Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue.
Please log in, or sign up for a new account to continue reading.
Thank you for reading! We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content.
Welcome! We hope that you enjoy our free content.
Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribe purchase a subscription to continue reading.
Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribe purchase a subscription to continue reading.
Thank you for signing in! We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content.
Thank you for reading! We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content.
Thank you for reading! We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content.
Thank you for reading! We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content.
Thank you for reading! We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content.
Thank you for reading! We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content.
Checking back? Since you viewed this item previously you can read it again.
Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue.
Your current subscription does not provide access to this content.
Unlimited access to the Taos News website for a full year! Plan includes access to our e-edition print replica online. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. You may cancel at anytime.
Unlimited access to the Taos News website for 30 days. Plan includes access to our e-edition print replica online. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. You may cancel at anytime.
Unlimited access to the Taos News website for 30 days. Plan includes access to our e-edition print replica online. This is a one-time purchase. Your subscription will not renew.
We offer home delivery of the Taos News in selected areas within Taos. Click Here to See if you Qualify (Shaded area on map only). (this subscription option includes unlimited digital access). Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. You may cancel at anytime.
The Taos News delivered to your Taos County address every week for a full year! We offer our lowest mail rates to zip codes in the county. Click Here to See if you Qualify. Plan includes unlimited website access and e-edition print replica online. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. You may cancel at anytime.
The Taos News delivered to your Taos County address every week for 26 weeks! We offer our lowest mail rates to zip codes in the county. Click Here to See if you Qualify. Plan includes unlimited website access and e-edition print replica online. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. You may cancel at anytime.
The Taos News mailed to your New Mexico state residence every week for a full year! For readers who live in New Mexico but outside of Taos County. Plan includes unlimited website access and e-edition print replica online. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. You may cancel at anytime.
The Taos News mailed to your New Mexico state residence every week for 26 weeks! For readers who live in New Mexico but outside of Taos County. Plan includes unlimited website access and e-edition print replica online. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. You may cancel at anytime.
The Taos News mailed to your New Mexico state residence every week for 26 weeks! For readers who live in New Mexico but outside of Taos County. Plan includes unlimited website access and e-edition print replica online. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. You may cancel at anytime.
The Taos News mailed to your New Mexico state residence every week for 13 weeks! For readers who live in New Mexico but outside of Taos County. Plan includes unlimited website access and e-edition print replica online. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. You may cancel at anytime.
The Taos News mailed to your New Mexico state residence every week for 13 weeks! For readers who live in New Mexico but outside of Taos County. Plan includes unlimited website access and e-edition print replica online. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. You may cancel at anytime.
The Taos News mailed to your out of state residence every week for a full year! Plan includes unlimited website access and e-edition print replica online. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. You may cancel at anytime.
The Taos News mailed to your out of state residence every week for 26 weeks! Plan includes unlimited website access and e-edition print replica online. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. You may cancel at anytime.
The Taos News mailed to your out of state residence every week for 26 weeks! Plan includes unlimited website access and e-edition print replica online. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. You may cancel at anytime.
The Taos News mailed to your out of state residence every week for 13 weeks! Plan includes unlimited website access and e-edition print replica online. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. You may cancel at anytime.
The Taos News mailed to your out of state residence every week for 13 weeks! Plan includes unlimited website access and e-edition print replica online. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. You may cancel at anytime.
You'll receive FIVE of our top national magazines, including Discover Taos Winter Edition, Discover Taos Summer Edition, Taos Gallery Guide, Fall Festivals, and Best of Taos, delivered to your home address anywhere in the US for the special low rate of $55.
In addition, you'll receive access for a full year to all content on TaosNews.com, including the e-edition digital replica, and a weekly digest of what's happening in arts and entertainment in Taos!
The Taos News delivered to your Taos County address every week for 26 weeks! We offer our lowest mail rates to zip codes in the county. Click Here to See if you Qualify. Plan includes unlimited website access and e-edition print replica online. Your auto pay plan will be conveniently renewed at the end of the subscription period. You may cancel at anytime.
Sorry, no promotional deals were found matching that code.
Promotional Rates were found for your code.
Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 53F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph..
Partly cloudy this evening, then becoming cloudy after midnight. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 53F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph.
I have long been known to have pet peeves about the debris hikers drop along trails, but one piece of litter has become more annoying: the ubiquitous facial tissue.
A used tissue lying boldly in the middle of the path could indicate a person who doesn't know better. But a tissue stashed under a rock demonstrates that somebody knows it should be carried out, and is attempting to hide the evidence.
While wearily picking up the umpteenth piece of used paper along a trail recently, I had to wonder why hikers don’t use handkerchiefs, or that incredibly versatile outdoor equivalent, the bandana.
Westerners know bandanas as a square of imprinted cotton material used as neckwear or a hatband; a friend says they’re also great dinner napkins because they never need ironing.
Bandanas are used to blow one’s nose or wipe the sweat off one’s face. Sometimes the same bandana is employed for both purposes, though for some reason that seems to freak people out. We are, after all, talking about hiking, an activity in which one can go days without a change of underwear or a bath. Also, ladies — the lowly bandana can be used as a pee rag to avoid leaving unsightly wads of toilet paper along the trail. Dangling one’s pee rag on the back of a pack allows ultraviolet light to kill the nasties.
A bandana is usually cotton but can also be nylon, wool, microfiber, silk or fleece. It can be red, navy blue, yellow, magenta or puce — you name it. Bandanas can boast maps of the area, cattle brands, illustrations of edible plants, flowers or cloud formations. Some people may aspire to carry a bandana sporting lavender paisley delicately embroidered onto a chartreuse background — why not?
A bandana can be used as a muffler to keep your neck warm, a scarf to keep your head cool, a hat to keep the part in your hair from being sunburned, or two tied into a belt keeps your pants up. It can be turned into a snare to catch small animals, a fishing line, a hammock for squirrels, a filter for drinking water or a necktie for your next formal party.
Bandanas can be used to tie down your hat so it won’t fly away in the wind. They can secure your bottle of milk or wine cooling in the river so it won’t get washed down into the rapids, or your hiking buddy so he can’t interfere while you ransack his pack for chocolate (which, incidentally, was tied to a tree with a bandana so it wouldn’t fall over).
They may be used as an arm sling for a broken clavicle, a tourniquet in case of bleeding, padding for splints when re-setting a bone, or a gag to muffle the screams as one re-sets the bone.
Several bandanas can be tied together to make a tarp, a ground cloth, an air mattress to be used with extreme haste, or maybe an impromptu prom dress. They can be cut into pieces and used to play checkers. They can be folded up and used to patch your jeans. They can be unraveled (or raveled) and woven into a macramé belt. They can be lined with foil and used to boil water.
Two can be tied together and used as a bikini bottom while one’s pants dry. They can be used to hold your hair back while you hike, to hold your food while you day-hike, or to hold over your face while you hold up a train.
If soaked with water, bandanas can be used to lower the body temperature of a heat-exhaustion victim, or twisted into a “rat tail” and used to painfully snap someone who is stashing their used facial tissue under a rock.
All in all, a bandana is something no hiker should ever be without. A bandana is truth, beauty and a little bit of Rit dye. And once you join the ranks of bandana lovers, you, too, can sing the Chiquita Bandana anthem: “bandana, bandana, bandana is good enough for me.”
Marjorie "Slim" Woodruff is a contributor to Writers on the Range, writersontherange.org, an independent nonprofit dedicated to spurring lively conversation about the West. She is a Grand Canyon educator who also cleans up trails.
Your comment has been submitted.
There was a problem reporting this.
All comment authors MUST use their real names. Posts that cannot be ascribed to a real person will not be moderated. Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.
If you're interested in submitting a Letter to the Editor, click here.