Hitchhiker

I'm kinda thinking maybe we shouldn't have picked up that hitchhiker back there. Don't you think it's weird that one minute we're talking about werewolves and the next there's some guy thumbing a ride -- right there at Werewolf Hill? And why did he pee on the tires before he got in?

Destination: Werewolf Hill

 

Northwest of Carlsbad
Southeastern NM

With all the bats flying out of Carlsbad Caverns, you would think the most likely mythological creature to be lurking around Carlsbad proper would be a vampire.  And yet, here we are on Werewolf Hill.  Go figure.

Werewolf Hill takes its lycanthropic name from reports of a werewolf reportedly seen here many years ago. 

But I’m thinking maybe it wasn’t really a werewolf, but rather a vampire taking the shape of a werewolf.  As a disguise to lure picnickers.  The picnickers would say, “Oh, look at the cute little werewolf!  Let’s pet it!”  And then the werewolf would turn back into a vampire and bite them on the neck.  A cunning strategy!  The only thing that would make it cooler is if some zombies…

What?  Oh, right, the hill.

I checked with a local librarian who concurred with my theory that there’s more lore than truth to the name of the hill.  All you really need to stir up werewolf reports are a lonely hill (check), a couple teenagers, a campfire on a dark night, and a stray dog.  Given all this, it’s a wonder every other hill in the state isn’t named for a werewolf.

Roadtrip - Virtual Style!

The GPS is charged, and the winds have died down for now, so let’s hit the New Mexico highways and go exploring. Our quest: the hidden wonders of our enchanted state. They’re everywhere. On the brick wall of a building in downtown Socorro, or a forgotten little park just east of Old Town in Albuquerque. Lurking in the name of a railroad siding south of Engle, etched in a giant stone tablet on the prairie grasslands near Clayton, carved into the sidewalks of Truth or Consequences.

We’ll stand in places that aren’t even places anymore. Better yet, we’ll meet (in absentia) people who would likely have been forgotten altogether were it not for one dramatic moment in their lives — sadly, often their last. If you don’t mind going a long way to see very little, then you’re the perfect travel companion. In lieu of gas money, please help by contributing what hidden treasures you have to offer.

Just promise me you’ll take it easy on the soda. We have a long way to go, and I’m not pulling over every ten minutes for you.