I still have a to-do list much larger than the time I have available to do it, but the new database is far better designed. Also, my laptop is now the master copy of everything, so this means that I can visit a campground with my laptop and enter the data while I camp. When I get back, I push it to the server and the new data is live.

Also, data for several campgrounds are more current.

One benefit of the new data is that the directions to the trailheads are much-improved. Also, the new database structure will allow better integration between hikes and campgrounds (e.g., what's the nearest campground to a hike or nearest hike to a campground?).

The attackers discovered the Water Canyon campground page. If you have any comments to add to it or the other sites where automatic comments are turned off, use the comment form. It will fail, but I will see the comments and manually add them. After PhD, I will re-write the comment program to better exclude the bots.

Most, if not all, of these attacks are coming from compromised computers on cable and DSL Internet connections. Please ensure that your computers have the latest patches. If you run Windows, please run anti-virus and anti-spyware software with current definitions. Pester your software vendors to produce software that is secure by default.

OK, off my soapbox now.

Due to sustained (as many as 700 per day) attacks (i.e., attempts to add links about Viagra and online casinos) against two of the comment forms (Cochiti Lake campground and the Kasha Katuwe Tent Rocks and Slot Canyon hike) direct addition of comments to these pages has been turned off. You can still add comments, but they are sent to me and I have to manually add them. When the level of attacks drops, I will re-enable direct addition of comments.

Most, if not all, of these attacks are coming from compromised computers on cable and DSL Internet connections. Please ensure that your computers have the latest patches. If you run Windows, please run anti-virus and anti-spyware software with current definitions. Pester your software vendors to produce software that is secure by default.

OK, off my soapbox now.

As you can see, I have changed the front page formatting to make better (denser) use of the screen. If you like or dislike the change, let me know via the comment form.

The news page formatting also changed to mirror the news on this page.

I have changed the way that the comment form handles some characters, and it will better identify paragraph breaks. The result should be slightly nicer automatic comments, with less work required by me to put non-hostile characters back in. Sadly, the hostile attempts exceed the real use.

I also fixed a bug that was causing it to lose the city name that the commenter was from, and it put instead a mangled version of the email address. I have gone through and manually removed all of the mangled email addresses.

The hike index page is now making use of the database. The result is that you now have more sorting choices than you are likely to ever need. You can sort by start elevation, length, fee, etc. If you want to use the (now gone) /hikes/oldindex.cgi old index, it is available, but I will not be maintaining it. Therefore, at some point in the future it will cease to work. Instead of using the old index, if there is something you prefer about it, let me know via the comment form.

The sorting shows that we have a few glitches in the data. I will be working on these. Unfortunately, some require re-hiking the trail to fix.

We are on the new server!

If you find any problems, send comments on the comment form.

I believe that all of the (major :-) bugs are out of the new mapping software. The map zooming and panning works, and the database lookups are all working. A great deal of behind-the-scenes work remains (I am completely re-writing the software that drives the web site), but overall I think it is ready. Watch also for more fun features that are now enabled by the better dynamic mapping software.

If you find any problems, send comments on the comment form.

The old page was still available at /oldindex.shtml, but it is now gone. The move to the new (much faster) server will hopefully occur soon (it has happened!). At that time, the old mapping software will cease to work.

The links page has been re-organized and it should be much easier to find things now.

Also, we have started a page with book reviews (one review so far). If you click on the links to Amazon.com, any purchases you make from that click (even if they are not for the book you click on) will help support this site.

The Friends of Otero will be assisting with managing the White Mesa area near San Ysidro. They are recruiting volunteers to help with trail building, sign building, etc. White Mesa is a beautiful riding and hiking opportunity that is unmatched in NM.

For more information, and to sign up to receive volunteering information, please visit the White Mesa web page.

The page for the Water Canyon campground is now up.

The page for the Tres Pistolas Spring to the Embudo Trail is now up.

The (now gone) programs that produce the hikes sorted by elevation gain/loss and the hikes sorted by length had a bug where they generated invalid URLs for the hikes. This bug has been fixed.

The Yucca baccata plant page is finished.

The Sulphur Canyon, Faulty Trail, and Bill Spring loop hike is now up.

The San Lorenzo Canyon Recreation Area hike is now up.

SEARCH! We have added a search feature, powered by Google. You can see a link to this page on the left side of the main page, and we will have a button in the navbar in the near future. Plans for this page include adding a custom search engine for hikes, campgrounds, and plants.

All of the hikes that could be easily converted to the new format have been. Until all of the hikes have been converted, the old version of the hikes remain here.

Note that the new version of the index page for the hikes now has quick links at the top to allow you to jump directly to a section. It also has a picture associated with each hike.

Additionally, the new hike pages also have links to the new plant section.

You can see the new hike format here. Only a few hikes have been converted to the new format, but we are working on this on a regular basis.

We are redesigning the programs that run behind the web site. As a result, things will be a little wield for a few days. In particular, the plant pages are being completely redesigned and reorganized. The end result will be much better structure, but at the moment, several plant links are broken.

Additionally, I am about to re-do how all of the pages for the hikes are built. The end result will be more consistent presentation and allow a search engine for hikes. However, in the short term, there will be some broken links. We are sorry for any inconvenience, but the result will be worth it.

Finally, the Frijolito hike at Bandelier National Monument is now up. However, it is in the new format for hikes, and as a result is not indexed, nor does it show up when you click the map above. Both of these problems will be fixed shortly.

The Frey Trail at Bandelier National Monument is now up.

Noticing that the Jemez mountains are really in North-central New Mexico, all of the hikes and campgrounds are now listed under this portion of the state, rather than Central New Mexico.

We camped and hiked at Bandelier National Monument. The campground page is now up. Watch for four hikes to eventually make it up as well.

The plant page for New Mexico Olive is now much improved.

We camped again at Gallo Campground at Chaco Culture National Historic Park, and we have added more detailed driving instructions as well as another photo.

The plant page for Greasewood is now up.

The Kasha Katuwe Tent Rocks and Slot Canyon hike in the Jemez Mountains near Cochiti Pueblo is now up.

The Tree Spring Loop in the Sandia Mountains is now up.

The Lechuguilla plant page has been vastly improved. Eventually, we will have pages like this for all of the plants.