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WEED, N.M. — Weed is drying up, victimized by high grocery and gasoline prices that have forced the remote mountain hamlet’s only general store to shut down and turn off its pumps.
The Weed Store closed the weekend after Memorial Day, a testament to increasingly difficult economic times in the rural West.
“There’s a lot of emotion involved. Everybody around here is pretty upset,” said Dean Nesbit, a handyman who removed shelves and installed laminated flooring inside the building last week.
The store, which had been open about 20 years, sits amid a landscape of tall timbers and pinon trees. Stone steps lead to the porch, where pine logs support a red metal roof. Soon, it will be a rental cabin.
“By the day, by the week, by the month,” Nesbit said. “It’s got two bedrooms and two baths. We’re just trying to fix it up so it’s livable. Everybody likes to get out of the heat and come up here to cool off.”
But, in fact, fewer tourists are driving up to Weed these days, not since the Lincoln National Forest closed May 1 because of fire danger and dry conditions.
Weed residents, meanwhile, must drive the other direction.
It’s a 60-mile round trip through the Sacramento Mountains to Cloudcroft, although many who live here choose the 100-mile round trip down the mountain to Alamogordo for groceries and gasoline.
There’s an unattended fuel station 12 miles up the road in Mayhill, the only gas pump on an 88-mile route between Cloudcroft and Artesia, but it requires that motorists pay with a major credit card.
Nesbit prefers driving to Alamogordo because it’s a larger community and prices tend to be lower than in tourism-driven Cloudcroft. He takes a 10-gallon container to top off his tank after returning home.
“When I get back to Weed, I’m a quarter-tank down,” he explained.
It’s a similar story across rural New Mexico.
For John McKibben, whose land is 6 1/2 miles from the high-plains ranching community of Claunch in Socorro County, the tough economic times are complicated by weather. He frets over drought that is parching his 7,400-acre spread.
With grasslands withering, McKibben wonders how he’ll feed his 150 head of cattle.
“About four inches of rain would solve a lot of problems,” he said.
A few weeks ago, McKibben paid $4,500 to have hay hauled from Colorado. Last summer, he said the same load cost $3,600. A load of grain cost $5,000 last fall.
Now, it’s closer to $8,000.
“That fuel’s gotten dadgum expensive,” McKibben said. “We’re going into the hole every day. Nothing we can do about it.”
As in Weed, residents of Claunch also drive to Alamogordo for groceries, but it’s a 200-mile round trip for them. Other times, they’ll go to Belen, a 165-mile effort by the time they return home.
“You don’t make too many trips,” said James Garrison, who delivers mail over a 39-mile farm road between Mountainair and Claunch.
Families try to coordinate visits to the doctor’s office, bringing kids along with adults for checkups. Trips to the Wal Mart in Ruidoso or Alamogordo, every three weeks for most folks, usually ring up $400 bills.
“When you need to go to town, you’ll call the neighbors to ask if they need you to pick up anything,” said Tony Scaccia, a retired teacher. “Everybody helps each other the best we can.”
Back in Weed, the loss of the gas station poses other issues.
Nesbit said the store drew about 70 percent of its business from campers and outdoorsmen who head into the woods to hunt elk, deer and turkey.
Roger Woodle, a Lincoln National Forest ranger, said gas pumps in nearby Pinon, Sacramento and Hope have closed within the last 20 years, presenting longer drives for anyone going deep into the forest.
“Make sure you have enough gas to get back,” Woodle cautioned.
The Weed Store closed the weekend after Memorial Day, a testament to increasingly difficult economic times in the rural West.
“There’s a lot of emotion involved. Everybody around here is pretty upset,” said Dean Nesbit, a handyman who removed shelves and installed laminated flooring inside the building last week.
The store, which had been open about 20 years, sits amid a landscape of tall timbers and pinon trees. Stone steps lead to the porch, where pine logs support a red metal roof. Soon, it will be a rental cabin.
“By the day, by the week, by the month,” Nesbit said. “It’s got two bedrooms and two baths. We’re just trying to fix it up so it’s livable. Everybody likes to get out of the heat and come up here to cool off.”
But, in fact, fewer tourists are driving up to Weed these days, not since the Lincoln National Forest closed May 1 because of fire danger and dry conditions.
Weed residents, meanwhile, must drive the other direction.
It’s a 60-mile round trip through the Sacramento Mountains to Cloudcroft, although many who live here choose the 100-mile round trip down the mountain to Alamogordo for groceries and gasoline.
There’s an unattended fuel station 12 miles up the road in Mayhill, the only gas pump on an 88-mile route between Cloudcroft and Artesia, but it requires that motorists pay with a major credit card.
Nesbit prefers driving to Alamogordo because it’s a larger community and prices tend to be lower than in tourism-driven Cloudcroft. He takes a 10-gallon container to top off his tank after returning home.
“When I get back to Weed, I’m a quarter-tank down,” he explained.
It’s a similar story across rural New Mexico.
For John McKibben, whose land is 6 1/2 miles from the high-plains ranching community of Claunch in Socorro County, the tough economic times are complicated by weather. He frets over drought that is parching his 7,400-acre spread.
With grasslands withering, McKibben wonders how he’ll feed his 150 head of cattle.
“About four inches of rain would solve a lot of problems,” he said.
A few weeks ago, McKibben paid $4,500 to have hay hauled from Colorado. Last summer, he said the same load cost $3,600. A load of grain cost $5,000 last fall.
Now, it’s closer to $8,000.
“That fuel’s gotten dadgum expensive,” McKibben said. “We’re going into the hole every day. Nothing we can do about it.”
As in Weed, residents of Claunch also drive to Alamogordo for groceries, but it’s a 200-mile round trip for them. Other times, they’ll go to Belen, a 165-mile effort by the time they return home.
“You don’t make too many trips,” said James Garrison, who delivers mail over a 39-mile farm road between Mountainair and Claunch.
Families try to coordinate visits to the doctor’s office, bringing kids along with adults for checkups. Trips to the Wal Mart in Ruidoso or Alamogordo, every three weeks for most folks, usually ring up $400 bills.
“When you need to go to town, you’ll call the neighbors to ask if they need you to pick up anything,” said Tony Scaccia, a retired teacher. “Everybody helps each other the best we can.”
Back in Weed, the loss of the gas station poses other issues.
Nesbit said the store drew about 70 percent of its business from campers and outdoorsmen who head into the woods to hunt elk, deer and turkey.
Roger Woodle, a Lincoln National Forest ranger, said gas pumps in nearby Pinon, Sacramento and Hope have closed within the last 20 years, presenting longer drives for anyone going deep into the forest.
“Make sure you have enough gas to get back,” Woodle cautioned.
