I retired to Angel Fire nineteen years ago. While building a dream retirement home on the Angel Fire ski mountain lived in Tesuque for a year. Moved back to Santa Fe two years ago.

During the seventeen years in Angel Fire visited Santa Fe regularly, probably monthly sometimes more often. On almost every visit I encountered a “Road Rage” incident. I don’t believe I incited these since they most often occurred because I was driving the speed limit with someone on my rear bumper suddenly racing around me glaring or waving wildly, often in a no passing zone, on a curve or approaching a hill.

Over my 75 years, many of which I traveled for business as a pilot, I visited hundreds of cities and town across the U.S. but rarely encountered enraged deranged individuals as I have in New Mexico, especially Santa Fe.

To keep my mind and body active and to share the beautiful landscape of New Mexico a month ago I took up the hobby of drone videography. Usually I film in the desert or mountains where there aren’t people. If I want to share a public hiking location I film very early in the morning to avoid hikers and mountain bikers.

Since starting drone videography a month ago I’ve filmed on public trails around Santa Fe 4 times. On one occasion while on a 5 minute shoot a female hiker stopped to curse me then walked away screaming at my drone F U for ruining my hike and flipping the bird at the drone. Strange if not dangerous behavior, to say the least! More New Mexico Rage!

Late yesterday evening I was shooting this video. No other hikers or bikers were around when I started filming. You can see a man standing outside the porta-potty in a green shirt at 24 seconds into the video watching me film the windmill and water tank. At 38 seconds you see a man with 2 dogs approaching on the trail from the south. Not a dangerous individual as after one of his dogs waded through the water tank I was filming he got in his truck and left. At one minute into the video you see the fellow in the green shirt, going off trail, walking directly into the wash so as to walk directly under my drone as quickly as possible where he apparently picked up a rock to hurl at the drone a minute later! More New Mexico Rage!

Am I safe using public hiking trails in Santa Fe? While I understand hikers enjoy their peace and quiet hiking this type of overreaction to my very few minutes of filming in these public trails these are clearly very disturbed people and potentially dangerous!

I love New Mexico. That is why I retired here! Am I just unlucky or is there an abnormally high percentage of the population with anger issues here?

Have you had similar encounters with disturbed people in New Mexico?