11/08/07
It’s been an interesting day.
Clayton Lake State Park – left this morning intending to go into town, use WiFi and head back for another night (15 mile one way.) I go to town and realized the Visitor Center was closed up (just a small building in the middle of the very clean small town.) The Park Ranger was a really nice guy. He’s the manager for this park and has lived on the grounds for the past fifteen years with his wife and child. He said in later November the Audubon Society as several thousand ducks, etc fly in during their migration. They apparently do a count annually. We’ll see where I am in a couple of weeks and decide if its worth the drive to see this spectacle of the migration.
I decided to move on after realizing the Visitor Center was closed. I drove south, like forever, through more grassland territory but noticed the character of the ground began to change back to high desert terrain and cover. More mesas off in the distance to the west. I took a route120 west to where I took pics of a 1894 church that was marked on my map. On the way I past a trucker with a flat tire heading the other way. I stopped and backed up (no fear of getting hit from the rear out here!) to see if I could help out in any way. Earnest said he had called for a repair truck and was just waiting on him to show up. He asked if I was from NC and did I take a wrong turn somewhere! We had a good laugh and I pulled over and we chatted about ten minutes. Turns out he was born out in the Roy area (down the road a piece) and that he owned 40,000 acres and raised cattle. He said with the price of gas these days his operation about breaks even. He and his brother started a small trucking company with the two of them and it looked like he was hauling Liquid Nitrogen all over the southwest. He spent some time telling me about the big blizzard they had out here last year with snow drifts as tall as the fence posts completely gridlocking the entire region for several weeks. (This reminds me what the Park Ranger at Clayton told me. There was a small home on the route to Springer, NM that became a refuge for 48 people for two weeks! A trucker finally broke down right in front of their home and he shared all the Spam he was carrying to keep everyone going until they could get out of the area. The Park Ranger himself sent his family to Clayton and he couldn’t get out for 30 days! He finally got out to get his family and they spend another month in Clayton due to the deteriorating conditions on the road leading to the park! ) This big 500 year snow is certainly the talk of the area, that’s for sure. Reminds me of our 500 year flood we had a few years back called “Floyd.”
Anyway, Ernest and I had a good friendly chat, I shared my card with “Bill’s Excellent Adventure!” on it and we parted ways. He did mention this church I took pics of and also of a Forest Service campground called Mills Canyon. I drove about 100 miles off my planned path to stay there tonight only to find out it was closed up for construction! Damn! Okay…I turned back and headed through Roy and another small town and picked up my trail toward Logan and the Ute Lake State Park.
Along this leg of the trip I stopped and fixed lunch, took some pics of cows and another rather old looking church off in the distance back toward a big mesa, and moved on. My butt was getting real sore after sitting so long on such a long drive. Regardless of the discomfort, it just seems like the natural beauty and friendliness of this territory is quite inviting. Ernest said, “this was God’s country, but God seems to have forgotten us out here!” I’d have to disagree. These are really nice people out here who seem to epitomize the best in people. According to the Park Ranger, most haven’t locked a door in 40 years! He told a story of an old couple who were getting ready to move after living over 36 years out in the middle of nowhere. He couldn’t even find the key to their house, it had been so long since they even thought of locking up their place. Their reason for not locking up was that what if someone came along and need to make a call or were otherwise stranded, they couldn’t get inside their house to use the phone or stay warm until help came if they weren’t there! What a lost idealism.
Now Clayton , NM is about 1500 strong with wide streets and a very low crime rate…and very clean. It struck me that this is a little crossroads town out in the middle of the plains in NE NM that has great pride in who they are and what they stand for. This is cattle country for sure and a people who look out for one another. My observation is that these are people of the earth who understand nature and respect her power and have a belief in a higher power, hard work and personal responsibility. I like that as a theory, but here I saw it in action.
Well, tonight here at the Ute Lake SP, I am at about 3900 ft. with a mild night of temperatures ahead of me it appears. I took a short stroll with my camera down by the waters edge and heard all these ducks squaking! Took several pictures and looked down and I saw a bear print, a deer print, and what looked like raccoon prints in the soft silky mud. I started looking around to make sure I wasn’t going to be some ones dinner! If I can get myself out of bed early enough I bet I will see some animals around the edge of the lake lookin’ for grub!
11/6/07
Nighttime is coming fast these days. At about 7000 ft its also getting colder and not warming up as much as in previous days. I am camped tonight at Sugarite Lake State Park outside Raton, NM. Raton is about 30 miles or so from Colorado in the upper eastern corner of NM.
The trip here today was spectacular. I left fairly early this morning around 8:30 from Heron Lake SP, another beautiful place just south of Chama, NM. I have been following Rt 64 since leaving Navaho Dam yesterday.
If there is one route anyone would want to take to get a capsulized view of NM, I would have to say take Rt. 64 across the top portion of this awesome state. From the east, you will come from the plains, into some desert mesas, past Cimarron and Philmont Scout Ranch, into the Cimarron canyon, climb high into the Carson National Forest through ponderosa pine covered mountains with some incredible views, back down through a beautiful valley through Eagle’s Nest and Angel Fire (known for its ski runs), wind back upwards through high mountain passes and down again into Taos (another great ski resort). On the way you pass Mt. Whittaker at over 11,000 ft, I think is the tallest mountain in NM. Still more beauty to see as you wind your way westward through Chama and Dulce and back to high desert country. Once making your way through Aztec (they have a reconstructed Kiva here) through Farmington and on a few miles to Ship Rock and some incredible mesas and buttes in the desert. Rt. 64 will take you on into Arizona and the four corners region and monument.
It was almost dark and getting cold by 6 pm, so I have crawled into my camper shell, turned the heat on and made some coffee. The only challenge now is to not to go to sleep too early or I’ll be up about midnight with not much to do! The radio reception sucks out here in no man’s land, but its peaceful and away from city noise. There seems to be two others out here. One is in a 5th wheel camper the other in a van. I expect the ttempeture at this altitude will get into the teens tonight. Sounds like other surrounding areas will begin to warm up some tomorrow. Oh yeah…snow is lying in shaded areas in the Carson National Forest area.
Talked to a lady in McD’s in Taos. She said they expect a rather dry winter this year and they did have some snow a few days ago, but the snow machines in the ski areas may have trouble keeping their trails snow covered for now. They usually have good snows by end of October. Must be Al Gore’s put a hex on them with all his global warming nonsense! You guy’s don’t really believe his BS do you? The earth goes through these normal heating and cooling cycles, tied to solar flares and a thousand other factors we don’t understand yet. Don’t fall for this crap. Thank god that idiot isn’t president! Hix agenda is about money, power and control and “look at me, look at me! What a wonderful person I am!” Ugh!! Consensus means all scientists buy his hysterics, which they don’t!
11/02/07
Well, my travel task is going to take me another day! I traveled south of Grants, NM into the El Malpais National Monument. This area is honeycombed with extinct volcanoes and lava tubes some of which you need hard hats and lights to explore. I elected to visit the private attraction of the Ice Cave and Bandera Crater. For $9 it was well worth the trip (check out the November slideshow and narrative for more information.)
I stopped on the way at a Visitor’s Center for El Malpais and heated water on the tailgate for a pre-packaged noodle lunch and shaved. It was about a 60 mile drive from Bluewater SP.
Tomorrow I plan on going to the Acoma Pueblo (City in the Sky its called) and take another route to the other side of El Malpais conservation area and take pictures in late afternoon of mesas a natural arch and other features. The park ranger suggested late afternoon since I am a camera buff to get the most dramatic shots.
Turns out this park ranger lived in Dayton, Oh and her husband worked where my father did, at Wright Patterson AFB in Building A! Small world.
She also said there is a BLM camp ground down that route…I’m getting comfortable with having electricity since its turned cold at night, so I may just drive back to Bluewater for a third night! I decided to take a route north out of Gallup the day after tomorrow and drive the high desert area up to Farmington that I have yet to take and perhaps swing over to Navaho Dam for another electric site!
I’m sung as a bug in my camper shell again tonight. Heard tell the temp is supposed to be about 25 tonight. It dropped to at least 28 last night…left my water container out last night and it had a thin sheet of ice inside! Tonight, I brought it inside the shell.
11/01/07
Drove to Gallup from El Morro expecting to stay at the Re Rock SP. Once there, I realized the camping set up is actually run by the City of Gallup, not the state, hence my annual pass could not be used. The only sites they had open were the RV sites with water and electric for $20/night. I did see a rathole independent motel for $21/night in town, thinking to myself that if I needed to stay anyplace, it would be at the rathole!
I spent a couple of hours doing laundry (finally!) and stopped by Goodwill. I dropped off my large suitcase on wheels, another smaller case I was using to store books in and 3 tarps. I picked up a heavy native design shirt (fairly heavy weight) and a heavier weigh wool blend jacket, and a pretty pink wedge cushion you’d use as a backrest on a bed. It had a small tear in it but otherwise serviceable for about $3.50. All total, I spent $14 on these items. The wedge is working great as a backrest on my bed.
From hre, I decided to go back to Bluewater Lake SP where I spent the month of August. This time I selected an electric site ($4) plus my pass. Only one other person is here in this section of the park. My electric heater has been ablre top maintain a constant 65 degrees with the low last night, as best I can tell dropped to around 28 degrees! Damn cold when I stepped out of my hermetically sealed camper shell this morning (11/2).
My normal routine is to fix and drink a small pot of coffee while things warm up, then fix breakfast, although this morning I choose to have a banana rather than oatmeal. I also usually run the engine for about half an hour to heat up the cab and warm myself up while I enjoy my coffee.
I am now sitting in the comfort of the camper shell typing this. I’ve updated my budget spreadsheet and recalculated my gas mileage. I am currently at 18.73 mpg since 10/25. My spreadsheet automatically recalculates my cost at current prices and mpg. As of this last fill up, I have driven 934 miles, used 70.53 gallons of gas, and have spent $212.42 on fuel since 10/25. I have budgeted $350 for 2200 miles that equates to a bit over 15% of my total budget. My running average of cost per gallon out here is $3.01 per gallon.
I spent some time refreshing myself on my western novel and have made a few changes. I really wanted to spend several days in Gallup doing research on the area to get my fantasy history in line with the actual history of the area but the lack of camping facilities (without spending too much on them) has stunted my library research here. I did spot a small ranch about 10 miles south of Gallup that I will use as the basis for the Navaho Jim ranch. It’s in a very rugged area. My only conflict with history is that cattle ranching did not take off here until the late 1800’s and I doubt if any Navahos were ranchers in those days! Minor problem conceptually. Gallup is actually named after a miner who exploited this area looking for gold and silver, so we’ll see how the story morphs as time passes. I also want to get actual street names from the early days of Gallup and the best of all worlds would be to find a historically accurate map of the original downtown district from around 1847. Why 1847? No particular reason…it just sounds right to me. It would be before the civil war period and before the railroad with its ensuing local development of the community and while New Mexico was still a territory before statehood.
Well, today I plan on checking out another Forest Service campground (surely no electricity) to see if it is open for business, then south a few miles to another National Monument called El Malpais with petrogyphs and a local attraction called the Ice Caves (now privately held.) This adventure will put me within probably 30 miles of El Morro. After that, I may just come back here to Bluewater for another night, head tomorrow to the Acoma Pueblo (hopefully its open) and decide then which direction to take my adventure! As long as I can maintain my temperatures inside the camper shell with propane and find campsites open, I may head back north to the Santa Fe area, an area I really have not traveled. I’ve been around the outskirts of it but have not actually traveled it yet. I’m realizing the real challenge is finding campsites run by the Forest Service open after the first of November!
This will do for now. It’s 9:40 and the temperatures are rising, so it’s time to pack up and hit the road again for today’s adventure!
10/31/07-2
I am always amazed at the sights out here. I really didn’t have high expectations for El Morro National Monument. Once I saw the actual inscriptions in the side on one mesa by a pool, from travelers through this “oasis” over the last couple of hundred years, some who became famous, infamous, or later dead from Apache attacks, it had new meaning for me. It is said that Geronimo also had traveled this area as well as the Spanish and many calvary officers in protection of settlers.
The Atrinna ruins from an ancient peoples on top, 200 ft above the canyon floor had a developed civilization whose pueblo ruins cover a 200 ft by 300 ft area and housed 1000 people. Only a portion has been excavated, and to honor the Zuni’s who settled this area long before the Spaniards, only a small corner will ever be excavated.
This site is located across the valley floor from the Zuni Mountain range that runs for miles in either direction. As the only source of water for miles, this location became a stopover for travelers. Speculators anticipating a rail line being put through this valley, however, the trains ended up running further north of this area.
The geology of this mesa is unique with several eras of sandstone layers being put down as a result of a seabed some 50,000,000 years ago and later plate action created the mesa.
I spent about half an hour talking to two Zuni park employees working on restoration of the rock walls inside the pueblo, Calvin and Edwin (and his young son.) Calvin and I chatted about Zuni history and the cultural influence of Chaco Canyon as well as other influences on their nation over the centuries. He said the native ancestral homes of tribes out here were formed more by the geology of the area and, of course, later by the Spanish and American influences on their life.
Enjoy the slideshow and the tremendous vistas.
Looks like for 10/31/07, I am the only camper out here. The temp last night got down to at least 35 degrees, but inside my camper shell I stayed a balmy 65! Tomorrow, I head down the road a few miles to the Ice Caves and El Malpias National Monument.
10/31/07
This has been a busy week. I am currently at the campgrounds at El Morro National Monument. One other person is here, the water has been shut off for the season, and the tremps last nightwere down to about 35 degrees as best I can figure. I purchased a new larger propane heater and it warmed me up into the high 60’s last night. The heater plus additional weatherizing of the camper shell is paying off. The new heater puts out 3000 BTU’s as opposed to 1000 BTU’s of the other unit which I am keeping for really cold weather! While in Gallup I also picked up two more storage bins and additional long johns.
I’ve traveled a huge triangle area and have seen much of interest these past few days. Thelandscape is awesome in this area. I’ve traveled from desert valleys with what I call deseret mountains, to well over 7000 ft into ponderosa pine mountains. The drive has revealed inspiring valleys and vistas the like I have seldom seem…and more than one little hamlet worthy of living in.
The “Cat Walk” is like an oasis in the desert with running water, lush canyon floors and inspiring views. See the Oct photo page for more. I took a 2.2 mile hike up through the canyon in the morning hours before the sun could penetrate the canyon and it was quite a cool experience. I wore long john top, sweatshirt, shorts and sandals (with no socks), and a stocking cap. It was a chilling experience.
Today I plan on seeing this El Morro monument and figuring out what it is all about.
Figuring out where to camp is becoming challenging. The two Forest Service campgrounds I tried outside of Gallup were closed for the season, so “living” outside the state park system looks to be challenging at the higher elevations. I may need to head south again but only after I get to Acoma Pubelo south of Grants.
10/26/07
I paid the price for doing little bit of nothing yesterday. I got a lot accomplished today but not everything I wanted to do prior to heading for the boonies again! Did my usual shopping at Wal-Mart and Home Depot but didn’t get my laundry done or mail my plate back to DMV or my money orders. I can do these at any little Post Office I run across though, so hopefully I can get these tasks done in the next couple of days.
I drove from Las Cruces back to Deming on I-10 mid afternoon and backtracked on 180 past City of Rocks on to Silver City and about half way to the Gila Cliff dwellings. It is about 44 miles from Silver Cityand I began seeing signs like “No trailers over 20 ft” given the narrow paved road and the tight switchbacks. It was getting late in the day and there was another sign saying “2 hours to Gila” and the setting sun was making it hard to see around some bends, so I opted to stop for the night at the second of about 4 Forest service camp grounds. I think this one is called Cherry Hills. It’s similar to the Red Cloud sight that spooked me so much a few weeks ago, but no spooks hiding out tonight. I’m the only one here again and you can see the main road from here and there has been sporadic traffic passing by until about 8:30 or so. It’s a beautiful setting high in ponderosa pine around the continental divide which I passed some miles back at 7700 ft.
Before the sun set, I managed to get two window foam coverings in place. I was hoping to use the pink more solid foam panels but the Home Depot didn’t have any so I purchased another sheet of the 1” white board with all those pesky little popcorn foam balls! Makes such a mess, especially out in the wilderness. I also purchased two more pair of long john bottoms of this newer material that is quite comfortable and not bulky. I also picked up three larger plastic bins with pull out drawers and two more of the smaller size. I have transferred my clothing from the suitcase to the bins and plan on finding a thrift store to donate the suitcase to asap to free up more space. I think I’ll go ahead and get three more larger bins and finish the transfer of my collection of stuff and books from briefcases and Rubbermaid cases to the bins and see what more I need to do. Based on Roger’s enthusiasum for the small coleman backpacking stove and use of smaller propane/butane fuel bottles, I picked up the stove ($20) and two fuel canisters. I’ll try them out and if they work okay, I’ll probably rid myself of the two burner stove that doesn’t seem to have much force of a burn. About all I do anyway is boil water for coffee, or heat soups and my microwave meals so I can save considerable space with the newer setup. I’ve got a plan for creating a small shelf I can cook on inside the camper shell as well as getting a couple of solid case water containers and getaway from this flexible unit that I have to replace every couple of months due to the ultra violet light ruining the plastic. I also need to make an adjustable ramps to help level the truck on uneven ground, but that can wait another month. I use big rocks currently to drive the low side up onto to get the truck more level. Got an idea for making a level also out of a small level and some aluminum bars. I figure I can make one that can tell me how many inches I need to lift on side or the other. Just create an elongated ‘U’ shape out of the bars and hinge one bottom corner. Anchor the level on the top bar with a scale in inches on the upright bar opposite the hinge. Sounds easy…lets see if I can make it with the minimum tools I carry!
I’m looking forward to the Gila Cliff Dwellings tomorrow. Lots of pictures!
The night sky is somewhat hidden with the trees but the full moon is lighting up the woods about me and it is gorgeous tonight!
Later!
No comments:
Post a Comment