That’s what Barb said she had found, and on Saturday morning we headed out, her at the wheel, to check it out.  But rather than head out of town, we found our way to the Santa Fe Airport, where Matt was waiting….to take us flying over our beloved landscape!!

A total surprise, and a major treat.  Our 90 minutes aloft took us around the Jemez, our local supervolcano remnant, over Abiquiu, down the Rios Chama and Grande, and across the mountains above Santa Fe to check out this summer’s “smaller” local conflagration, dubbed the Pacheco Fire. Here’s a few of the many shots Barb took while we were being continually bedazzled:

Valle San Antonio, the northern portion of the great volcanic caldera of the Jemez

(click through for a bunch more shots)

Pedernal rising over the Cañones valley

Black Mesa: Ojo Caliente valley on left, Rio Grande valley on right

The White Place, with El Rito area forests beyond

We’ve walked in there!!!

Rio Chama farms; each family gets a strip, with the acequia at top and river at the bottom

Pacheco Fire, burned June/July 2011

More Pacheco fire; at least three big ridges burned like this, along with a bunch of bottom areas and various patches around the edges

An amazing experience, to see the interconnections of all these places over the course of a 90 minutes journey…. Thanks, Matt Freitas! (check him out here)  And a thousand thanks, Barb, for the great surprise!