The Sheldon NWR sits on the Nevada side of the OR-NV border and is accessed by OR and NV Hwy 140.  The Reserve is vast and home to antelope, big horn sheep, elk, deer, mountain lion, wild horses and burros that were set loose years ago.  The Refuge Hot Springs was developed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930’s by building a wall on the low side of the hot spring runoff.  The CCC built a shower house that is free and open to the public, fed by the hot spring water.  There is a great free campground surrounding the pool.  [All photos Max Vollmer, Click on any image to enlarge]

The road to the hot springs passes an active opal mine which offers tours in season.  There is also an old homestead with a stone barn and a corral with a fence woven with willow branches.

For almost 10 years, until 2025, I visited each year with my friends, Debbie and Liz, in Chimayo, NM, and stayed in the guest room of their adobe home along the Santa Cruz River.  Their home adjoins the Malpais, i.e. the BLM badlands where I hiked many an hour.  [All photos Max Vollmer, Click on any image to enlarge]

I’ve found many potsherds on the south facing slopes of this rock formation, typically with a white clay slip and black painted designs, but occasionally in red polychrome.  The nearby Santa Cruz river would have provided water for the small settlement.  The Jemez mountains are on the horizon.

There are many in this land that was part of Catholic Mexico until the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848 and The Gadsden Purchase of 1854 brought what is now part of Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona into the U.S.

The Santuario dates from 1816.  It sits on the site of a natural spring believed to have healing properties by native people before the arrival of the Spanish.  Since the early 1800’s the Catholic faithful have come to the here seeking miraculous cures.  Over 300,000 from all over the world make the pilgrimage to the Santuario de Chimayo  each year during Holy Week, many walking or even crawling on hands and knees from as far away as Santa Fe, NM.

[All photos Max Vollmer, Click on any image to enlarge]

Present day Our Lady of Guadalupe church in Conejas, CO, known as the oldest Catholic church in Colorado, sits on the site of an 1863 adobe church.  Spanish families with centuries of occupation in the San Luis Valley have  endowed the church with beautiful stained glass windows, carved wooden stations of the cross, and a handmade altar, all made by local craftspeople.

The Sangre de Christo church sits on a high hill overlooking the tiny town of San Luis, CO.  On the path up to the church are fourteen bronzes depicting the Catholic “stations of the cross” that were donated by a wealthy couple in Santa Fe, NM, who made the annual Easter pilgrimage to the church for 25 years.

The San Francisco de Asis adobe church in Rancho de Taos, NM, was constructed between 1772 and 1816.  It has become famous as the subject of several paintings from the 1930’s by Georgia O’Keefe.  Two examples of O’Keefe’s depiction of the church, from the front and rear, are included following my photograph.

This is what it looks like on US Hwy 50, “The Loneliest Road in America” across Nevada.  Actually, there are longer, emptier stretches elsewhere in the state.  US Hwy 93 south from Majors Place to Pioche, NV, is one of them.  The open road beckons.  [All photos Max Vollmer, Click on any image to enlarge]

Always a dramatic view from the chimneys at Ghost Ranch in Rio Arriba County, NM.  October, 2024.  I can’t wait to get back there.  [All photos Max Vollmer, Click on any image to enlarge]