The Heights of Chimney Rock: Video

On Tuesday June 23, 2009 a group of young hikers, led by Paisley Guerinot and Zack Hill, scaled the Heights of Chimney Rock at Ghost Ranch (14 miles NW of old Abiquiu), NM. This is their four-minute memory video. We hope you enjoy watching it as much as they did hiking it.
We miss you kids, AHW---Punch

GR Chronicle: Hard-Chargers Return to town...

Ranch News: June 17, NW of Abiquiu, NM

This is land where western culture, specifically southwestern culture, lives on. The land of the Navajo pueblos, ruins from centuries ago as well as small casino’s along Hwy 84; the land of enormous sandstone mineral sculptures marking the territory as some sort of otherworldly Badlands, equally potent as pictures from Mars may seem to the first-time viewer; the land where time moves more slowly simply because there is more to experience, which is the wonderful bonus, the dichotomy, from and about being here (here as we are for the whole summer, working the ranch). The ten weeks will go quickly, I know that, yet the day moves at the languid pace of a French feast, or a pontoon at Hyde Park’s Serpentine, or a great round of golf. Already, after only one full week as a family (me having preceded by one week in order to orient), we have become proficient horsemen, lousy fisherman, dead-eye shots with the Daisy Buck BB Rifle, most tolerant of the bugs, beetles and ants that belong here even more than we, kitchen clean-up, siesta taking veterans of life on the frontier. One can easily imagine a life where time spent regularly here works like an Epsom salt bath for the soul, adding the precious life-strengthening minerals to help replenish what we don’t even realize we are depleting; effects relative to time, space, inner life, purpose, influence, risk and danger. For this is, indeed, a place for forgiving people; in, however, a most unforgiving land. It is simply beautiful here. And being here, in this most honorable way and for this most glorious length of time is the rarest of experiences and opportunities. The reader may feel here that I am searching for superlatives; suffice please to say that we have settled in nicely and, having removed the capstone seal, are peering in to the limitless past and future so prevalent in this country, and find that living in the present here is so very easy to do and comes with great reward.

Burros and Chimney Rock hike

Early this morning we were visited by the 5-pack of wild burros that populate the ranch. The food here is fresh and plentiful and today was Benji the cook's birthday. The first couple of days here i had a few mild headaches, most likely due to high altitude. Drinking water helps acclimate. Got certified in CPR/First Aid yesterday. Ended today with a fine hike of 1.5 miles and 600 ft. higher to a place called Chimney Rock.

Ghost Ranch Reader: Entry 1

After a few days at Ghost Ranch, and having completed the orientation, the College Staff are ready to start their jobs and have a day off. Hopefully that will be Sunday. However, due to the arrival of a large Quaker contingent of 400, they may be drafted to supplement the housekeeping staff. Morale is high for this crew of 24 wonderful young folk, and they are forming a nice bond with one another. Many of them have spent much time here, in the high mesas of Northwestern New Mexico, and others like myself are first-timers. Met with Willie today, a veteran staffer at GR. You can take him out of New York, but you can't take New York out of him. He met with the group wearing his Yankee cap. Luckily i was wearing my First Pres Yankees long-sleeve baseball practice shirt which has the NY logo on it. We got along great. He has a tv, which out here means alot. He told me that Matsui homered yesterday. Must have been a good day in the outside world, at least for some. Pic on right is of Kitchen Mesa, the view from our front porch. More later....Punch