Something we found west of Socorro

 Hello, everyone! 

We took the highway west from Socorro toward the village of Magdalena.  This is a small town with some scattered houses in the area as well. We learned later, see picture below, that Magdalena was a fairly important place around the turn of the last century.

Magdalena was the trail end and railway connection for a whole bunch of sheep and cattle ranchers.

The ranchers and their hands would stage a "drive" (just like the famous cattle drives from Texas to Dodge City Kansas) with a herd or flock of licestock. The creatures were encouraged to graze and move in a relaxed way. That way they would be in good condition when they reached the corrals in Magdalena for counting and pricing. It would take weeks to move the herds, with the cowhands or shepherds in tow and bringing the chuck wagon and spare mounts and so on.

I had not known of this smaller, west-to-east driving way.

While we were stretching our legs at this historical marker, we found ourselves--in 55F degree air--being snowed upon. 

We drove farther west, seeking the connecting northward paved road towards our lodging place for that night, and came to Pie Town. 

Pie Town is a small hamlet, but people who have an interest in hiking have probably seen references to it on Continental Divide Trail discussions and videos. We of course stopped to talk with a hiker we saw. The CDT through hikers like to stop at Pie Town for a hot meal or some pie. (When you're walking all day with your house and water and rations on your back, you build up an appetite! ) Just so you all know, we saw a sign on the food store that they're closed on Tuesdays...possibly as warmer weather and vacation season arrive they might be able to provide food then, too. I personally recommend that someone wanting to walk through there find a way to ask ahead of time if it looks like they'll be in Pie Town on a Tuesday. 

This was a really neat spot, and when we went west to Quemado and drove north we saw a lot of interesting scenery. (Take this as an advisory that the road, while good, is not a fast drive. Just enjoy the lava flows, the rock formations, and so on.)