I had arrived at the Raton KOA in Raton, NM around noon yesterday (Saturday 28th). As I worked on my laptop all afternoon to finish Blog #3, the sky slowly started to show signs of rain. So focused was I on my work that I didn’t immediately notice that it did start to rain. Having opened all my camper’s windows when I got here, I hustled to close them. When it stopped raining the setting sun made its appearance, right behind a huge white cloud. It was beautiful, the way the sun’s rays, from behind, gave that white cloud a bright orange glow. I wanted to, but didn’t take a picture. I was just about ready to wrap up my editing and publish Blog #3. Priorities…
Today, still here at the KOA for a second day/night, I caught up on messages, did some personal banking business, filled up my dwindling water tank with more water, checked the propane levels (one tank is approaching “empty” so I’ll be keeping an eye on the second tank) and did two loads of laundry.
Moving on tomorrow…
Monday, September 30, 2024
The Capulin Volcano National Monument was on the way to my next stop in Clayton, NM, so I went there, via Rt. 64/87E. That volcano gave me quite a workout…got my heart pumping…but it was a great visit!
An extinct volcano today, Capulin erupted about 60,000 years ago, forming a conical cone that “…rises over 1,300 feet above the plains to 8,182 feet above sea level.” I stopped at the Visitors Center to show the ranger my National Park Service Access Pass, and there I learned that vehicles over 26 feet long, including trailers, are not permitted on the road to the top of the volcano. As a unit, my truck camper is 25 feet long and 8 feet wide -- the ranger said I was good to go. Up I went, and cautiously, too, because the narrow two-lane road was winding and there were no guardrails on my upward lane. The parking area is small, enough spaces for maybe 15 vehicles, plus three spaces for RVs only. One was available for me!
Armed with my binocs, a bottle of water, and, of course, my picture-taking iPhone, I started walking on the 0.2-mile Crater Vent Trail, which “…descends 105 feet to the bottom of the crater, the plugged vent of Capulin volcano.” The pictures below are from that walk --
My next walk was on the 1-mile loop Crater Rim Trail. This trail “…skirts the rim in a series of moderate to steep ascents to the peak’s highest point – 8,182 feet – and ends with a steep descent to the parking lot.” Quite honestly, I can’t believe I managed to walk that entire rim of the crater. Truth be told, the view of the crater down below and the 360-degree views of the wide-open plains of this region of New Mexico – for as far as you can see -- are what spurred me to keep going. Going up the paved path, I had to stop often, especially on this one really steep 12% grade section. On the descent, while easier, the steepness forced me to go slow…baby steps…watching for loose stones. These pictures are from that walk – every step I took and every stop I made…for over 75 minutes...
Heading for Clayton on Rt. 64/87E, the 55-mile drive took me further away from the mountains and through flat grazing terrain…the High Plains of New Mexico. Clayton, according to my map, is about ten miles west of both the Oklahoma and Texas borders. I stopped for the night at Coyote Keeth’s RV Park. There is nothing special about this RV park -- no amenities other than restrooms and a fickle Wi-Fi. The location, however, is ideal for my one-night stay. My pull-through site, which I selected when I made my reservation months ago, is near a small pond. I have full hookups and, as I sat outside for a while after I arrived, I enjoyed a lovely cloud-inspired sunset display.
Interesting cloud formation.
Working on my laptop during the evening, the camper started rocking. A sign that it’s pretty windy out there. Remembering that my camp chair and table were still outside, I stepped out, in the dark, and put them back in the truck. Since I don’t want to find out what strong winds could possibly do to an extended slideout, I retracted my dinette slideout back inside the camper before I went to bed. The occasional rock of the camper kept me awake for a while. It was otherwise very quiet.
Tuesday, October 1, 2024
The rocking ceased during the night but I woke up to a sunny, cold (50 degrees!), and slightly gusty morning. Except for the owner, or host, and his dogs, at their RV across from me, this 31-spaces RV park is practically empty. The big motorhome with its tow vehicle, which pulled in at a nearby site yesterday late afternoon, has left. In no hurry to leave myself and, since it’s been 10 days since I dumped the tanks, I decided to do it here this morning, in full view of…nobody.
It was approaching noon by the time I finished dumping the tanks and left Coyote Keeth’s. I got fuel and, getting my sense of direction mixed up, I was going southeast when I should have been going west. Turning back around (thank you, GPS!) I took Rt. 56W for the 55-mile leisurely drive to Abbott, NM. A beautiful cloudless day, the two-lane highway traversed through gently rolling golden grassland. Here and there were trees, mostly pine of some sort. Here and there were clusters of cows, some grazing, some resting on the grass. It was all grassland for as far as I could see…no structures, no gas stations, a lone mercantile in Gladstone, the one “town” before Abbott. At my right (north) mountain ranges were visible in the distance. I was just there, recently, around those mountains – Cimarron, Raton…
At Abbott (nothing there either), I turned south on Rt. 39 and drove through about 25 miles of the “Kiowa National Grassland.” Here the grass is green – darker here, lighter there -- and a touch of amber in many spots. From online – “The national grasslands were created by Title III of the Bankhead–Jones Farm Tenant Act of 1937, when the Great Plains was devastated by the catastrophic Dust Bowl of the 1930s and the Great Depression had left farm families destitute. The national grasslands are areas of protected and managed federal lands. They are essentially identical to national forests, except that grasslands are areas primarily consisting of prairie. The idea was to take out of production abused marginal farmland and allow it to regenerate as a means of combating the Dust Bowl.”
Around midday, I reached Roy, NM. A speck on the map, this town has had a dwindling population over the years. Driving along Richelieu Street (Rt. 39) I noted the number of various businesses that were closed and boarded up. Spotting an “OPEN” banner flapping in the breeze, I parked and walked over for a look-see. It was a restaurant – Lonita’s Café – and it was indeed open! The two ladies at the counter greeted me and right behind them was their menu board. They had tables and chairs and some antique items for sale. On the counter, under a pane of glass, was the local school’s sports schedule for this school year. Several were highlighted in yellow, indicating home games, and one of those highlights caught my eye – “NM School for the Deaf.” I pointed at that, and since the ladies already knew I was Deaf, they smiled at my exclamation of surprise. “Who usually wins?” I asked. “We do.” was the answer. The shorter of the two ladies said she grew up in Roy; the taller one started fingerspelling that she’s from Texas. I told her I was born in Corpus Christi. She fingerspelled that her son lives there. I wanted to ask why she moved to Roy, but I didn’t. When she went to prepare my take-out order, I asked the life-long resident what happened to the town. She replied that people died, others moved away for work opportunities. A school here meant families lived here…that had to be obvious. I asked where folks went for groceries. “To Las Vegas [NM], to Springer, to Logan…” -- towns that were, according to a quick look at my map, miles away. Imagine the mileage these folks rack up…
I would have loved to talk more with them – they were not busy -- but I did need to go on to my destination for tonight. I told them I was going to Ray Ranch, just off Rt. 120, right? “Yes, about two miles that way.”
Affiliated with the “Harvest Hosts” membership organization (www.harvesthosts.com), finding Ray Ranch took some doing! Having booked one night here, the owner and host of this “…5th generation working horse and cattle ranch…” provided me with a GPS link to the ranch. I also had the address – 87 Salamon Road – and the specific directions to my site for the night.
From Rt. 120, the GPS told me to turn right, so I did. I stopped right in front of a “cattle guard” that served as an entrance to Ray Ranch. I stared at that entrance for a few minutes, carrying on a hearty debate with myself. Mere inches beyond those metal bars on the ground, the dirt was deeply rutted, likely caused on a wet day by the tires of heavy machinery. I didn’t want to try to maneuver over or around those ruts, not with a camper on top of my truck! My fellow debater, which would be my other “me,” agreed with me, and we, or rather, I, decided to back up and drive a little bit further on Rt. 120. I soon saw it, this beautiful stone sign – “Ray Ranch” – and a much better gravel road entrance. I turned into that driveway, drove straight ahead, and found a closed gate. This too didn’t feel right…this entrance was just too far from where I’m supposed to be. “Hey, Mapness, just go back towards Roy and use the GPS to find Salamon Road.”
That did it! Salamon Road is a rough and bumpy mixture of broken and smashed stones, but, going slow at 5-10 mph, I was finally on the right road. There was a truck stopped up ahead, and since the driver was flashing the headlights, I thought it was a signal for me to come on over. I flashed my headlights back, but as it turned out, the driver wasn’t affiliated with the ranch. He was an employee from the area on a job assignment there. Looking at my Harvest Host directions, this nice fella – hairy arms (that I know because I squeezed his arm a few times, the better to get him to stop talking and look at me) and scruffy beard (that I know too because I reached out a coupla times to turn his jaw to me) – said I was going the right way. Pointing at some structures up ahead, he said to just cross this cattle guard and one more up ahead and I’m there.
Passing the stone homestead, I rounded a curve and found five RV sites. I chose the last one which looked a lot more level than the others. Water and 50-amp electric hookups are provided at the ranch. My camper is 30-amp but since I have a 50-amp adapter I used it to get the shore power for my fridge, lights, and laptop. Never mind Wi-Fi…my Hotspot is working out great! The camper all set up, I checked out my environs and then sat outside with my Rum/Diet Coke cocktail, recuperating from that day’s adventures. I didn’t see any livestock – this is a big ranch after all. I did watch the sun set…
Wednesday, October 2, 2024
I woke up at 5:00 a.m. – this 74-year-old bod needed to pee. Looking out my cabover window I could see the stars. Not very clearly, though, since I don’t go to bed with my glasses on, but I knew this was an opportunity I should not pass up. Since there was no moon, October 2 being the date of a New Moon phase, I knew the sky, being cloudless as well, would be completely dark. I put my shoes on – glasses, too -- grabbed my iPhone and stepped outside. I found the Big Dipper, the three stars in a straight line (Orion’s Belt, I think), a very bright star (Sirius?), and – although I’m really not sure – a faint hint of the Milky Way. I tried but was unable to hold my iPhone steady enough for a focused picture of the stars.
I spent the morning working on Blog #4. It was just me and this huge expanse of grazing grass. I didn’t have any visitors, not even the Ray Ranch host. The livestock must be corralled or grazing somewhere else. Probably safer for us “city slickers!” Before leaving my site, I walked over to the family homestead. Signs of children were evident in the yard but nobody was home. Doing my part as a Harvest Hosts member, I placed a $30.00 donation, sealed in an envelope with a “thank you” message, on a bench near the front door and – remembering the winds around here – weighted it down under a rock.
Returning to Roy, by the time I got back on Rt. 39S, it was 2:30 pm and I was on my way to the Conchas Lake State Park, in Conchas, NM. Rt. 39 was pretty much more of the same – grassland – but there were more signs of human activity, too. Much to my delight, I finally spotted my all-time favorite wildlife – pronghorns! I’d been hoping to see at least one on this trip and, now here, for just a fleeting moment, I saw a group of them. Beautiful specimen!
It wasn’t long before I reached the junction with Rt. 419W and got on that highway. Goodness, what a drive this was on this 48-mile narrow two-lane road! For several miles, the terrain looked exactly like Rt. 39…flat grassland. Approaching an alert sign, I was forewarned that I would be driving down a steep grade. Okay, I’ve dealt with those downhill grades many times over the years with the truck camper.
Going down my eyes widened at what I was seeing before me. It was so sudden – like somebody flicked open a curtain. I was entering the bottom of a canyon! I was surrounded by high rocky cliffs, huge boulders, and trees everywhere. I was crossing creeks (most of them dry) and, at one point, I crossed over the Canadian River, which “…originates in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in northeastern New Mexico and flows southeast across the Las Vegas Plains. At Conchas Lake, the river turns eastward.”
Driving through the Sabinoso Wilderness, I was running into cows! At one point, two were crossing the road – one of them taking its time about it. Their friends were on my side of the road, eyeballing me. A few miles later, just one cow, also taking its sweet time, sauntered over to my side – eyeballing me, too. From online -- “The Sabinoso Wilderness is a remote area in the northeastern portion of New Mexico. The Wilderness includes a series of high, narrow mesas surrounded by cliff-lined canyons. The rugged country primarily supports piñon pine and juniper woodlands with occasional clusters of ponderosa pine. A perennial warm season grass savanna is found on the mesa tops. Streams periodically flow in the canyon bottoms supporting riparian vegetation including willow and cottonwood. The deep canyon area, surrounded by the wide-open New Mexico plains, is unique for this region. The deep incisions cut by Cañon Olguin, Cañon Largo, and Lagartija Creek create a striking topographical and geological contrast in this otherwise flat terrain.”
The two lanes of this highway were so narrow I practically hogged the middle of the road almost all the way. There were no vehicles behind me the whole time and only about four came from the opposite direction. It was impossible to stop for pictures – no shoulders and no turnouts anywhere on this stretch of road.
The sun was getting lower in the sky by the time I connected to Rts. 104E and 432N towards Conchas Lake State Park. Arriving at the Visitor Center, the door was locked and the sign on the window said they closed at 5:00 pm. By my Apple iWatch, which is supposed to never be wrong, it was 4:50 pm. Muttering to myself, “It ain’t five o’clock yet!” I peered through the window, saw a figure in the darkened space, and knocked on the door…twice. Somebody might have hollered a response, but how am I supposed to know that? I had my reservation document with me, which did include the name of my reserved campground and site number, but I wanted a map of the state park. This is a large lake here -- “Conchas Lake is a 25-mile (40 km) long reservoir in northeastern New Mexico, behind Conchas Dam on the Canadian River. The lake has an elevation of 4,200 feet (1,300 meters) and a surface area of 9,600 acres. Conchas Dam was completed in 1939 by the United States Army Corps of Engineers.”
I returned to my truck and just as I started the motor, this ranger appeared. I looked at my watch and he looked at me, handsome youthful face full of understanding and apology. I got my map and was soon all set up at my campsite. Again, sitting outside, I watched it get darker and caught another sunset.
Thursday, October 3, 2024
It was another windy night last night and I again retracted the slideout into the camper when I got ready for bed. The microwave clock informed me this morning that I had lost power during the night. I reset the clock and checked the fridge. All is well!
I spent the day working on Blog #4 – updating, editing, and organizing pictures. And looking out the windows…often. Ah, there’s a squirrel in the tree just outside my dinette window. “Hey, squirrel, there’s two piles of scat outside near my camper. They yours?” I actually don’t think so…those piles look too big for squirrel.
Towards late afternoon, a female ranger stopped by with a prepared note to let me know that a nearby electrical breaker was going to be repaired and I may be without power for a short while. I told her about my power outage (based on the clock this morning) but that I’ve had power since resetting the clock. It wasn’t long before she came back to let me know that the repair was done. I asked and she wrote down her name – Ciera. She smiled at my two attempts to pronounce her name (“see-ra” is how I did it). Ciera was very sweet about it and I think I caught her say “…good enough.”
After taking a brief walk around this near-empty campsite area, I sat outside, as I always like to do at this time of day. I continued to read a little bit more of the book I started back in Questa, NM. With the sunset on the horizon, I soon put the book down.
A different sort of sunset view…Friday, October 4, 2024
Having already packed the evening before, I left the state park around 9:45 am and headed out for the 3-hour drive, via Rt. 104W, skirting around Santa Fe on I-25S, and connecting to Rt. 550S to [my sister and brother-in-law] Evelyn and David’s house in Rio Rancho, NM. The drive today presented more of New Mexico’s enchanting scenery, especially on Rt. 140. Not knowing what I would see around the next curve or over the next bend, I was definitely granted a “last hurrah” of sorts on this road when a posted sign alerted me to a 3-mile trek up a 20-35 mph winding rocky hill (or mesa), and to watch for falling rocks, of which there was plenty on the shoulder of my lane. At the top, I found myself back on the prairie – that vast expanse of golden grass.
I arrived at Ev/David’s house shortly after 2:00 pm, made sure I’d parked on a level surface on their cul-de-sac, and quickly made myself at home. I met Monty, a 10-year-old Havanese that Ev and David had been caring for this past week. His owners, who are, like David, British, will be coming here tomorrow. It will be a full house with some interesting language challenges -- ASL between Ev and me (which David doesn’t follow), and the thick accents between David and Lesley/Mike (which Ev struggles to follow).
The day wrapped up with good conversation, a light meal/snacks, occasional “pet me” visits from Monty, and a bit of TV.
Saturday, October 5, 2024
Despite a bit of morning haze in the sky above Albuquerque, we saw some hot air balloons in that direction. Monty’s owners will be here around late afternoon. I made time to finish up this Blog #4 so I can publish it before I move on tomorrow morning.
Evelyn, David, me...and Monty!
Beautiful sunset 🌅 You look peaceful outdoor . Thanks for sharing journey ! ❤️ Modela
ReplyDeleteAmazing pictures. I am glad Monty is now keeping you with his dog-company ;-) I am glad GPS helped you in some way and I guess Greg Pard's advice was helpful! ;-) What I learned from this article is that New Mexico is full of amazing and beautiful nature places. Thanks for showing us that.
ReplyDelete