Ghost Canyon

Ghost Canyon
The desert wasn’t our only playground. We went to the Jemez Mountains more than ever. Lee and I had spent lots of time there before Dustin was born but after moving to Rio Rancho we were able to go more as we were almost an hour closer to our beloved mountains. To add to our enjoyment of wandering through the forest in our 4-wheel-drive trucks we now had 4 snowmobiles. The Rupp, Kawasaki, the Skidoo, the Yamaha Mountain Max. Later we would add two Artic Cats, a Jag and a Cougar. We spent many a long day in the Jemez Mountains riding those snowmobiles. A few times we went to Chama, New Mexico, but Chama is a lot farther off, north of Santa Fe, and it took longer to get there and to get back home. Also, we weren’t’ as familiar with the area and thought it might be easy to get lost back in that wild area.
So most of the time we went to the Jemez. Some years the snow was good and some years we didn’t get much. I guess our favorite place to ride was along the Vacas River. In any season it is a beautiful place. From the Vacas canyon you can ride up the mountain and along the ridges that overlook the river. You can take county and forest service roads that are narrow, little one lane, dirt trails. These lead to places called School House, Mesa, Holiday Mesa, and Cow Creek according to the Santa Fe Forest Service maps. Other places we gave our own names to.
We didn’t know what Cow Creek was called the first time we went there and called it Ghost Canyon. It’s a very narrow, but long canyon that comes off of a forest road. The forest road has a wide open area or small valley that collects a lot of spring run off snow water that makes like a small lake or large pond. The first time we went in there was a late spring day and there was the pond. Of course we didn’t know it would dry up by summer. We only found that out later. We looked

didn’t know it would dry up by summer. We only found that out later. We looked on the map and couldn’t find any sign of the lake. We saw some hikers that first time and they were confused because they couldn’t find it on the map either. The pond was there for the first several years we went in there and then wasn’t for several years after that. Now it is an on and off thing depending on how much snow there is during the winter. One year we had taken the dogs with us when the pond was there and Kelly, our Beagle cross dog swam so much in it we finally had to tie her up as we were afraid she would get to tired and not be able to get out of the deep part.
Going on into Ghost Canyon from the lake is quite an adventure. You follow a tiny stream that is sometime just a trickle of water and other times it is gone completely being underground. After several miles of following the road along the stream there are some small valleys where the original loggers had build some cabins. When we first were going in there were several of the cabins left or the cabin walls were there but all the roofs were gone. Many of them had trees growing in them or else lots of brush. Near the cabins was the stream we had been following. It was here that the stream came up from its underground system and there is a very tiny, good spring that runs year round even in the driest of years. It was in this area that we decided to call the canyon Ghost Canyon. Every time I have been there regardless of the season I have felt like there are the ghosts of some of those old loggers still hanging around. They are happy ghosts or at least they’re contented.
I get the feeling of being very peaceful and calm there. If you’re quiet and listen you can hear the sound of voices whispering in the canyon. Or at least I do. I never understand what the whispers are saying but it does sound like voices. I usually expect to see some hiker or horseback rider come out of the trees but they never do. And there is only the one way in and one way out of the canyon. Maybe it is just the wind whispering to the trees but it sure does sound like distant voices.

There was a cabin in good shape in the clearing when we first came here. But some time in the 1990’s some one took it down and hauled it out. I have heard that it was done by the forest service and it went to a museum. I have also heard a rumor that it went for firewood. I hope it was the forest service.

There was a cabin in good shape in the clearing to the right of this photo when we first came here. But some time in the 1990’s some one took it down and hauled it out. I have heard that it was done by the forest service and it went to a museum. I have also heard a rumor that it went for firewood. I hope it was the forest service.