Fall in the Gila Country — Light and Leaves
October and November are spectacular months in the Gila Country of Southwestern New Mexico. With the ending of the monsoon rains, the days are noticeably shorter and the skies have taken on a deeper shade of cobalt blue as the noonday sun tracks ever lower in the southern sky. The nighttime sky is changing too: […]
The Cliffside Loop Trail
EXPERIENCING THE INEFFABLE ON THE CLIFFSIDE LOOP TRAIL A Special Place of Nature within the Casitas de Gila Bear Creek Nature Preserve SPECIAL PLACES IN NATURE Within every Natural landscape there are places that are so special that they are capable of creating a deep state of awareness, well being, or sometimes even transcendence, upon […]
Reconnect with Nature at Casitas de Gila!
RECONNECTING WITH NATUREIn the Stress-Free Zone of the Bear Creek Nature Preserveat Casitas de Gila Guesthouses in Southwest New Mexico Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find outthat going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity;and that mountain parks and reservations are usefulnot only as fountains of timber […]
A Southwest New Mexico Winter!
MIDWINTER ENCHANTMENT IN THE BEAR CREEK NATURE PRESERVE AT CASITAS DE GILA GUESTHOUSES IN SOUTHWEST NEW MEXICO SOUTHWEST NEW MEXICO: A NATURE LOVER’S PARADISE WITH FOUR GENTLE SEASONS The High Chihuahuan Desert of Southwest New Mexico is a landscape of exceptional beauty, diversity, and distinct seasonal climatic change due to a rugged topography ranging from […]
CYCLES OF NATURE IN SOUTHWEST NEW MEXICO
SOME OBSERVATIONS OF THE EFFECTS OF THE EL NIÑO / LA NIÑA CLIMATIC OSCILLATION CYCLE WITHIN THE BEAR CREEK NATURE PRESERVE AT CASITAS DE GILA GUESTHOUSES CLIMATIC AFFECTS OF EL NIÑO AND LA NIÑA WINTERS ON SOUTHERN NEW MEXICO Historical records show that El Niño winters in the Southwest are marked by increased precipitation and […]
Fall Color in Southwest New Mexico
FALL ENCHANTMENT IN THE GILA RIVER COUNTRY OF SOUTHWEST NEW MEXICO Color, Light and Shadow Amongst the Floodplain Cottonwoods and Sycamores Each year between the last two weeks of October and the first two weeks in November, visitors to Casitas de Gila Guesthouses are treated to the annual visual feast of color, light, and shadow […]
Summer Solstice in Southwest New Mexico
SUMMER SOLSTICE LIGHT AND SHADOW ON BEAR CREEKAT CASITAS DE GILA GUESTHOUSES CYCLES OF SOLSTICE ON BEAR CREEK Guests that return to Casitas de Gila Guesthouses at different times of the year will observe, while sitting in front of their Casita watching the Sunrise, that the Sun comes up at different places along the mountainous […]
The Great Snow of January 2015
AN EXCEPTIONAL SNOWFALL THAT TRANSFORMED CASITAS DE GILA GUESTHOUSES INTO A WINTER WONDERLAND WINTER CLIMATE IN THE SOUTHWEST: CONTROLLING FACTORS, AVERAGES, AND EXCEPTIONS The average Winter snowfall received at Casitas de Gila Guesthouses and Southwest New Mexico is a function of several factors, including: the large scale alternating weather pattern in the Pacific Ocean known […]
A Magnificent Southwest Landscape
TURTLE ROCK: CENTERPIECE OF A MAGNIFICENT LANDSCAPE IN SOUTHWEST NEW MEXICO Sacred Site of the Mogollon People, Craggy Stronghold for the Apache, Landmark for the Pioneers, Gateway to Bear Creek, and Nature’s Monument to Beauty TURTLE ROCK: NATURE’S GIFT DOWN THROUGH THE AGES We do not know what the Mogollon People called the towering mass […]
The Desert Dry Wash or Arroyo
THE DESERT DRY WASH (aka Arroyo): AN ICONIC LANDFORM OF THE AMERICAN SOUTHWEST An Exploration into the Natural History of the Dry Wash Trail at Casitas de Gila Guesthouses in Southwest New Mexico THE DESERT DRY WASH OR ARROYO: ICONIC LANDFORM OF OUR WESTERN CINEMATIC FANTASIES For most adults looking back on our early cinematic […]
