Johnson Mesa is a remnant of the highest of the High Plains in New Mexico, occupying a tableland 8,600 ft above sea level where lava flowed into and solidified in a former valley of the “Dry” Cimarron River about 8 million years ago. Surrounding softer deposits wore away, leaving the basalt platform as a topographic high, though not as tall as Horseshoe Mesa in the background, along the Colorado line. Time and storms march mercilessly across this windswept tableland, beautiful in its starkness, where winter snowfall and often-severe summer storms support the grasses that nourish cattle. One such storm erupted and quickly became a supercell near Trinidad, moved southeast, then dissipated, leaving behind its outflow shelf as a slow-moving roll cloud. No permanent human residents live here anymore, thanks to the hostile winter climate, frequent droughts, and lack of potable surface water. This abandoned property represents the long-vanished hopes and dreams of settlers lured by promises that couldn’t match the harsh realities of life up here.
14 ENE Raton NM (28 May 26) Looking NW
36.9283, -104.1999