Will Crawley led us on a great run in the San Mateo Mountains south of Socorro. Living outside Datil, NM, these are his stomping grounds and where he plays all the time. We were thrilled to have him share his love of the area with us!
The gas station we met at in Socorro did not have running water that morning, meaning many folks went scampering to neighboring businesses for coffee and last-minute pit stops. Will got everyone organized for the 30-minute drive down to the run area, where we met up with Josh Tucker, who had trailered his rig and had unloaded at a corral with lots of space.
Everyone aired down and Will led a great driver's meeting. I love that he happily declared this would be an Exploratory Run - meaning wrong turns, turning around, and a high likelihood of getting somewhat lost should be expected. Will shares my love of "the journey" being sometimes more fun than "the destination." If a Trail Leader declares a run to be Exploratory, they also safeguard themselves from being fined at the next meeting, LOL. One side of my Wheeler spirit wants specific trips and known obstacles to conquer. The other side wants to throw open that wanderlust aspect and just see what the world has to offer. Finding the end of an unknown trail is an accomplishment, never a disappointment. Will definitely helped scratch that itch with this run.
We had lunch in Red Canyon, a favorite lunch spot for us. Short days meant we weren't airing up until sunset. A few folks caravaned back to Socorro and stopped for dinner at El Camino.
A highlight of this day was coming over a hill and encountering a large herd of javelina, probably 15-20 of them including a few babies. We stopped to watch for a moment while they took off up a hill. A while later, we encountered a group of cattle blocking the road and Will slowly shepherded them up a shelf road which was the only way out of a canyon for them and for us. Animal adventures are always welcome!
As with other runs lately, I want to send will huge thanks and gratitude to Will for taking on this run for me, after I was unable to lead it myself. While this was a great day, he didn't hit the areas I was wondering about, so you can expect to see me put this area on the calendar again when I am back in a rig of my own in the next couple of months!
Happy Trails,
Mary Turpin
NM4W Trip Chair
I had a great time. The weather turned out great compared to what we've been dealing with the past few weeks. We roamed through so many canyons, ridges, mesas, etc. The pack of javelinas and cow escort were definitely highlights. I'm already looking forward to the next trip.
William Crawley
