REGIONALIt is the buzzing I notice first - an insistent whine so loud it blocks the sound of my car's engine as I drive along this narrow road sheltered by cottonwood trees.
I hear it almost as soon as I turn off the main highway out of Santa Fe, N.M., on to state Highway 503 and into a lush valley dotted with red hills that have been molded into weird shapes by time and erosion. This is the entryway to what is called The High Road to Taos,the old state highway that connects the chic city of Santa Fe with the more remote, but still classy, Taos 70 miles north.Residents tell me it could take three or more hours to reach Taos this way; the new highway - U.S. Highway 285/84 - is much faster, two hours tops. But if there is one thing I have learned it is that in travel, as in life, speed is not everything and it's the detours that add interest to one's trip.
That is certainly true of this journey. Along the way, I see spectacular and varied scenery, interesting Spanish villages and American Indian pueblos, fine old churches and traditional New Mexico arts and crafts.
So here I am, on the High Road, driving with the window open to the warm air and listening to the buzz. I must find out what that is...
I take a brief tour to Nambe, an Indian reservation, and my first look at rural New Mexico. Small, somewhat shabby houses dot the landscape and the wind blows wisps of down from the cottonwood trees that line the road. I can see the acequias, the irrigation ditches that nurture the farmland, along the road.
The Pueblo of Nambe is here. Once, this Pueblo Indian village was home to thousands of Tewa-speaking Indians. Now, there are about 600 spread over 19,000 acres of reservation land. The village itself has few ancient structures left, but there is a kiva, a round adobe structure with steps leading to its flat top, where a hole allows entry via a ladder. Tribal members who practice the ancient Pueblo religion hold their religious ceremonies here.
I take a brief stroll around the pueblo, then drive up the road toward Nambe Falls, part of the reservation. The falls are, I have heard, very beautiful, well worth seeing. The buzzing goes away as I pass farmland and red hills shaped in such odd formations they set the imagination to working overtime. That one over there looks like a face. And that one there like one of those magic rocks that, as a kid, I used to watch grow in water. And that one ...
I round a bend and see the cutoff to the falls. There's a ranger station at the entrance where you pay your fee for fishing, camping or sightseeing. I pay $2 and set off down the road. In just a few minutes, I pass from desert terrain to mountainous. I can hear water gurgling and there is that buzzing again.
I park the car near the trail head. The trail to the falls starts off easily, a wide swath cut through the greenery, but it quickly narrows and becomes steeper. The greenery largely disappears. The sandy earth is slippery - this is not a place for someone with leg problems or slick shoes.
A couple is on their way down and I press myself against the edge of the trail away from the cliff to make way for them.
"Is it worth it?" I asked.
"It's worth it," he says.
"But it's very scary," says his companion.
A few minutes later I reach the crest of the trail. And there it is, a two-story waterfall plunging downward from a hole in the rocks. It's verdant and cool looking, a startling sight when viewed from the dry, dusty trail.
It is worth it, I decide.
Back in the car, I head toward the main road, stopping at Cloud Eagle's Gallery. This master artist, who hews fantastic shapes of eagles, bears, fish and people from chunks of alabaster, is not there. But it is here I learn what that buzzing is.
"Those are the cicadas," says the woman who shows me the gallery, "The seven-year locusts. Loud, aren't they?"
Very, I agree.
"You get used to them," she says.
She's right; pretty soon, as I drive north on the main road toward Chimayo, I hardly notice them at all.
Once a penal colony for the Spanish Empire, this village on state Road 520 is now known for two things - weaving and the Santuario de Chimayo Church, which was built as a family chapel from 1816-1819.
The latter is a pretty chapel with a small courtyard and, inside, ornate altar. But its biggest draw is dirt. The dirt found in the earthen floor in a tiny room of the chapel is said to have healing powers. So each Easter, thousands make a pilgrimage here - some bearing crosses and walking 100 miles or more - to take a teaspoonful of the holy dirt away with them. The anteroom where the faithful wait is filled with crosses, candles, even photographs of those they have prayed for.
It is in Chimayo, which also includes a few cafes and a shop or two, where I see the ristras, strings of the flavorful, blood-red chili peppers so common in New Mexico dishes. Here, they hang at the entrance to a cafe and in bounteous amount over a bench at the side of the road.
Chimayo is also the home of Ortega's Weaving Shop. Eight generations of Ortegas have woven blankets, rugs, wall hangings, even clothes here. And you can still hear - and see - the bump of the loom as the shuttle is sent back and forth between brightly colored threads.
Ortega's is at the junction of Road 520 and Route 76 (if you detour south about a quarter mile on Route 76, you'll come to Trujillo's Weaving Shop, which offers some fine buys on weaving and pottery - and, if the elder Trujillo is in, explanations of the art forms). I turn north on Route 76 and travel past the village of Cordova. The road rises higher here; I feel as if I am driving off the earth. All I see is sky.
Then I drop down a bit to Truchas - and a panoramic view of the Rio Grande Valley. The village, once a Spanish Colonial outpost, is built to the very edge of a mesa and there are lots of crumbling wooden structures falling down the hill. A few cars, too. This is where "The Milagro Beanfield War" was filmed in 1987.
The little shops peter out about this point - now it's just the view. And there is much to see in this high country - craggy rocks in ochre, amber, cream and gray, mountains that could be as much as 100 miles away, so clear is it, and that blue, blue New Mexico sky.
I note, too, the white crosses covered in flowers at the side of this narrow, winding road. They mark spots where loved ones have been killed.
The road leads me directly to Las Trampas, a village built around the Church of San Jose de la Gracia. Built in 1760 by 12 families from Santa Fe, this adobe church with its thick walls, imposing wooden doors and colorful frescoes, is considered one of the finest examples of Spanish Colonial architecture. As such, it draws photographers and artists from all corners of the world.
There are, in fact, people parked in vans across the way, the rear doors of the vehicles open so the artists can sit and sketch the church. Closer, just feet away from the entrance to the church, others have set up easels or placed their canvases on blankets on the ground. And there is more than one photographer lining up the perfect shot.
I continue along Route 76 and into Carson National Forest. Here are stately pine trees, lush green meadows and cooler air. I turn right on state Highway 75 and, passing through the modern community of Penasco, come to the turn (state Road 518) for the Pueblo of Picuris. One of New Mexico's smallest Indian villages, Picuris nevertheless sports some interesting ancient ruins, including churches, kivas, even a structure called Castillo Viejo (Old Castle).
I return to the main road and climb the hill to Route 68. This takes me into Rancho de Taos, sight of one of the Southwest's most famous churches, San Francisco de Aziz Church. Like Las Trampas, it draws artists from all over who try to capture its beauty - including the late renowned painter Georgia O'Keeffe.
Within minutes, I am in Taos. It has taken me 31/4 hours to journey 72 miles. I'll take the "low road" home. But I'm betting it won't be anywhere near as interesting or as scenic as this one.
To take New Mexico's High Road to Taos, head north out of Santa Fe on U.S. Highway 285/84, turn right on Highway 503 and follow Road 520 to Chimayo. After visiting Chimayo, turn right on Route 76, toward Truchas and Las Trampas. Turn right onto Highway 75 to the Pueblo of Picuris, which is off Highway 518. Return to Highway 75, go left on Highway 518 and climb the hill to Route 68, where you'll turn left to see Rancho de Taos or right to go into downtown Taos.
For more information on Taos and the High Road, contact the Taos County Chamber of Commerce, (800) 732-8267.