Tuesday, August 19, 2014

'Journey of Death' route on El Camino Real trail sees new life

El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, the 1500 mile Royal Road of the Interior Land, served as the main route between Mexico and New Mexico for about 300 years. The Jornada del Muerto a ninety-mile stretch of the trail in south-central New Mexico that challenged travelers as they faced a virtually waterless desert basin. KOB Eyewitness News' Richard Estrada visited this Journey of Death to see what exists today. "I've driven the road, which more or less parallels the trail - that was in my air-conditioned Jeep, and it was still pretty brutal," Chris Hanson of the El Camino Real Historic Trail Site said. Hanson administers the El Camino Real Historic Trail Site near the Jornada del Muerto. "The El Camino Real historic Site tells the fascinating story of the Spanish Royal Road that had its origins in prehistoric trails," Hanson said. Today the desert remains fairly desolate. Ranchers raise their cattle and the railroad pretty much parallels the historic trail. Spaceport America calls the Jornada home with the promise of sending a new kind of traveler and explorer into space. Ted Turner's Armanderis Ranch covers a good area of the Joranda del Muerto. But a unique use of the desert is growing in popularity - the growing of grapes for sparkling wine. "My grandfather was looking to expand out of France, and he always wanted to live the American Dream. So he looked at many states: California, Washington, Oregon, Texas, New York," Sofian Himeur of Gruet Winery said. 25 years ago, Himeur's grandfather from France started with an experimental ten acres in the Jornada near Engle. The soil and the climate proved to be excellent. "The great thing about where we're at in Engle is it is 4300 feet in elevation on a plateau, and so you have hot days and cool nights - a thirty degree swing - so it is really good for the grapes and the acidity…it is literally a gold mine for growing grapes," Himeur said. The Spanish brought the first grapes to the southwest over El Camino Real...more

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