Red desert redoubts

Few places in this region of northern New Mexico ever feels especially far. Even Colorado towns such as Pagosa Springs are a few hours away. 

From Los Alamos, Abiquiu seems distant. The road jogs around Espanola, a somewhat flavorless town with most of the region's hotels. In a land of old towns dating to the 1700s, Espanola is the odd town out. 

Outside townm the desert takes hold, with the road following the Rio Chama northeast. After recent rains, the river was muddy with strong currents.

Abiquiu is spread out along the highway, with sites along the Rio Chama and a surprisingly blue reservoir north of town. Were it not renown as the home of painter Georgia O’Keeffe and subject of many of her paintings, it might have stayed a wide spot in the road. 

But Abiquiu receives its tourists and has a handful of businesses to support them. The town offers a visitor center with some O’Keeffe’s personal items and paintings. It suits those with a casual interest in O’Keeffe like me or those who thought O’Keeffe house tours were readily available (a four-month lead time is recommended). 

 On the weekend, Café Sierra Negra sees a steady stream of diners. I went for the Thanksgiving wrap, which had all the holiday meal standards in one tortilla, and a peach crumble for dessert. 

At the front of the Ghost Ranch lies a cabin and horse corral that have appeared to many films. It appears in City Slickers, surrounded by buildings long since torn down. The cabin can also be seen in the remake of 3:10 to Yuma. 

The beautiful scenery hides numerous religious retreats, the most famous arguably the Monastery of Christ in the Desert, which 13 miles down a dirt road in the Rio Chama Wilderness. The Monastery of Archangel St. Michael, operated by monks under the Orthodox Church in America, occupies a canyon near the tiny village of Canones. Espanola has a large Sikh community. 

Abiquiu has a Muslim center as well, once intended as a planned Muslim co
mmunity. But the Dar Al Islam houses a great, seldom-seen treasure on its massive grounds. The Dar Al Islam campus protects the Plaza Blanca (the White Place), a series of white rock towers that stand in contrast to this red-rock country. 

O’Keeffe painted the Plaza Blanca, which she could see from her house. Access to the formation lies behind a series of locked gates. However, the Islamic conference center provides a gate code for anyone who asks. 

The formation reminded me of the Monument Rocks hidden in western Kansas. The White Plaza is just as well hidden. A short trail leads magnificent views of the white stone hoodoos. 

 It should have been a place of solitude. But the birds and insects could not out-sing the two men who seemed intent on having their voices echo into the plaza’s deepest recesses. The ignorant cannot take away from natura's work - the rocks were stunning, but in this pocket of New Mexico, there’s no shortage old stone to admire.