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Footprints on Mount Pajarita




  A fresh footprint on Mount Pajarita, Mescalero IR. Photo by Dennis Phol (Business owner from Colorado), taken during the BFRO Expedition, January 2005, in southern New Mexico.

 


Tribal guide Abraham Chee measures a fresh track on a mountain 20 miles way from where larger tracks had been found hours before by the Montana team. It indicated different individuals on different parts of the reservation simulataneously.

There was apparently other track sign of this individual crossing the road leading up to the summit of Mount Pajarita. The impression shown in the photograph above was the most photogenic. Footprints in most soil conditions do not photograph well.




Pajarita is the most prominent peak in the empty eastern expanse of the reservation. The top of Parajita has a breathtaking 360 degree view of deer and elk grazing areas, but is only 1000 feet or so above the plain. There are steep, rocky, mossy, canyons on the north face.

In the hilly plain around Pajarita there are Anasazi sites. We found few without even looking for them. The guides said there were many more scattered throughout the plain.

Some spots appear to be ancient hunting camps or sentry positions. Others are ceremonial.

The Pajarita area is a very, very, quiet place. No one lives out there. It's so silent that the hum and clatter of approaching vehicles can be heard from miles away, and seen even further away from Mount Pajarita.



Footprints like the one pictured have been found near here before.

Click the image to see the largest version.




  Closeup of a fresh footprint on Mount Pajarita, Mescalero IR. Photo by Dennis Phol (Business owner from Colorado), taken during the BFRO Expedition, January 2005, in southern New Mexico.
 



Tracks like this should be photographed and thoroughly measured. A cast's value, in soil like this, would only be dimensional data. So it's not necessary to cast it if there's a good set of photos with measurements. With good photos and data the dimensions of a track can be recreated, and printed to life size in the future, if it ever needed to be compared with another well photographed track.



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