Despite their seemingly impenetrable western facade, the Sandia Mountains of central New Mexico have been home to humankind for millennia. Ancient cultures ventured into these peaks for the creeks, game, and shelter. The Spanish established protective outposts along the canyons and intermarried with local tribes. Civil War soldiers passed through en route to their infamous battle at Glorieta Pass. Navajos marched around the mountains' southern end after the confinement that ended their Long Walk. Anglo settlers cleared the hilly land and built cabins. And tuberculosis patients moved up into primitive resorts, hoping that the mountains' abundant sunshine and fresh air would help them heal. Today the tiny resorts and traditional hamlets of the Sandias are established villages and communitiesÂ-Carnuel, Tijeras, San Antonio, Cedar Crest, Sandia Park, San Antonito, Placitas, and othersÂ-and the rough dirt roads that once saw the passing of ox carts are highways and even an interstate. The area's history lives on, however, in crumbling adobe walls, bits of rust, fading memories, and in this photographic retrospective.
Born in 1979. Grew up in Arizona. Swam in a pool there, played with neighbor kids. Age seven: moved to Austria. Walked to a private school through vineyards. Watched the sun rise every morning. Age eleven: moved to Colorado. Lived in a cabin. Stayed home from school because of snow, often. Lived in a treehouse wired with Nintendo. Age twelve: moved to New Mexico. Became a huge nerd. Got beat up constantly between age twelve and age seventeen. Got in a high speed car chase just for fun. Sent away by my parents. Got my GED, and went to college in Arizona. Streaked a homecoming football game; became a hero. Moved to Alaska to try commercial fishing after reading about it in a dentist office magazine. Lived there for a year and a half as a depressed stoner in a series of cabins. Moved outdoors into a tent. Hitchiked around Alaska and Canada with a hippy girlfriend. Hitchhiked down. Moved to Utah. Worked. Saved up money. Spent seven months canoeing the entire shoreline of Lake Powell in Utah and Arizona--because I wanted to. Moved to Boston to be with a suicidal girl. Founded a nonprofit. Walked from Key West, Florida to Cape Gaspe, Quebec, Canada, to raise money for charity with six others. Moved back to New Mexico. Moved out to the Arizona desert to be a hermit. Apache County. Lived in a trailer with a cat and a windmill and no neighbors for miles. No electricity either. Got married to a cool girl. Moved back to New Mexico. Moved down to Las Cruces. Moved to Utah. Moved to New Mexico. Moved to Utah. Moved to New Mexico. Worked on movies. Sold a screenplay. Had a daughter. Wrote a book. Went camping. Went camping. Went camping.
I'm going camping.
