Today's ditchbank ride

[Patrick Moore]

A pleasant 19 mile ride, and I would have explored further had I started earlier than 12:45 pm, had I brought something to eat, and had I brought a second bottle of water. I rode some familiar and found some new or forgotten ditchbank roads, and discovered that some of my favorites, followed sufficiently south, more or less parallel each other separated by the width of an average suburban lot or 2.

The West channel of the Rio Grande about 3/4 mile North and not much more than 1/4 mile East of my house; the opposite bank is a towhead or eyot that has been there for a few years; the East channel is much wider.

Fleeing wildlife. The male ducks flash under-layers of brilliant blue feathers when they flap their wings. A mile or so further on -- South -- I ran into a true gaggle of geese -- 3 families, IIRC -- on the dirt, and for a moment thought that the ganders would attack. It's to early for herons. Big blue/gray herons, geese, ducks, and roadrunners are the most commonly visible daytime animals along the ditches. (A bit earlier to the north I passed a woman squatting down to turn the screw-wheel to open a wooden sluicegate; should have stopped to ask about the water laws which, I think, belong to the property, not a buyer or the state.)

A new-to-me, or at least, not-presently-remembered ditch road tangent to the SE across Rio Grand Blvd to the drainage road I was following due South. I decided to follow it and (to use Burqueneo-speak) landed up at an urban wasteland near the I-40 West offramp to Rio Grande Boulevard.

I daresay the ditch road picks up south of the junction. I discovered that it is the Griegos drain. I think I had started on the Alameda drain. The network grew up over the centuries in a purely ad hoc way, and subsequent development has imposed obstacles to what were once open routes.

Bathers in the RG taken from the ped/bike path on the South side of the Montano Bridge. The depth seems to range from 18" to 36" this far south.

As always, taken quickly with my iPhone 5S, and as always, apologies for the less-than-amateur quality of the shots.

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Patrick Moore

Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum

[WETH]

Patrick,
Vegetation looks lush, and young appear to have the path/road to yourself! How nice on both accounts!
Erl

[Patrick Moore]

Thanks; it was very enjoyable, and had I not started out fasting from last night at 12:45 pm with just 1 waterbottle and no food, I'd have kept at it a bit longer.

And you are right; I came across far fewer pedestrians and cyclists than I would have a month or even a couple of weeks earlier; ABQ has opened up stores and restaurants and gymns and other businesses, still with restrictions, but I guess between going back to work, other leisure options, and the hot weather (90s) the crowds have diminished -- tho' this is NM, and "crowds" is very relative to our low inhabitants-per-sq-mile metric.

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