King of the Road - May 2009
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So Happy Together
Set a date with Glenwood, on the edge of the Gila
Story and Photography by Lesley S. King
I have a date this evening. As I drive into the village of Glenwood, in southwestern New Mexico, this thought enters my mind and sets my heart a-jitter. I’m about as good at dating as I am at shopping; in either circumstance, I can’t seem to get myself to commit. But this town just might be the perfect place for a romantic rendezvous. Set at the edge of the 3.3-million-acre Gila National Forest, Glenwood is a quiet hamlet with quaint shops and restaurants, a bar, and pool hall.
I stop in at the town’s center, the Glenwood Trading Post, where I meet Wendy Peralta. Modest and self-effacing, Peralta would never admit that she and her little store are the heart of this town of some 550 residents on U.S. 180, 65 miles northwest of Silver City. The first settlers came to the area in 1878; later, a stagecoach stop sprang up here.
A fourth-generation resident of the area, Peralta witnesses much of the town’s happenings as she sells gas, coffee, ice-cream, cowboy hats, and books to locals and visitors. She also, at times, hands over UPS packages to customers, and keeps a record of who’s buried where in the local cemetery. “I don’t have a lot of family, but the community is my family,” she says. As I make my way through town, I find this to be the prevailing attitude: People care about each other here and are willing to help out, whether it means fixing an elder’s roof while he’s in the hospital, or taking over someone’s job during a family tragedy.
Such a sense of community seems especially profound in a land where residents have wildly disparate views on subjects ranging from the environment to spirituality. This is a place where hunters come from all over the world to shoot lions, bears, and mammoth elk—yet it also sits at the center of the Mexican Gray Wolf Recovery Program area. Glenwood has a bar where good old boys play pool, as well as a labyrinth where New Agers walk to enhance their spirituality. “You can be very different but still appreciate one another,” says Durelle Freeman, a counselor and shaman I meet along the way. “The bigger sense of humanity always outshines the tension.”
As I drive up onto expansive Wild Horse Mesa, it seems as if there’s enough space here for all viewpoints. On the mesa I meet Jim Mater, who runs U-Trail, a guide service that takes riders on day- to weeklong adventures in the Gila. “We have unique destinations to ride to,” Mater says: “canyons with spectacular hoodoos, caves, Indian cliff dwellings, and Spanish inscriptions.” The Gila is also renowned for its wildlife, bird watching, and fishing, he notes.
DAY-TRIP TIPS Where to Dine: Where to Stay: Udder Delight What to do:
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As Mater talks with me, he’s saddling his horse to head off to a mountain trail. “You want to come along?” he asks, setting his palm on a bay gelding that I could ride. Ah, I think, the solution to my dating problem: I’ll just take off with this cowboy and forget the whole thing. But I stop myself. I may be cowardly, but I’m not rude.
Back on the road, I find a different diversion: Running Horse Gallery. I wander through this enchanting place, struck again by the varied nature of Glenwood. Here, set against the ruggedness of wilderness, is fine art, ranging from raku crosses to delicate oil landscapes to willow furniture, all by regional artists. Most notable is the ceramic dinnerware made by gallery owner Jude Wasechek, who decorates these pieces with leather stamp tools.
Nearby I find yet another anomaly, Udder Delight. This delightful shop sells all manner of soaps and lotions—all made with organic goat milk—that owner Kristine Epling ships throughout the United States and overseas. I spread some lotion on my hands, and the sudden scent of lavender calms my trepidation about this evening’s date. Filling a bag with wheat-germ-and-honey soap, I find that maybe I can shop after all—and date.
I step out into the sunshine and realize it’s time. A day in Glenwood has allowed me to escape pre-date jitters, but now here he stands: tall, with big auburn eyes and an eager grin. We climb into his SUV and drive north of town. We’ve known each other a few months now, but this meeting is intended to “take us to a new level,” as they say on TV dating shows. We turn off on a dirt road that climbs to a ridge and suddenly the road tops out. Before us is a half-mile-wide bowl of sunflowers, their faces bobbing in the soft light. This glorious place is called Sunflower Mesa, and it fully deserves its name.
But it’s only one of the spectacular and varied destinations available to hikers in the area. Most notable is the Catwalk National Recreation Trail, which threads a narrow canyon along a metal causeway high above Whitewater Creek. There are many other places to visit around Glenwood, down roads that lead to water slides, mining camps, and hot springs.
But on this evening’s date we hike across Sunflower Mesa, discussing our lives. He dreams of sailing the world; I get seasick. He likes to camp; I like luxury hotels. He believes most of all in the power of the tangible; I believe most in the power of spirit. How beautiful his passions, I think—and mine.
Suddenly, two mule deer bound out before us, their hooves rising above the flowers. My date and I smile at each other. Even if we don’t end up sharing our lives, right now we share this: magical Glenwood and its many hues.
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"King of the Road" columnist Lesley S. King visits another little-known community in New Mexico each month.
