July 8-10 COLORADO, NEW MEXICO AND A TOUCH OF UTAH, JULY 2019

Monday, July 8, 2019

7AM.  In what will no doubt be another sweltering day in Spring, Texas, we finish loading the Trek and hit the road.  The high elevations and cooler temperatures of northern New Mexico and Colorado are calling!

But first we need to get out of Texas.  No small feat.   Up I45 and over to Fort Worth, then west to Amarillo where we’ve got a hotel for the night. We arrive there at 5:15 – lots of driving through Texas’ prairie and small towns. 

 Through “Tornado Alley” around  Witchita Falls with a little rain here and there but nothing ominous.

We share a rack of ribs and salads at Longhorn Steakhouse, which is within walking distance of the hotel. Good to stretch our legs!

Tuesday, July 9

We both wake early, so hit the road with the sunrise, taking

 some nearly deserted smaller roads through the panhandle – a mix of oil pumps, agriculture (we are in sorghum country), and cattle.  We stop for breakfast at The  Grill in Dalhart where our choices were The Grill, Mom and Papa’s, or McDonalds. Greg tries their special blueberry sausage – it tastes like a spicy sausage with scattered blueberries. I have a pancake which is the size of a dinner plate!

We cross into New Mexico and Mountain Time Zone at 8:07 and after a brief stint north on I25, head west to Cimarron Canyon State Park, which our friend Anne has recommended.  A few antelope here and there, their white butts making them easy to pick out in the sea of greens and browns.

 Elevation continues to rise and the terrain changes to hills and taller trees. In a green valley meadow we stop to watch a huge herd of elk!  Must have been over 50!  It looks like all females and young ones - cows and calves.

We arrive about 11:30 and find our reserved campsite – one of the few left when I made reservations. The park is about 8 miles long, following Cimarron Canyon, with three separate but small camping areas.  We are in Ponderosa – the first.

We set up our outdoor screened room, for some shade and because of the flies that insisted on welcoming us.

Then we set out to explore. First stop is the Palisades Sills – huge fin-like rock formations with a pretty stream at the base.  We talk with some fellow Texans who are suiting up to do some trout fishing.  As we will see, this area is very popular with fishermen.

After sandwiches, we decide to hike the Clear Creek Trail, about a four mile hike along Clear Creek. The day is beautiful – sunny and in the upper 70’s. A beautiful walk in the woods while Clear Creek tumbles and twists beside us, creating small water falls and some deep pools (with fish!). 

 They have had a lot of rain and snow this year and streams, lakes and reservoirs are full and vegetation lush.  Pretty wildflowers! 

We drive a little farther, out of the park, to Eagle’s Nest, a small town on a lake of the same name. Stop by the visitor’s center. This is a huge recreational lake and the town is basically marinas, hotels, cabins, a few restaurants and some residences, all to the right of the area in this photo.

Not much to do unless you want to fish, boat or horseback ride, but it is pretty.

 Back to the campsite where we read and relax, making worsts for dinner.

Wednesday, July 10

We wake to a wonderful 51 degrees and drink in the fresh, crisp, pine-scented air. Today we are going to drive the “Enchanted Circle”, a long loop through mountains and valleys, including Red River and Angel Fire ski areas, and Taos. We stop in this area of the park first,  where the morning light is gorgeous, and watch birds swooping for their morning drinks. 

And then we stop for breakfast and coffee overlooking Eagle Lake.  Lots of geese and white pelicans here! Wildflowers and prairie dogs/ground squirrels too, who chirp an alarm when we get too close.

The Trek is slow on some of the mountains as we pass Bobcat Pass at 9,820 feet.  We stop in the town of Red River and decide to get a better view of things by taking the long ski lift that they run in the Summer.  A nice ride with views of aspen, quaking in the breeze, and towering pines.

 Here we are looking back at the town of Red River.

At the top, we get off and walk a bit, enjoying the views from over 10,000 feet. Can only imagine what a winter wonderland this is when blanketed in white!  Quite a variety of wild flowers here and there.

Below you can see the road we came in on.

We continue the loop to the small town of Questa, where we stop at a Forest Service area to ask about rock hounding. The woman there suggests Cabresto Canyon, so we try to follow her directions down a dirt forest service road. We drive for quite a while and stop to explore, finding some interesting rocks.  Turns out this road is popular with ATVs.  Some interesting "houses" along the road too.

 Back to the loop and we turn south and head for Taos.  Lots of shops, galleries and such and we stop at Taos Clay Studio which we’d read is a sort of co-op for potters in the area. Turns out they are setting up for a show that starts this weekend, so much of the display area was empty. They did have some nice work in another room.

We have seen Taos Pueblo before, so bypass that area of town.  After stops for gas and groceries, we head east again on a very twisting road.  Unfortunately there was an accident  ahead and we had to stop and wait for emergency services to clear the area.  Good time for a snack!

  Greg snapped this shot as we drove by.

Next intended stop is a Vietnam Veterans Memorial, across from the airstrip at Angel Fire.   We enjoyed a picnic lunch with some other visitors, then went inside.  The memorial was created by the family of 1^stLeutenant David Westphall, who was killed in Vietnam May 22, 1968, along with 12 of his buddies.  

Very touching and moving displays, including a statement near the end that thanks people for visiting, commenting that they are glad that people are able to separate the warriors from the war. 

 There was also a display about local Native Americans who gave their lives in Vietnam and a section about POW's  and MIA's still missing.

And there was a very stark, simple chapel.

 From here we went to the town of Cimarron and visited the St. James Hotel.  Built in the early 1800’s, when the west really was quite wild.  It is mostly a museum now, though it does have a very active bar and restaurant and does offer rooms – you can stay in the same room where (choose one:  Bat Masterson, Jesse James, Annie Oakley, Doc Holiday, Wyatt Earp, Pat Garret or Zane Gray) stayed.  There are bullet holes in the tin ceiling of the bar.  Interesting décor!

This is the visitor's center in Cimarron, which gives you some idea of the size of the town! It is located on the old SanteFe trail.

We tried to visit the Aztec Mill, a wheat and flour mill from 1864, but it had just closed.

Back to our campsite. The flies have thankfully decided to go elsewhere.  We enjoyed some taco soup and snacks before taking the screened room down and packing up for tomorrow’s departure. Otherwise it would be wet with dew in the morning.

We take a short walk and return as the moon, just over half, rises.