompson,Photography by Terry Thompson
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Take Your Pick: Guests harvest their own lavender at the festival. |
In July, lavender fields against the backdrop of the periwinkle Sandia Mountains become the pastoral playground that is the Lavender in the Village Festival, in Los Ranchos de Albuquerque
It’s like stepping into a Paul Cézanne painting, or a romantic movie about the Provence region of southern France. Neat rows of purple-and-green mounds recede toward an indistinct horizon; sweet-scented branches yield to the gentle clip-clip of the shears; and bending low, a longhaired feminine figure in silk gathers her fragrant harvest to her breast. Distant mountains loom and clouds billow in the blue overhead, while in the foreground a group of children eagerly pluck their own small bouquets. It’s lavender-picking time.
If you can’t make it to Provence this month, plan to attend the fifth annual Lavender in the Village Festival, July 12–13, in the Village of Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, just seven miles from downtown Albuquerque. Sometime around 1700, this farming village was established along the Río Grande. In recent years, as the city began pressing up against the village’s outskirts, locals began looking for a crop that would keep their fields of wheat, chile, and corn out of the bulldozers’ path for good. They sought something that would thrive at 5,000 feet and tolerate a dry climate, alkaline soil, hot summers, and fairly cold winters. The ideal plant would be people-friendly—nothing thorny or too high off the ground—and would not only entice visitors, but would give the community a common interest.
What about a healing plant, these dreamers asked themselves—something with a perfume that lures, rather than a medicinal scent? They imagined a crop that would inspire artists and craftspeople, chefs and bartenders, passionate interpretations of every kind—something old and rich in folklore. Amazingly, there was a plant that met all of these requirements: lavender.
Penny Rembe, co-owner of Los Poblanos Inn and La Quinta Cultural Center, on Río Grande Boulevard, was one of three women who decided to test the idea. “It started as an agricultural project,” she says, “and the festival was formed to promote the awareness of Los Ranchos as a lavender-growing area. Each year, it has gotten bigger and incorporated more events, such as live music, different types of food, classes and lectures, and gradually we’ve brought into it the whole concept of organic gardening.”
Los Poblanos is one of several festival venues along Fourth Street, Río Grande Boulevard, and Chavez Road. The main venue is Los Ranchos Village Hall (on Río Grande Boulevard), where a large barn and grassy field provide plenty of space for vendors offering a plethora of things lavender—and not. Antiques, ceramics, organic fruits and vegetables, weavings, jewelry, soaps and lotions, fine-art prints, hats, seeds and seedlings, sandwiches, and lavender-infused beverages are just a few of their offerings. A free shuttle transports visitors from site to site, and this year, says Rembe, the number of shuttles will be doubled. Within easy walking distance are wineries, antique shops, and cafés.
Rembe, who has been involved with Lavender in the Village since its inception, is excited about some of this year’s new features. “For the first time, we’ll have a lavender baking competition with celebrity judges,” she says. “And for children, we’re going to have a bubble farm at Los Poblanos—a big vat creating bubbles that kids can chase all over. We’re having our first-ever barn dance on Friday, July 11. But I’m most excited about a new activity for kids and grown-ups alike—a fairy garden mystery tour.
“This year, we especially want to help children discover the natural environment. Children need to connect with nature while they’re young, or protecting the environment won’t mean anything to them when they’re grown. We thought we could start by hiding fairy gardens—little houses made out of twigs and berries—around the formal gardens at Los Poblanos. How could anyone resist?”
A master gardener, Ann Haile, has worked with experts on fairly folklore to add an authentic note to these creations. Aided by volunteers, she will lead tours aimed at sparking children’s interest in nature, as well as providing delightful fun for everyone.
For adults, says Rembe, there are hour-long tours of the inn and cultural center. The property dates from 1790 and is on the New Mexico and National Register of Historic Places. The newer buildings were designed in the 1930s by architect John Gaw Meem, dubbed the father of Santa Fe Style. In those days, the property was owned by Albert and Ruth Simms, who both served in the U.S. Congress. The estate also showcases woodcuts and carvings by Gustave Baumann, decorative ironwork by Walter Gilbert, tinwork and decorative lighting by Robert Woodman, photographs by Laura Gilpin, landscaping by Rose Greely, and works by artists Larry Miller and Paul Valentine Lantz.
The festival features demonstrations of lavender distillation and aromatherapy, lectures, cooking and cultivation classes, live music, and, of course, shopping and eating. But by far the main attraction is standing knee-deep in a field of lavender, gathering armloads of scented stalks. “That’s what everyone comes to do,” says committee member Janelle Dry. “Whether they come from near or far, people want to get into the fields and pick.”
Probably originating in Mesopotamia, lavender spread across Europe from Greece. Ancient Romans recognized its antiseptic qualities, and washed themselves and their clothing with it. Ladies have traditionally slept on lavender pillows to invite romance, and placed lavender under the bridal bed to guarantee passion. Since Victorian times, lavender wands placed in dresser drawers and wardrobes have scented clothing and repelled moths. Early Spanish settlers brought lavender to New Mexico in the early 1600s for use in teas, poultices, and medicines for insomnia, hay fever, and asthma. Today’s herbalists still favor it for many of the same conditions.
Lavender comes in more than 15 species and hundreds of varieties, which range in color from deep purple to light pink and even white. The most popular species is Lavandula angustifolia, or English lavender; only it and Lavandins (Lavandula intermedia) are recommended for use in cooking. The Lavender in the Village Festival is a joint effort of Los Poblanos Inn, Casa Rondeña Winery, Los Ranchos Growers’ Market, Los Ranchos Chamber of Commerce, and the Village of Los Ranchos. Expect to return home laden with one or more of the following lavender-infused item: jellies, cookies, candies, culinary herbs, teas, honey, soaps, shampoos, bath oils and salts, lotions, salves, perfumes, sachets, potpourri, candles, wreaths, wine, incense, smudge sticks, greeting cards, and furniture polish —perhaps even a lavender-scented dog collar. So unless you simply must visit Cézanne’s family home in Aix-en-Provence this year, save your money and indulge your passion for lavender right here in New Mexico.
A Taste of the Festival
Los Poblanos Lavender Mexican Wedding Cookies
Los Poblanos Inn, a major festival venue, serves these rich cookies when they hold weddings on the grounds. Begin by making Lavender Sugar three days beforehand.
Lavender Sugar
1 tablespoon dried culinary lavender
2 cups granulated sugar
In spice grinder, pulse lavender with 1 tablespoon sugar until finely ground. Transfer to bowl and stir in remaining sugar. Store in tightly covered jar for at least three days before using.
Cookies
1 cup pecans
3 tablespoons Lavender Sugar (made in advance; see recipe above)
4 cups all-purpose flour (sift before measuring)
3/4 teaspoon salt
3-1/4 sticks butter, softened
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
powdered sugar for dusting
Pulse pecans and Lavender Sugar in food processor to make a fine nut meal. In separate bowl, combine nut mixture with sifted flour and salt. In larger bowl, cream together butter, 3/4 cup powdered sugar, and vanilla. Blend in nut mixture until dough is uniform in texture. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and store until ready to use. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Form dough into 2- to 3-ounce balls (1/4 cup or less). Bake for 20 minutes, or until cookies are firm to the touch and golden-brown. While cookies are still warm, roll them in extra powdered sugar and serve.
Makes three dozen cookies.
