Framedlight

  As we left Hatch the skies started to cloud over and the temperature dropped (maybe the lack of chilies). We drove east along Highway 26 and then turned north onto 27, a tiny road which led through to Hillsboro via an old mining ghost town, Lake Valley. As we turned by the habitation of Nutt there was a lake at the side of the road which had numerous sandhill cranes resting by the waters edge. In the autumn they migrate south for the winter. We passed wind farms and the remains of the old railroad, built to bring ore down from Lake Valley. The stormy light was absolutely stunning as we drove through fields of cattle and, strangely oryx which have naturalised in the neighbourhood, presumably escapees from a collection. They are a bit tiny in the picture. A little further and past some rugged hills we approached Lake Valley.