Home » Outdoor & Recreation » Southwest Outdoors » New Mexico Deserts, Mountains, Rivers - Paradise

New Mexico Deserts, Mountains, Rivers - Paradise

© Grimace Boyer

With the winter winds closing in on the already nature-deficient streets of New York City, I was pleased to receive the phone call inviting me on my second trip to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where I would be interviewing for a position. My first venture was in May of this year, and while it did make me fall in love with the city, it didn't allow me any time to get around and explore the recreational possibilities.

Oh, and let me tell you. There are certainly a great deal of them.

My friend Bryan and I arrived in Albuquerque's beautiful airport on Friday afternoon, where my potential boss met us and took us to the hotel. From there, it was a grueling audition and interviewing process. I did well, I think. But my mind was on the Sandias all the while.

November weather doesn't get much nicer than it does in Albuquerque, and when we woke up Saturday morning, we were ready to take advantage of it. Unfortunately, we wouldn't be able to catch a New Mexico Lobos home game, as they were on the road at Brigham Young University (a game they won,) though we could look down into their blank stadium from the hotel. Hard as I might try, though, I couldn't quite make out any evidence of Brian Urlacher, Terance Mathis, or any of the other standout players in Lobo history. So it was off to the mountains.

Our plan was simple: Bryan and I are both avid canoeists and kayakers, and we both happen to be pretty inferior rock climbers. So we decided we'd start the morning with a dip into the Rio Grande with some rented kayaks and then head off to a grueling day on Palomas Peak. The guide we had selected at random from the phone book turned out to be a guy named Gomer. Really, his name was Gomer. Gomer outfitted us with our kayaks, PFDs, and paddles, and took us down to the water's edge.

The water was a little rougher than we were used to up north, but it was nice and warm, and the kayaking was excellent. Bryan's patented "duck roll" (think sideways Eskimo roll, but with a lot of profanity) got him through most of the ordeal in good shape, but I struggled quite a bit with the stronger water. A good workout behind us, it was off to lunch and then on to the mountains. We bid farewell to Gomer and grabbed a bite to eat at a local carryout.

The copyright of the article New Mexico Deserts, Mountains, Rivers - Paradise in Southwest Outdoors is owned by Grimace Boyer. Permission to republish New Mexico Deserts, Mountains, Rivers - Paradise in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.