Moving Clocks

The shift to/from daylight savings time change effects the valley twice a year and it is always a time of confusion when trying to make an event on the other side of the state line.  The New Mexico side of the valley changes time but the Arizona side always stays the same and events across the state line always leads to an arrival either an hour early or an hour late, especially for me.  Though the change to/from daylight savings time has no affect on the views on either side of the state line as evidenced by these 2 views, one east and one west taken at sunrise from the Painted Pony Resort.  The sun still rises over the Peloncillo mountains and the first rays of sunlight illuminate Portal Peak in the Chiricahua mountains.  With views like this it is all right to be late to an event.

Sunrise over the Peloncillo mountains on the New Mexican side of the valley

Sunrise on Portal Peak on the Arizona side of the valley with the setting moon

4th of July in Rodeo, New Mexico's Most Western Town

The 4th of July is celebrated across the nation and Rodeo New Mexico is no exception.  Located less than a mile from the Arizona state line, Rodeo sits in the middle of the San Simon Valley with the Chiricahua Mountains to the west and the Peloncillo mountains to the east.  This years parade, the 33rd, was held at 6:00 PM and as usual Highway 80 which runs the length of the valley was closed in Rodeo for the event.  Bill Cavaliere, local historian and rancher served as Grand Marshal while Howard Topoff from Portal announced the parade.  Following the parade a fund raising dinner, which provides student scholarships was held in the community center.  This was followed by a cake auction and an evening of dancing to a live band. Below is a time lapse video of the parade.

Skeleton Canyon Panorama, Making the Big Picture

On each hike with the Portal Rodeo Hiking Club, time is spent gathering photographs for a large format panorama as part of the documentation process.  The idea is to create a "big picture" view from an overlook or other scenic vista somewhere along the hike that can be translated to a reader.  In the 1500 square miles of the bootheel the views and vistas are immense and it is not difficult to find vistas where a person can easily see over 50 miles.  Coupled with the fact that humans have an approximately 180 degree field of view capturing an image that adequately presents this information can be quite a task.  Fortunately, Microsoft has a tool that helps create such an image.  Photosynth, allows the creation of large multi-image panoramas or Photosynths that translate what was seen on the hike into a format that can be enjoyed by others.




Here is another example of an aerial photosynth of Paramore Crater in southeastern Arizona created from a light sport weight shift control aircraft.

Wikipedia Articles about the Bootheel and Southwestern New Mexico (including Portal AZ)

There are a number of Wikipedia articles on southern New Mexico and the bootheel that are in the process of evolving.  Low level aerial photographs under a creative commons license were added to these articles and the  verbiage edited to create user friendly articles.  After realizing that information on the bootheel and southwestern New Mexico (including Portal AZ) was lacking in Wikipedia I began updating, correcting, and contributing new articles but little did I realize that the effort would require a significant learning curve.  Programing is not my forte and I have made more than one mistake, fortunately others with more experience have stepped in and corrected my errors resulting in some nice additions and updates to Wikipedia.

Animas Valley

Animas Mountains

Animas, New Mexico

Hidalgo County, New Mexico

New Mexico Bootheel

Peloncillo Mountains, Hidalgo county

Rodeo, New Mexico

Skeleton Canyon

Chiricahua Mountains

Portal, Arizona

U.S. Route 80