Cottonwoods in leaf: acequia/ditchbank trail ride

[Patrick Moore]

Pleasant little jaunt, 15 miles, mostly ditchbank -- rediscovered a nearby acequia trail that I'd ridden many times before but recently confused with another, nearby one. The acequia network is pretty dense in certain areas.

All within 4-5 crow journey from home. One could stitch together 20+ miles of ditchbank and Rio Grande Conservancy District roads easily within a 5 mile radius.

Plus: Cottonwood bowers in warm weather. Con: sand.

[Patrick Moore]

That should be 30 + miles, no kidding.

--

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Patrick Moore

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

[MoVelo]

Looks fun Patrick. Couple of questions.

Do those trails see a lot of traffic and that is what keeps the vegetation down? 

How high does the water get during the irrigation season? I am assuming it varies depending on the time of year. 

I love finding these kinds of unintentional recreation paths and are usually my route of choice when available.

James Poulson

[Patrick Moore]

James: They are used as neighborhood walking trails and even horsetrails as well as by the landowners and RG Conservancy District employees; most of the ditches back up to residential areas surrounding the little remaining farmlets and ranchlets. The trails vary in width: some are doubletrack, some so narrow that, nervous Nellie as I am, I get off and walk.

The water is allocated according to an ancient and as I understand it unique code of law dating at least to late 16th century; perhaps pre-Conquest since the Pueblo people started the system that is neither US common or statute law nor Euro-Napoleonic law; I read that it originated in Arab countries (with the word "acequia"). You'll see a ditch full for a week or so, then bone dry the next. The ditches are interspersed with hand-operated sluice gates, some modern and steel, some old, decrepit, and wood.

As I understand it, the paths are by law open for public use even though some landowners block them up; my brother was telling me yesterday of a new fence just erected to keep out homeless campers who pose a serious fire danger. 

And yes, at least 30 miles within a 5-mile radius of my house, all to the east (I'm on the westside of the River) without backtracking, and starting almost literally out my front door; tho' to use them all in a single ride you'd have to backtrack in many places, and add pavement to access them all. I did a mental inventory last night and yep, 30 is the minimum. Yesterday's ride was 15 miles including backtracking and pavement gaps but mostly ditchbank.

This photo is not mine but I could supply any number myself.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/822ca0a8-f02b-4f1d-972a-f6b099749d8dn%40googlegroups.com.

[Patrick Moore]

That should read:

...The water is allocated according to an ancient and as I understand it unique code of law dating at least to late 16th century (perhaps pre-Conquest since the Pueblo people started the system) that is neither US common or statute law nor Euro-Napoleonic law ...

On Tue, May 24, 2022 at 9:32 AM Patrick Moore <bert...@gmail.com> wrote:

...The water is allocated according to an ancient and as I understand it unique code of law dating at least to late 16th century; perhaps pre-Conquest since the Pueblo people started the system that is neither US common or statute law nor Euro-Napoleonic law ...