Inside the wacky community living off the grid in Two Peaks, New Mexico

IT’S a harsh name for an incredible place. Hundreds of people are living off the grid and away from the law in New Mexico, in a wild and slightly scary community.

Dean is a former ice addict who now calls Two Peaks home.

TWO Peaks Mesa in New Mexico has been dubbed the ‘largest open air insane asylum in the United States’. Perhaps that’s a bit harsh.

It’s a vast desert plane home to a ragtag community of folks who have decided to opt out of regular society, living off the power grid and away from the eyes of the government and police, in self-sufficient dwellings.

As a whole it resembles a sparsely populated shanty town, something you wouldn’t associated with the first-world country in which it’s located.

We visited this strange community while filming our Unplanned America documentary, and our first point of contact was Pastor Dave, who offered to take us on a little tour. He was a tough old boot. An ex-marine turned Man-of-God, he now calls Two Peaks home. He occasionally spat his chewing tobacco into an empty plastic water bottle he carried with him and you knew from just looking at him that he was legitimately ‘off the grid’.

While driving towards the community he told us that the majority of the residents are “social misfits”.

“Most of them have psychological issues of one kind or another. A lot of them are veterans with PTSD, some are hiding from arrest warrants in other states, and the majority of them just want to be left alone.”

Great, I’m sure they were going to love a group of Australians with a camera coming knocking at their door.

He went on to describe the justice system in the Two Peaks community, seeing as law enforcement generally liked to leave them alone.

“Majority rules out here. If the mob decides you’re leaving, then you’re leaving. And it’s better that you leave rather than end up as coyote food.”

We asked if he’d ever seen that happen. He refused to answer the question directly, but stated that there were “drywalls out here that aren’t necessarily unoccupied”. Jesus.

By this stage we were driving through the community. There were caravans and old buses sitting in the sparse scrub on the backdrop of the New Mexico desert in winter. Some of the scenery was stunning; the homes were less so. Often with building scraps, old tyres and other hoarded goods strewn around in a chaotic fashion. And everyone had dogs, lots of dogs.

Anytime you came near someone’s property you had a pack of large dogs barking at you. It didn’t seem very welcoming, and I think that was the point.

That said, the first gnarly-looking resident we met was actually very friendly. Dean is a reformed ice addict who spent years living on the streets of different US cities, before finding his way out to the Two Peaks Mesa. These days he just sticks to himself, growing his marijuana and enjoying the solitude and breathtaking views. He also informed us that in this area there were energy tubes that could transport you to a different dimension. How cool is that?!

The next resident we met was Eugene. He’s also a marijuana farmer. “Best s**t in this town!” he claimed. It seemed to be a popular hobby round these parts, so that was a big call.

Eugene told us that his total cost of living, excluding petrol and food, was $40 a year in land tax. Mind blowing. No bills, no rates, nothing! He said it means he can afford to get his kids into college, which in the US is not a cheap feat.

Next up was Stan. Now in his early 80s, he’s been a hardcore ‘Off the Grid-er’ his whole life. He grows his own food and keeps goats for milking. We asked him why everyone had so many dogs. He told us that it’s like an early warning system.

“You’re your keeper out here, you’re your protector, so you need to know when someone’s around.”

Although it sounds dangerous, Stan assured us that it’s no more dangerous living out here than in the city. Just as long as you “Don’t show fear to nobody”…. Hmmm, not sure if that convinced us of how safe the place was, but Stan seemed to like living out here, and so did the others. But why?

“The freedom!”, seemed to be the unanimous reply. They are outside the structured world. They don’t have 9-to-5 jobs in dull offices. They don’t have a boss. They don’t answer to anybody.

As Dave the Pastor was driving us back to town we asked him why he liked it so much.

“At any time, day or night, you can stand outside in your birthday suit and hear … absolutely nothing. And at night, there’s so many stars, and they look so close, it feels like you could just reach up and grab a fistful of them. My God, it’s absolutely beautiful.”

And as he dropped us back at our one star motel next to the noisy freeway, opposite an ugly strip mall and a string of fast food chains, we couldn’t help but wonder who the crazy people really were.

To see the Two Peaks Mesa in all its glory, tune in to Unplanned America on SBS2 tonight (Tuesday) at 9:20pm or watch the series so far on SBS On Demand.