Sawmill Mountain

We drove up to Greenie Peak on Sawmill Mountain today.  It was an easy Jeep road that is very popular with OHV and motorcycles. The scenery is very pretty except for all the dead trees due to the cedar bark beetles that are ravaging the Rocky Mountains in NM, CO WY and other states.  Once we got up above the 10,000 foot elevation, the trees were healthier and prettier.  

As we explored the top of the mountain we crossed Midnight Meadow several times.  When we found the Edison and Anchor Mines, we learned that there used to be a town near the mines called Midnight Township.  The Anchor Mine stamp mill was wired together in recent years so that one could get an idea of what the mining operation might have looked like.  They also tried to restore a log cabin but nature prevailed and it fell down.  The mines and town were establishing in the late 1890’s and only lasted three to five years.  The gold and other metals that they found were not high quality and short on quantity. Its amazing to me to see some of these structures that are up to 120 years old.

Red River Ski Area

We had dinner at Texas Red’s, a cowboy restaurant.  Their menu had this story on it:  "A cowboy is laziness with a deck of cards, bravery with spurs, energy on a dance floor, and a legend of the Old West with a copy of Playboy.  He has the energy of a turtle, the brains of an idiot, the sincerity of a liar and when he wants something, it is usually connected with horses or girls!"  Texas Red’s original location burned down in 2004.  This is the description of the arsonist: “This cowardly and criminal act was perpetrated by a no good low life. . .  this scum of a lower than a snake’s belly slime width decided to cook all the fine steaks at one time. . .”  

Another Campground

We moved to a National Forest Campground, Fawn Lakes, on Wednesday because we want to be in the forest and near the river, we want to build campfires, and explore nature and John wants to trout fish.

Fawn Lakes is one of four campgrounds within 8 miles of Red River. They all have reservable sites and walk-in sites.  We got a pretty nice walk-in site but John worries everyday that we will get kicked off because it is a handicapped site.  So far no one has said anything to us. The two small lakes are very popular fishing holes so John is fishing the river.  In two days we have gone into town at least three times to buy a fishing license, lures, strike indicators (aka bobbers), stuff to make the flies float and more flies and more bobbers and looked at fish nets.  This is getting to be a really expensive sport!

I have done the laundry, got my hair cut, shopped for stuff, grocery shopped and picked up sticks for the fire.  I am also crocheting baskets again.  The weather has been pleasant, even cool due to clouds threatening rain but not letting go of their moisture.  The campground host has been very friendly and gave us a map of some Jeep trails nearby.  I’m ready to go!

Red River, Red River

Yesterday we drove a whole 35 miles to the town of Red River, a ski resort village. We opted to stay in a commercial campground, Roadrunner RV Resort, located on the Red River.  We are only 1/2 mile from town so a nice walk was in store, a stop at a bar and dinner in town.

Today we explored the National Forest campgrounds on the west side of town, along the Red River.  Of the five places we checked out, we have picked two possible camps to move to in the near future, only 5 miles away.  We are doing some major traveling - HA HA!  On our walk yesterday we stopped to visit with a stranger from Kansas City.  He was in a Jeep with a KC sticker.  He pointed us to three off road trails we hope to try while in the area.  

Today we  went up to Goose Lake. It was not a technically difficult road but it was steep, rocky and narrow.  We met at least a dozen different OHV’s and Jeeps coming down as we were going up. All along the way was evidence of mining from the early 1900’s such as fallen cabins, a partial mill and a tunnel into a mine. Goose lake was a beautiful aqua green lake with a backing of steep cliffs reflected in the water and covered with long-horned mountain sheep.  We heard them baaing as we walked up and, using the binoculars, we found them on the rocks on the far side.  They are fascinating creatures to watch as they bound across boulders and cliff faces.

Relaxing in Our Own Ways

This weekend has been what most working folks would call a relaxing weekend, away from stress and distress, laid back and refreshing.

John went trout fishing for several hours each morning and late each afternoon.  While he’s gone I putter around the RV or do some crocheting.  Saturday morning I took a short hike up the Maverick trail.  I took the trail less traveled and lost it several times but then found it again due to someone placing rock cairns or rusted cans on tree limbs along the way. The path ended on a forest road and I hiked up it about a mile before turning back so I logged about 2.4 miles.

Late morning found us driving to Cimarron, a small village famous for the many cowboys and outlaws who have been through 'these here parts’ - people like Annie Oakley, Billy the Kid, Wild Bill Hickock, Doc Holliday, the James Gang, Bat Masterson and many more.  The old St. James Hotel, built in 1872 is still in business and we had lunch in their dinning room.  The antique store was in an old brewery built in circa 1864 and has been a saloon, gas station and now a store.  The Old Mill was closed but it had been built about that same time and is used now as a museum.

Apparently it’s a custom to throw your ‘used’ boots onto the sign at the entrance of Philmont.

Four miles past Cimarron is the Philmont Boy Scout Ranch.  A Mr. Phillips donated 127,000 acres of land the the Boy Scouts in the 1950’s (I think?).  We drove by the base camp which is slowly closing down for the winter.  We saw the un-canvased framework for all the tents with their iron cots still sitting inside.  There are still a few scouts around but mostly it was tourists and cowboys.  There is a cowboy poetry and song thing happening all weekend.

Sunday John got up really early to fish while I went to church in Cimarron.  One gentleman told me that the Scouts do 10 day hikes into the wilderness of the Ranch, traveling from 50-85 miles round trip. 

This afternoon, we took a short 3.5 mile hike up Clear Creek Canyon along Clear Creek.  There were several cascades and small waterfalls all along the way.  I was disappointed to see no sign of bear or elk but it was a pretty hike.  A couple of times we had to do some rock climbing and we crossed the creek on log bridges four times.  Its a good thing we both can balance well!

A big campfire rounded out our leisurely day.

Cimarron Canyon State Park

An avid snow skier would probably recognize these locals - Angel Fire, Red River, Cimarron, Taos.  These are in the mountains of Sangre de Christo north of Santa Fe.  We have never traveled in this area before and it is really beautiful.  I always think of New Mexico as desert or high desert, very desolate, dry and brown, brightened only by the Indian pottery and jewelry.  Well, that is wrong.  These mountains are green and lush with oak and pine and majestic outcroppings of rock and cliff; they have narrow canyons with gurgling streams and blue lakes.  The open fields are filled with all kinds of birds and chirping prairie dogs and the forests hide the mule deer, elk, prong horn antelope and bears.

Yesterday we were successful in finding a campsite in the Cimarron Canyon State Park at the Maverick Campground along the Cimarron River.  John rocked the RV crossing into the park and spilled the dishes onto the floor.  Did you know Corelle Corningware breaks??  It shatters!  Then a neighboring camper wanted to visit while we were trying to park in a very tight spot.  We finally got situated so that John was able to relax by the Gravel Pit Pond and catch 15-20 trout!  

Today was a very lazy, relaxed, laid back day.  While John fished I drove into Eagle Nest to the farmer’s market then shopped at a couple of unique shops with very interesting shopkeepers. The rest of the day was quiet and peaceful. The weather has been so perfect - cool mornings, warm afternoons and nights cool enough for light blankets.

Over the Mountains

We had such a long drive today - a whopping 35 miles!  But it was through the mountains east of Taos so that we are on the opposite side of the mountain from the Taos Ski Resort.  We are in Eagle’s Nest Lake State Park and only 10 miles from Angel Fire Ski Resort.  It was a scenic drive except that the road was very narrow so that John had to give all his attention to his driving.  The campground is on a man-made lake in the middle of an open valley, no trees to block the wind or to shade us from the sun.  Today was about 20 degrees cooler than yesterday to a point where I had to wear a jacket!

We explored Angel Fire & Eagle’s Nest then drove around the lake to a campground along the Cimarron River in the hopes of finding a spot to camp near the river so that John can trout fish.  We are going to play the “I’m saving this site for my husband” game in the morning so we will move another 8 miles.

On the outskirts of Angel Fire is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial State Park. In 1968 Victor Westphall’s son was killed in Vietnam along with 13 of his fellow soldiers.  The Westphall's decided to build a chapel to honor him and so they started to sell off their 800 acre ranch to pay for the building of the chapel we have photographed.  It was completed in 1971. The chapel is open 24/7.  In 1985 the Disabled American Veterans assumed ownership and built a visitors center.  In 2004 New Mexico took ownership and it became a state park and was then remodeled and updated in 2007.  This memorial was the impetus for the building of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C. 

Capulin Trail # 494

Another day of hiking to get the exercise we need and to test my new boots. We chose Capulin Trail #494 because the description we had said it was only a 880 foot elevation over 6.3 miles.  Well, guess again!  I think the forest service needs to get a new GPS or new altimeter as our devices said it was over 1400 feet of elevation change!  It might have been a 6.3 mile hike if we hadn’t missed a turn off and searched the area for our trail. We eventually back-tracked to find our turn off so we logged 8.2 miles!  Thank goodness it was not an extreme trail and there was plenty of shade and breeze to keep us cool.

We then drove to the bridge over the Rio Grande Gorge just west of Taos.  At one time it was the only bridge to cross the river.  A local cowboy and folk hero, John Dunn, built the bridge in 1965.  It is over 1200 feet long and hangs 650 feet over the Rio Grande Gorge. We had no idea that there was such a beautiful geologic feature in New Mexico as this Rio Grande Canyon and gorge.  We are discovering many new areas of this lovely state.

Pueblo Taos and Taos Ski Resort

I hope you don’t mind a little history of Taos, New Mexico.  Taos was one of the very first establishment of New Spain in the northern part of this area in 1615, long before the first pilgrims arrived in Plymouth Rock. The Village of Fernandez de Taos was a tranquil place until the great Pueblo Rebellion of 1680 that lasted 12 years.  Then there was peace between the Indians and the settlers until the mid-1800 when there was much turmoil between the Indians, Mexico and the US.  The railroad missed the village but mining changed the town again, then the artist discover the peaceful valley lined by towering mountains.

We opted to do some sight seeing today rather than hiking.  Our first stop was at Pueblo Taos. The Pueblo claims to have been here for thousands of years, it was definitely here when the Coronado expedition came through over 400 years ago.  The Taos Indians built these 3-5 story structures as apartments as well as for protection from invading tribes.  The church was built in 1850 and is the newest addition in the Pueblo. 150 Indians still live here with no electricity and no water other than what they can carry from the river. They worship in the mission church but still maintain their traditional ceremonies in their Kivas.  Many of the residents were selling their hand crafted jewelry, pottery, and baked goods. The baked goods are cooked in an outdoor adobe oven heated with wood.

We then drove up to Taos Ski Resort but were very disappointed with what we saw as they are totally remodeling the whole village.  A new owner/investor has taken over the resort and is revamping almost everything.  We did find our way up the road past the resort to the Bavarian Restaurant where we had a delightful German lunch of sausages, mashed potatoes and sauerkraut. 

As we were coming down the mountain huge rain clouds started collecting over Taos with lightning and high winds so we headed back to the RV to make sure everything was ok.  It was.  I then decided that I should go back to Santa Fe to the R.E.I. and exchange my boots for a pair that fit better. Four hours later I was back with some proper fitting hiking boots and we had dinner at 5 Star Burgers - very good!

Divisadero Loop Trail

It was my turn to find a hike we could do today.  I chose this one because it was only 5.1 miles long.  I keep forgetting that elevation climbing extends the hike to over 10 miles long, or so it seems, and then the sun came out from behind the clouds just as we were starting the hike so that extended the trail at least another 5 miles!  So my Runkeeper may say that we only walked 5.5 miles, but our bodies make it feel like 20!

Devisadero means a “lookout” point or place.  The peak, at 8300 feet, had once been used by the Taos Pueblo Indians to stand guard against the Apaches who would raid the pueblo. The views of Taso were pretty awesome.  We started at 7,190 so we should have climbed 1100 feet but with the up and downs of the trail, we actually climbed a total of 1800 feet.  My new boots were too tight so I had to stop often to add moleskin or bandaids, I climbed really slowly due to the elevation and the steep trail and we ran out of water.  It was not the most pleasant hike we have ever completed.

John took me out to dinner tonight to celebrate our up-coming anniversary (August 19).  We have been married 43 years!  We ate at Medley, a three month old start-up restaurant.  It was very good food, wine and service - they should do well.

Taos

Friday morning we discovered that there was an R.E.I. in Santa Fe, so I went shopping for some new hiking boots.  I got a pair but I’m not sure I’ll like them, so its a good thing that R.E.I. has a very generous return policy.

Then we headed up the road to Taos. We skied here so many years ago that we don’t remember much about it and it has changed a lot (I guess, since I don’t remember it!). We are staying in a campground near town.  During our short walk around the central plaza we discovered Eske's Brew Pub so we stopped in, of course!  I had a Naked Ape (apricot beer) and John had The Prince (a pale ale with grapefruit undertones).

Saturday morning we headed back to the Plaza so I could shop their Farmer’s Market. It was wonderful!  Lots of fruit & vegetables, flowers, honey, meat, mushrooms (several varieties) and baked goods.  It is a very popular place for the locales to meet and greet. Since we rode our bikes to the market we pretty much needed to ride directly back so I could get the eggs and cheese in the fridge. 

Later we drove south of Taos to explore the Orilla Verde Recreational area along the Rio Grande. John had read about a couple of campgrounds located along the river where we might possibly park our RV.  One camp was partially full but not on the river while the camp on the river was full.  There were several other campgrounds but they were for tents or pop-up only.  The Rio Grande has cut a large canyon through the volcanic rocks which makes for a beautiful drive.

Another Hike

After that strenuous hike yesterday we thought we would try a little easier one this morning. There is a service road that skirts the mountain that the ski resort sits on. It's 5.5 miles long with a gradual incline or so the sign said. We walked for one hour and made it up 2.2 miles with 1200 foot of elevation gain then back down in 50 minutes for a 4.4 mile hike.  It seemed to be more than a gradual rise to my tired legs!

Later today we will explore Santa Fe, get this blog posted and then have dinner at the wine bar we found yesterday. This is what we call a restful day. 

Round and Round, Up and Down

Hyde Memorial State Park is located on either side of the highway that goes up to the Santa Fe Ski Resort. The east side is sloped enough that campsites are wedged into the side of the mountain. They are nice sites for tent campers or pop-ups and some even have little three-sided wood shelters. The west side of the park has the 10 electric sites for RVs.

It also has the Circle Trail that goes up the north side of the ridge and down the south side, crosses the road and circles back up to the north again. The trail map indicates it's only a 3-mile hike with a 1800 foot elevation change. HA! It felt like 3- miles straight UP! We walked out of our way for 1/2 mile before finding the trail head (UP-down), then we hiked the steepest part of the trail first. It took us over an hour to go one mile UP.  The views from the top were spectacular!  Then we hiked down a fairly steep ridge, crossed the road and hiked UP again to the traill head and then hiked UP some more to the RV. My Runkeeper App reported a 4.3 mile hike!  And that was all before lunch!

After naps, of course, we drove up to the ski area observing númerous trail heads along the 10- mile drive. The ski area is at about 10,000 ft elevation. Coming back down we decided to explore the only gravel side road we passed. It was a lovely drive, no challenge for the Jeep, and took us down to the highway 15 miles north of Santa Fe!

To reward ourselves for all this activity, we stopped at a wine bar for refreshments and a snack.

Time for Repairs

Somewhere in the RV's owners manual we think it must say that at the three-year mark stuff starts falling apart and we missed it!

Right before we left home we realized that the awning was broken. A service man said it was the motor and gave us the part number. Enroute we made an appointment at Tom's RV Service in Albuquerque to get it fixed. They special ordered the part for us and worked us into their very busy schedule. 

On Monday as we tried to leave the Manzano State Park our retracting steps stopped retracting! With a few, well really a lot, of swear words, John disconnected the power to the steps and wired them up so we could drive.  When we got to Albuquerque, John went by Tom's to check that the awning part had arrived and asked if they could also fix the step. 

We left Tom's this morning with working steps and awning and a fixed hood release that we thought was unfixable. The owner and his wife were very kind and polite, the serviceman did a great job and the fix on the hood release was a 'gift' from him as we didn't even ask about fixing that. John was very pleased with the work and the service we received. 

Our luck held out as we got the last walk-in site at Hyde Memorial State Park just outside of Santa Fe up in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. During our late afternoon walk we met a very nice man on the trail who talked our ears off for almost 45 minutes!  I bet we see him again!

Red Canyon Hike

It’s official - I go slow up the mountain and John goes slow coming down the mountain. Not the best combination. 

Red Canyon Trail is reported to be 2.4 miles hike over a 1,100 foot of elevation change.  We clocked it at 5.4 miles round trip and it was very steep!  At one point I was ready to give it up and go back down, but John was very encouraging  and I made it to the top.  It was a very pretty walk whenever I looked up from my feet to observe the forest.  Most of the time we walked beside a nice small stream gurgling down the mountain, with a small waterfall and tall rocks on either side.  There were always pine, fir and aspen to keep us cool and the wild flowers were lovely.  Since we walked during the middle of the day, we did not see any wildlife other than birds.

Coming down was a breeze as far as I was concerned but John was struggling with painful knees so we walked slowly and enjoyed more of the scenery.

Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument

After getting a slow and late start to this morning, we drove into Mountainair to explore the town and find the Farmer’s Market.   We realized we had been here last spring. We drove across NM and spent the night in a commercial RV park next to the railroad tracks and we remember this because the trains ran by about every 15 minutes all night long!

Almost every building in this town displays some sort of art work.  One building has a mural of the Santa Fe Train, several have mosaic murals and some have decorated interiors .  The one I found most interesting is Pop Shaffer’s Concrete Fence at the Shaffer Hotel made of concrete with imbedded stones and sculptures.

In the 900’s up until the 1300’s the Pueblo and Anasazi cultures dominated the Salinas area.  The natives lived in pit houses covered with pole and mud frames  and then started building on top of them to create stone and adobe pueblos.  The Spaniards came into this area in the late 1500’s looking for gold and to establish this part of the country for Spain. In the 1620’s Missionaries came here to try to convert the natives to Christianity by building churches and helping them with agriculture, developing pottery or baskets to trade for shovels, axes and plowshares.  But the natives found it hard to give up their own ways of worship in the Kiva, or round underground ceremonial pits and the Spanish church didn’t like the Indians still using their old ceremonies so they ordered the Kiva’s destroyed. By the 1670’s, due to drought and famine, slavery, Apache raids, and discontent with the Spanish, the pueblos and churches were abandoned and the native peoples had moved on to other parts of the country.

We visited three missions in various stages of excavations.  Some of the churches had survived better than others.  The rock walls are still standing but any wood or thatch has long since rotted away.  The churches would have shown the Spanish influence in their construction and the layout of the rooms and sanctuaries. The Abo Ruins are mostly just the church with evidence of a city surrounding it. The city would have had about 1200 residents.

The Gran Quiver Ruins is the largest.  There are ruins of two churches, the largest one was incomplete.  There are also large hillsides with rock walls where the people would have lived, stored goods, created pottery, rugs and blankets, ground maize or napped arrowheads.  Several kivas of various sizes were seen and we were told that some of the rooms would have had a secret ceremonial area or Kiva hidden away from the churches eyes. It is estimated that 1500-2000 people lived here.

Quarai Ruins seemed to be the best preserved.  The church had 6-foot wide walls built on a 7-foot deep foundation and a tiles floor (the others were dirt floors).  There was also a square Kiva on the church grounds and the foundation of a small earlier church.  Even though it has the largest church only about 400-700 people lived here.

 

Manzano Mountains

This is the best sort of camping - cool nights, warm days, pine smells and a light breeze to keep away the heat of the day.   Manzano Mountain State Park has a 30 site campground with only about 15 electric sites. We were very luck to get a walk-in electric site so we can stay as long as we want. 

We took a short 4 mile hike with around a 500 foot elevation change today. It was a lovely walk through pine forest to the top of a ridge. We had a fine view of the valley on one side and the mountains on the other. A brave hawk swooped over us, either searching for food or enjoying the wind currents. Not many other critters out and about in the mid-afternoon.

Three Rivers Petroglyph

Thursday, August 5 - It's still hot so we tried to get an early start to see the Three Rivers Petroglyph, an unusual art form of the ancients who used to live in this area. It is believed that the Native Americans, whom we used to name Anastasia and now name Jornada Mogollon, created this interesting art work by scratching off the black layer of the rocks to expose the white rock underneath.  They are anywhere from 2000 years old to just 400 years old. No one knows why they did this or what is the meaning of the drawings. The obvious ones are of animals such as sheep, fish, snakes, lizards and birds. There are pictures of faces or possibly masks. One Petroglyph that appears over 10% of the time is a circle with dots all around it.  We also saw numerous geometric shapes.  Of the 20,000 pictures in this area, we only saw maybe 100 of them. 

To escape the heat, we left the Valley of Fire and headed to Manzano Mountain State Park at the base of the Manzano Mountains about a 100 miles south and east of Albuquerque. With just a little bit of elevation and lots of pine trees, we are actually enjoying the summer in New Mexico. 

 

 

 

Hot, Hot New Mexico

We left Norman OK on Tuesday morning in pouring rain but as we drove westward the rain stopped and the heat set in.  We got as far as Portales NM where we spent the night at Oasis State Park, with electricity for the AC. We had a short drive through Roswell NM and on to Valley of Fire Recreational Area on the edge of North America's youngest lava flow. It's about 5,000 years old!  At 2-5 miles wide and 45 miles long it covers a huge area, only a tiny part in the park. 

The temps hit over 100° with no trees to shade us but, and this is important to Missourians, no humidity!! We're thinking this is a one-night stand!

Off Again in the RV

We left home last Friday after a very short 3 weeks in Sedalia but they were a very hot 3-weeks!! Our first stop is in Norman OK to see our grandsons (and their parents). While here, John made our plans for the next two months, more or less. There is a lot of wiggle room in them. While John worked, I played with the boys. Yes, and so did John!

Keep watching for our next adventure!