Fashion by Vicky McGarry, Photographs by Rob Howard, Text by Cristina Opdahl T hings disappear in New Mexico. The Rockies whimper out at the Sangre de Cristo range's southern end. Snow melts just as it falls on the high desert plateaus. And people disappear, too, at least from lives of convention. Law school hopefuls check out, buy land, and move in.
Teachers become steep creek kayakers and vanish, temporarily, over the horizon of a waterfall.
Blame the altitude, or the air, or maybe the sky. They demand a certain adaptability, because their pull can rip even the most hesitant athlete outdoors, sometimes in conditions not typically ideal. Consider the triathlete who works on his heat tolerance in 275 square miles of gypsum sand dunes. And climbers who battle the perfect wall in the middle of a cattle pasture. New Mexico is a place that's both inviting and daunting, and always has been, ever since the days of William Bonney and men in black and white.