NM Adventure Series

Overnight at Chaco is in the books. No pictures of the nighttime sky. I did no research on how to do so with an iPhone. My camping setup works. Had everything binned, making camp setup and meal time easy-peasey.

 

Visited a few places here in southern NM near Roswell that I hadn't been before. Started with Mescalero Sands OHV Recreational Park. It's actually for ATVs,, dune buggies and such but it was Monday and nobody around so I wanted to play. There are some major dunes there. I actually got the chance to use that fancy schmancy crawl control. It works very well. My traction boards are still virgins. The pup thinks I'm a nutcase. As she gets older she'll know it for certain. Then we went to Bottomless Lakes State Park to spend the night. It was pretty nice and the weather was perfect for some hiking. I didn't take many pictures. My battery was low and I forgot my charging cord. Oh well, at least I wasn't abducted by aliens...

 

If you do get abducted, be sure to leave the keys for those of us left behind.

 

I love taking photos of the roads/trails I travel in NM. Here are a few.

 

Back in 2011 when we did this road up from Grants, I thought I was off roading, it was chewed up. I really enjoy visiting there.

I got a chance to do most the the NMBR last year, most of that is a fun trip, loved the northern part.

Happy to be back out west, Love NM & CO. Hope you guys don’t mind me joining in, I live in NM from 1980-91, UNM grad, and then 2011-14 after retiring from ABQ ARTCC before moving to Pagosa Springs

 

I got to see some new country recently, which is always a treat. All of this is in CO, but I figured you guys would enjoy all the same.

 

And a couple more from another trip where we took a hike with the small fries...

 

Is that Wheeler Geologic Area? I have been going up to Creede my entire life and have yet explored that area.

 

Bingo. It takes some determination to get back there, for sure.

 

Not to far from me, been there a time or two.

 

I was about to ask, how long did it take you?

 

The drive from the start of the 4WD road was 14 miles one way, and it took about 1:40 moving at a pretty fast pace. The road isn't very technical, but has big whoops, ruts, steep climbs/descents, and bowling ball sized rocks (on average) covering the road almost the entire way. It was a grind.

Conditions were pretty dry and we didn't run into much mud, but you can tell there are areas that get pretty boggy in there, and running the trail after a good rain would take it up a notch.

Once you get to the end of the road, you've got a 45-60 minute hike with about 600 feet of elevation gain to get up close and personal with the formations.

Bring good tires and a lunch.

 

So... Nick... I got to test out the new tent. Now to work on refining the food situation. Need to find a weekend to go do that.

Looks like you had fun times. Glad you shared the pics. I'm heading out to Flagstaff for a weekend of mtbing Labor Day weekend. Sometime after that, looking to head up north for a weekend of sleeping under the stars. Interested?

 

It was a good trip, Tom, you would have enjoyed it. Flagstaff should be nice around Labor Day, starting to cool off some during the day, and definitely at night.

Of course I'd be interested in doing some camping with you. I'd probably bring the family along, too. Things may be changing quite a bit with regard to my schedule and availability soon, but even so I should have weekends available consistently.

 

Will text ya. Beyond that, thinking about a day-trip as a TW meet-n-greet as well. Been awhile since we've gathered. I don't have any major projects and haven't seen many calls for one but even a wrench day would be fun. Definitely a different level of TW energy with Scott and Chris gone.

 

I do day trips, too! As it turns out, my schedule will be changing and free time will shrink to weekends/holidays around the 2nd week of Sept.

Fall is my favorite time of year, so we'll probably do 3-4 more trips to CO that will eat most of my time. Getting into November I'll be looking at day trips again, picking new spots on the map to explore.

 

I got a bag rated down to 20 and a liner to add. So, yeah. I think I can make it through some November nights.

I may have some of the health issues figured out. Finally have some energy to spare now that I've made some diet changes. Will be planning and posting soon.

 

We'll talk soon. I'm glad to hear the positive news re health matters.

 

You probably just need more bacon.

 

Went out forest road 144 Saturday to the bottom of the hill just before the Caldera.
Looked too rough for a stock Tacoma. Anybody want to check it out for me. Was alone so I didn't want to get stuck.