Journey of the Deadman

6/30/2016

Hello from New Mexico!

"The Jornada del Muerto (Spanish for "single day's journey of the dead man"[2][3] hence "route of the dead man"[4]) in the U.S. state of New Mexico was the name given by the Spanish conquistadors to the Jornada del Muerto Desert basin, and the particularly dry 100-mile (160 km) stretch of a route through it.

The trail led northward from central Spanish colonial New Spain, present-day Mexico, to the farthest reaches of the viceroyalty in northern Nuevo México Province. The route later became a section of the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro.

El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail (Spanish for "The Royal Road of the Interior Land was a 1,600 mile (2560 kilometer) long trade route between Mexico City and San Juan Pueblo, New Mexico, from 1598 to 1882.[1]

The 404 mile (646 kilometer) section of the route within the United States was proclaimed as a part of the United States National Historic Trail system on October 13, 2000. The trail is overseen by both the National Park Service and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management with aid from El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro Trail Assoc. also known as CARTA.

Various sites and cities along the Mexican section of the trail were declared a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO in 2010.[2] Those sites include Ojuelos de Jalisco, the place where the first fortification was built in 1569 and Zacatecas, the city in which a rich silver mineral mine triggered the original construction of the "El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro"." - from Wiki - links left active if you want to read more.

Are you ready to make the journey? This is were you see signs "next rest area 99 miles". (OMG!)

"The Jornada del Muerto Desert ecoregion, in the Deserts and xeric shrublands Biome, is a wide and long stretch of flat desert landforms and xeric habitat about 100 miles (160 km) from north to south. The desert runs between the Oscura Mountains and San Andres Mountains on the east, and the Fra Cristóbal Range and Caballo Mountains on the west. The western mountains block access to the Rio Grande, the most reliable water source in the region." Still from Wiki

At the Walking Sands rest area.

A rest stop on I-25 overlooking the Rio Salado to the south

So, when you see the Rattlesnake sign you start really paying attention. Unless you are from Texas. Because if you are from Texas it is engrained into you to ALWAYS pay ATTENTION for rattlesnakes.

So I went into the ladies room and looked around, no snakes. Looked over the stall, no snakes.
BUT..
I did see this!
At first glance I thought it might have been horse hair.
Random fact: A lot of people where braided horse hair on their hats.

But I think it was human hair.
#WTF?

No, I did not touch it. Let someone from up North find it and think it's a snake and dispose of it.
(I mean shoot it, of course.)