New Mexico’s High Road Winds Into the Past

There are two paved, two-lane roads connecting the towns of Espanola and Taos, New Mexico: the one along the Rio Grande River and the one over the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, known locally as the High Road.

The Rio Grande road (New Mexico 68) is the more direct of the two, but it just can’t measure up to the High Road (state highways 76, 75 and 3) in beauty, history and New Mexican flavor.

The High Road runs intermittently through Carson National Forest, with its pinon and juniper-clad hills and mountains. But, best of all, along the way there is a sprinkling of old mountain villages with roots still deep in the bloodlines of the original Spanish explorers who came to this high desert area 400 years ago.

And for visitors already in the tourist-magnet towns of Taos or Santa Fe, a trip along the High Road and back makes a pleasant day’s outing.

To a remarkable degree, the residents of such villages as Chimayo, Truchas and Trampas carry on the customs, language, occupations and religious beliefs of the original Spanish settlers, speaking, for example, a Spanish much closer to the tongue of Madrid than to most of Mexico. For this reason, the 50-mile High Road from Espanola to Taos is not only a pretty drive, but a look into the past.

Chimayo is one of the first and best known of the villages on the road out of Espanola. It marked the eastern border of Spanish-held territory from the late 1500s to the late 1600s, and acted as a buffer town between the colonizers and the American Indians, who naturally resented Spanish encroachment. Today, the village is a half-mile scattering of little houses, many with small vegetable gardens and pepper plots, bisected by stands of cottonwood trees along creeks. It is known primarily for two things: its weavers and the chapel Santuario de Chimayo.

The weaving industry began in Chimayo about 1800, with the arrival of master weavers who brought their looms from Spain. Since then, the village has built an international reputation for the beauty and quality of its weaving. Chimayo blankets, with their geometric designs in subtle grays, browns, pinks and beiges, have found their way into art museums and fashionable homes the world around.

Currently, there are some 45 full-time weavers working in Chimayo out of homes and studios. One of the village’s master weavers is John Trujillo--a tall, aristocratic man, now 77, who represents the sixth generation of weavers in his family. His work is highly prized and has been displayed at numerous art museums, including the Chicago Art Institute and the National Gallery in Washington.

Trujillo weaves practically every day in his studio, the Trujillo Weaving Shop, on Highway 76 on Chimayo’s eastern edge. Much of it is now special order, while his two sons and daughter weave most of the pieces that are sold to drop-in buyers at the studio for anywhere from $10 to $1,400. Trujillo’s special order pieces can go much higher.

“Chimayo blankets are made of wool, no cotton whatever,” he says. “And most, mine of course, are colored only with natural dyes--dyes that took our ancestors years to find and perfect in the hills around here. I never use synthetic dyes because they just don’t look right.”

He hands you a blanket and points out its weight and the tightness of the weave. “The secret is that I use three threads in the warp,” he says. “This makes the blankets strong and lets me make them tight as well. You know the Navajos only use two threads in their warp.”

Off the High Road a mile or so to the south is the Santuario de Chimayo. This adobe shrine was constructed in 1816 on the exact spot where Bernardo Abeyta claimed to have discovered a black crucifix buried in the ground. Abeyta applied through Roman Catholic Church channels for permission to build a shrine there, permission of which was granted in 1814.

The stark-white Santuario is set in a grove of cottonwoods and surrounded by an adobe wall with a wooden-gated entrance. Inside, in the semi-dark (there are no windows in the nave), there is an ornate candle-illuminated alter, which holds Abeyta’s black crucifix. The air is cool and dank, smelling of earth and candlewax, and there is a marvelous feeling of mystery.

The shrine is well known for its artwork, in particular its santos and religious paintings, all done by local artists. However, it’s not the Santuario’s remarkable art that draws the bulk of its visitors, but rather its purported curative powers.

Over the years, it has gained a reputation similar to that of Fatima or Lourdes, and many come from all over New Mexico and the Southwestern United States in hope of cures.

In the Santuario’s back sacristy, which has the hole in the dirt floor where Abeyta dug up the crucifix, cure seekers scoop a bit of earth and eat it. And there is a collection of crutches and canes that have been left in silent testimony to the power of the site.

Between the Santuario and the High Road is the Rancho de Chimayo Restaurante, run by Chimayo native Arturo Jaramillo. Jaramillo serves some of the best New Mexican food in the state, and the restaurant is in a lovely old house packed with colonial antiques. If the weather is nice, the prime place to eat is at the wooden tables in the Southwest-style back garden--a piece of paradise.

Out of Chimayo, the High Road climbs skyward, moving into pinon forests. After three miles, one passes the decaying hamlet of Cordova, famous for woodcarving, and a short time after this the town of Truchas comes into view.

Truchas is a disarray of houses clinging to the mountainside above a deep canyon, with the snowy summit of 13,000-foot Truchas Peak in the background. Founded in 1754, the village is not nearly as old as Chimayo. But its residents appear to have a stronger bond with the past, perhaps because they have not had as much contact with visitors as those in Chimayo. Robert Redford used Truchas as a setting for his 1988 movie, “The Milagro Beanfield War.”

One special bond that certain residents of Truchas maintain is membership in the Penitente Brotherhood. The Penitentes’ morada , or meeting place, is one of the first buildings one sees upon entering town. It’s a rectangular adobe building with a strange little tower, set next to the village cemetery.

Since the Penitentes are a secret society, a secular order of St. Francis, no one is certain how many members are active in Truchas. But people say that a good many perform public religious rites each year, around Easter. The most spectacular of these rites is the self-flagellation performed in a procession, representing Christ’s walk up Calvary Hill.

North of Truchas, the High Road becomes a roller-coaster ride, twisting up and down the hills. One is now in the Carson National Forest and will remain so for 35 miles until reaching Ranchos de Taos, a small village on the outskirts of the city of Taos.

In this 35 miles, the road skirts another half-dozen mountain villages, many sadly run down, suffering from dwindling populations and residents often too aged to maintain their properties.

One bright spot in the general decline is found in the sleepy village of Trampas, about five miles from Truchas. In the middle of town is the San Jose de Gracia de las Trampas Church, usually shortened to the Church of the Twelve Apostles, built in 1760. It’s a chunky structure with adobe walls four feet thick, and its fine condition speaks well of the builders’ skills.

To view the inside you must get the key from one of the residents of Trampas, who takes turns keeping it. You can inquire about this at the little store that sells soft drinks and snacks directly across from the church. It’s worth the effort. The interior still has its original wide-plank flooring, and there are paintings and santos. There is even an old candle crossbar suspended by a rope.

The church reportedly was threatened by proposed improvements to the high road in the ‘60s. Incredibly, surveyors had the road passing through the church courtyard, over the cemetery. A group of horrified New Mexicans flew to Washington and rescued the matter by having the site designated an historic landmark. This rerouted the high road and today the Twelve Apostles Church sits as securely and peacefully as ever.

From Trampas it’s still 28 miles to Taos. Most of this mileage is downhill, geographically and scenery-wise. For the last 16 miles of the trip, the road passes through the Rio Grande del Rancho Valley, which in itself is pleasant enough. But for purists, the appearance of civilization’s trappings--summer homes, power lines, billboards and litter--diminish the experience.

On the doorstep to Taos, you will come into the village of Ranchos de Taos, with its architect-designed adobes side-by-side with traditional small homes and a few condo complexes. In the central plaza of Ranchos de Taos is the adobe church that so captivated Georgia O’Keeffe that she painted it from many angles and aspects. The church of San Francisco de Asis is considered one of the finest examples of Spanish Franciscan architecture in the United States.

The budding elements of modernity reach their peak on one’s arrival in Taos, which regrettably becomes more of a bumptious tourist town with each passing year.

After the drowsy mountain villages, the noise and confusion of Taos is a jolt. But the town does provide a variety of necessities and a few luxuries that are welcome: art stores, hot tubs, good restaurants and good hotels.

So perhaps we can forgive Taos for abandoning its sleepy past. Besides, with the aforementioned villages, the past is alive just up the High Road.

GUIDEBOOK

New Mexico Villages

Getting there: Delta, United, USAir, Southwest and America West fly direct from Los Angeles to Albuquerque. Southwest and America West have a $98 round-trip fare with 21-day advance purchase, $162 with three-day advance purchase.

The turnoff for Highway 76 is at Espanola, about 100 miles north of Albuquerque. From Espanola, travel east on Highway 76 to Chimayo, then Truchas, Trampas and finally Penasco, where Highway 76 connects with Highway 75. After about six miles, take Highway 3 for the final leg north to Ranchos de Taos and Taos.

Where to stay: In Espanola, try the Chamisa Inn, 920 Riverside Drive. Mailing address: P.O. Box 3241, Fairview Station, Espanola, N.M. 87533. Rates: about $53 double occupancy. Phone (505) 753-7291. In Chimayo, La Posada de Chimayo, 279 County Road 0101, P.O. Box 463, Chimayo, N.M. 87522. Rates: about $80 double, including breakfast. Phone (505) 351-4605. The Restaurante Rancho de Chimayo, State Road 520, P.O. Box 11, Chimayo, N.M. 87522, has several rooms. Call (505) 984-2100. In Taos, there are many hotels, inns and B&Bs.;

Where to eat: In Chimayo, Restaurante Rancho de Chimayo is excellent, summer reservations a must. (505) 984-2100. Of many good restaurants in Taos, Doc Martin’s in the Taos Inn is popular; New Mexican and continental food, (505) 758-2232. Or La Cocina de Taos, with drawings of Taos personalities, (505) 758-2412.

Further reading: “Chimayo Valley Traditions” (Ancient City Press, Santa Fe) by Elizabeth Kay.

For more information: Contact the Taos Chamber of Commerce at (505) 758-3873 or the New Mexico Tourism & Travel Division at (800) 545-2040.