Jemez Mountains, New Mexico

Sometimes you need to break away from routine and just head out on an impromptu road trip for the day....

The Jemez Mountains are a volcanic range just about an hour north of Albuquerque.  The region is prone to fires in the spring because of the tendency of the weather to be dry and windy during that time.  The fire risk was indeed rated high the day we went, but we did not encounter any problems.  We did see evidence of past fires in the higher ranges - vast portions of blackened trees with new undergrowth and trees growing up around the stumps and broken, jagged trunks.  The Jemez is home to several amazing areas to explore (from Wikipedia):

Much of the range is federal land, including Santa Fe National Forest, Bandelier National Monument, and the Valles Caldera National Preserve. State lands include Fenton Lake State Park.  There is also to the west the town of Jemez Springs and to the east, Los Alamos and the Los Alamos National Laboratory where the first atomic bomb was created; as well as the pueblos of Santa Clara and Jemez.  

I headed out with my friend, Sandra, taking I-25 North out of Albuquerque to 550 West for 20 miles, then turning right on Route 4.  The first stop was the Walatowa Visitor Center at the Pueblo of Jemez.  We needed a map, some information about the area, and to know where or even if photography was allowed.  On many of the Pueblo lands (or reservations if you want to call them that), photography is prohibited completely.  Some Pueblos allow it only in certain areas, but never at a ceremony or dance or someone's home.  And other Pueblos require you to purchase a permit - usually about $10.  in Jemez Pueblo, the only area for photography was the Red Rocks area right around the visitor center.  So after grabbing some maps, talking with the indians at the Center, purchasing a few cards, etc, we set up the camera and snapped some photos of the Red Rocks area.  The sky was a brilliant blue so typical of New Mexico.

Sandra remembered that the Gilman Tunnels was really cool to see.  So we checked the map, headed back up Hwy 4 and turned left off the National Scenic Byway onto Rte 485.  No pictures here as we were still on Pueblo Land until we got near the tunnel.  The Gilman Tunnels were originally blasted through the rock in the 1920s as part of a logging rail line.  It was also used as a setting in the film 3:10 to Yuma.  Approaching the tunnels, the winding road begins to follow the Guadalupe river to the right.  Just prior to the tunnels it becomes a single lane road with plenty of pulloffs to allow for passing vehicles.  We stopped just in front of the tunnels to take in the gorgeous scenery.  Sun shining brightly.  No sounds except the roaring of the river far below.  A slight breeze kept us cool as we sat and watched the bright white clouds, the occasional butterfly and a slow, wheeling hawk in the sky.  It seemed a good place to us to pause and grab the sandwiches from the cooler and just relax a bit and sink into nature....

And  then into the tunnels!!

Not far on the other side of the tunnels, the paved road turns to dirt.  On the map, it looks like a short jaunt up to Rte 126, which then connects back with Hwy 4.  Be forewarned.  It's actually about 20 miles or so of washboard dirt road.  In my little car, we couldn't go more than 20 mph - and most of the time less than that or the shaking would bounce us sideways off the road.  Of course, it was our own fault for not asking questions or reading a serious map, etc, etc.... but we did enjoy seeing lots of campers off to the side as it wound up, up, up into the mountain range south of La Cueva.  The temperature dropped about 20 degrees.  We saw a red long horn steer in the woods grazing - no one else around, not even another cow.  I stopped for Sandra to take pictures and for a bit he stared us down and then decided we weren't worth it.  Good thing.  I don't think the Ghost would have survived those horns!  My mantra every time the bumps got really bad...."I gotta get a Jeep.  I gotta get a Jeep."

We passed several patches of snow off to the sides.  And the road was muddier near those.  Just when I was  about to give up (an hour later) and turn around, we made it to the paved road of Rte 126.  A quick jaunt down some windy roads and we were back on Hwy 4 heading south.  Here we passed Battleship Rock, Soda Dam and the Jemez State Monument (where I have gone the last two Decembers to the Luminaria Christmas celebration).  We stopped at Soda Dam to see the water fall.  Be sure to click on the link for Soda Dam above - it's really interesting about it's formation.  This whole area is rife with hot springs.  Indeed, with the windows down, it smelled strongly of sulphur! 

After that we passed briefly through the town of Jemez Springs, stopping in at the friendly coffee shop for a drink.  I hope to return to Jemez Springs sometime soon and actually take advantage of one of the many public or private hot springs available to soak away some stress.  For now though, the day was beginning to wane and I still had to make it back in time to pick up Jane (my dog) at daycare.  Until next time....

Jules

Road Trip to Alamagordo

It's been a long winter with not nearly enough exploring while I working moving my household among other things.  So yesterday when I found out that the new owner for one of my dogs (long story there, which I won't bore you with here) was unable to come pick him up this weekend,  I decided to go on an impromptu road trip for today.  This was one long road trip - roughly 3 1/2 hours each way!  The new owner lives somewhere east of Almagordo in the mountatins.  So she agreed that if I drove the dog  down that far, she would meet me in Tularosa - just on the outskirts of Almagordo.  So I got up early this morning and hit the road by 7 AM!  That makes both weekend days where I didn't sleep in! Ugh! LOL!

Since I was going to be near Alamagordo, I figured I would take a few hours and do some sightseeing before coming home.  I couldn't stay too late as I have an early morning at work tomorrow.  So I had to do some preliminary planning to see what I could do in the time I had.  I know, I know....you're going to say that takes the fun out of the road trip.  Well, I did plan to see things, but I didn't set a time frame, make any reservations and left the rest to chance.  And chance certainly came into play, when on the long 62 mile stretch that is Hwy 380, I realized that I had little more than 1/4 of a tank of gas without any civilization in sight for miles.  I was memorizing mile markers that had good cell reception when I finally came into Carrazoza and found a gas station! That was a close one.  Road trip indeed!

According to Wikipedia, Alamagordo, NM lies in the Tularosa basin in the south-central desert of New Mexico.  It is known for being connected with the Trinity test site of the first atomic bomb and home of the Holloman Air Force Base and White Sands Monument.  There's not much to the actual city of Alamagordo.  A few chain restaurants, the requisite native New Mexican cuisine joints, a few hotels - and that's it.  But there are several things to do in the area - one of those being the Space museum, which I did not have time to go see.  Apparently many tourists stop in the area on their way to Carlsbad and Roswell - which actually makes it sort of a Trinity of visitation...okay enough of that.  I googled things to do in Alamagordo and immediately picked the two things that stood out for me.

Thing number one:  McGinn's Pistachio Tree Ranch.  I know pistachios grow on trees.  But I've never seen a live tree.  And the web site promised photo ops with the world's largest pistachio!  Who can resist that?  Certainly not me!  And it was only 6 miles from where I dropped off one of the dogs.  Jane, my Frenchton, and I headed off in search of pistachios!  Pistachios are originally from Iraq/Iran, but can now be found throughout the middle east, Turkey, Italy and the United States (California and New Mexico).  Each tree takes up to seven years to reach full production and can produce up to 50,000 seeds every two years.  Of course, New Mexico is well suited for this desert plant.  And man do they taste wonderful!  There wasn't much in the way of education on pistachios in the store - beyond some news articles tacked to the wall.  Perhaps they do more during harvest season??   Also, I was there on a Sunday before noon, so was unable to do the wine tasting.  Apparently they have a sweet wine flavored with pistachio extract.  The trees themselves weren't much to look at, having been pruned and also leafless in winter.  But it was still interesting to learn about them and try the sample flavors - I can highly recommend the lemon-lime flavored ones. See this link for some beautiful photos on the web of pistachio trees.

Continuing on Hwy 70W, past Holloman Air Force base, the land here is strictly desert basin surrounded by mountains.  Lots and lots of scrub brush, tumbleweeds, cactus and sand.  I have to say it's a really boring drive.  I knew I wouldn't have very much time to see White Sands - if it was even open - and that's with it being an extra 22 miles from the Pistachio Tree Ranch.  Apparently, and especially this time of year, the Air Force routinely closes Hwy 70 and White Sands Monument due to the proximity of their missile and rocket test sites.  The web site suggests you call ahead to check for closings.  But, heck, this is a road trip right?  Who calls ahead on a road trip? :)

As it turns out I was lucky - not only was the monument open, but the guard house to the dune area was closed and entrance was free!  I saved a whole $3!!  (Entry fee is $3 per person unless you have a national park pass.)  White Sands is the world's largest gypsum sand dunefield, covering 275 square miles.  Gypsum sand grains are actually clear, but as they tumble about in the wind they become scratched.  These scratches reflect the light and make it appear white.  As you pass Holloman Air Force base on 70, you start to see a stripe of white at the base of the mountains ahead - it grows larger the closer you get - this is White Sands.

Just at the entrance is the gift shop/visitor center.  Jane and I both agreed to skip it due to the crowds, lack of time and the need to stretch our legs before making the long trip back to Albuquerque.  Driving past the visitor center, you approach the gate house entrance to the dunes.  A large sign reminds you that once you pass this point, there is absolutely no water available.  Make sure you have it packed or purchase water in the gift store.  In the summer, with the sun's glare on the sand it can exceed 100 degrees and dehydration occurs swiftly. Once past that, it is about a 2 mile drive past the dunes on the left until you come to a parking area where you can get out into the sand.  (As a side note, in case you are interested, the visitors center does sell plastic sleds if you'd like to sled down the dunes.)  I parked at the first area, and headed down the path to the dunes.  Dogs are welcome here - on leash of course.  There are lots of signs pointing out flora and fauna - the dunes are home to a variety of small wildlife including the kit fox and various lizards and birds.  It was really hard to get pictures because the glare on the back of my camera was so bad I couldn't see what I was focusing on.  I did manage to get a picture of some cute little footprints in the sand - bird I think - before Jane swept them away in her mad dash for the stick she found.  I swear, she can find a stick anywhere!!  We had quite a blast running through the sand and looking around.  I can highly recommend it as a place to visit.  Plan to spend a bit of time so that you can do a nice long hike and check out the visitors center as well.  Perhaps I'll go back someday.

The road to Taos

So whenever I think about Taos, I think skiing.  That's all I've ever really known about it.  Since moving to New Mexico, I've learned more about Taos, and have been wanting to get up there.  Besides skiing, Taos has lots of areas for great hiking, a thriving artisan community, the Taos Pueblo, museums and a famous church.  Having had a rough week over Thanksgiving (not the holiday itself), I decided on a whim to take the dogs and head to Taos for the day on a Sunday.  It's about 2 1/2 hours from ABQ.

So I headed up I-25 to Santa Fe and turned off toward Espanola and Taos.  Merging onto 64North, I drove toward Taos.  It was a cold, but typical sunny beautiful November morning.  The sky was an incredible clear blue color.  About 15 miles south of Taos is the Rio Grande River gorge.  Route 64 winds through the hills, and after one hard curve, a breathtaking vista opens up.  The road passes through the bottom of the gorge, hills on either side; and the Rio Grande river on the left.  I stopped off at the Rio Grande Gorge visitor center.  Had a nice talk with the ranger there about dogs - he had a snoring Boston Terrier and Aussie under the counter.  I told him I recognized that snore!!  There was a trail head off the opposite end of the parking lot.  So after the long drive, I and the dogs stretched our legs and hiked the trail up to a bluff with some amazing views of the gorge.

Heading into Taos, I stopped at the Taos Visitor Center on the right, just before the Taos Plaza.  The visitors center has locally made crafts for sale, as well as maps and information from the helpful staff on things to see and do in the area.  The Taos Plaz is the center of the original Spanish Settlement.  It has the distinction to be the first place in the US to fly the American flag day and night.  Driving on past the Plaza, I headed through the Taos Pueblo.  The Taos Pueblo was established many centuries before European arrival making it one of the oldest, continuously occupied pueblos in New Mexico.  Since I had to dogs with me, I decided not to stop in at the Pueblo, although they do have tours open to the public.  Please note that there is a camera fee and rules to follow to respect their traditions.  Several friendly "Rez" dogs were roaming the parking lot and greeting visitors.

Continuing on, I headed out of town about 11 miles to the the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge.  The bridge is the tenth highest bridge in the US towering 650 feet above the river.  If you go, definitely plan on driving across the bridge, parking off to the left in the dirt parking area and taking a walk back across the bridge.  There are usually several vendor/artisans marketing their wares opposite the parking area - be sure to take cash if you're interested.  Walk along the side of the bridge to the center if you dare.  Don't do this if you are afraid of heights.  The bridge actually moves in the wind and with car traffic.  There is a small area in the center on each side where you can pause and admire the view.  I have to admit, although I'm not afraid of heights, I did have to put a hand on the railing before I looked down.  It's absolutely breathtaking and mesmerizing!

On the return from the bridge, I stopped in at the Plaza area to hit a few stores.  Sadly, none of the ones I made it to took credit/debit cards.  I hadn't brought any cash as this was spur of the moment trip.  So instead I took the dogs for a nice walk through Kit Carson park and decided to head home.  All in all it was a delightful day trip and only served to whet my appetite to go back and spend time in shops, museums, touring the pueblo and perhaps next summer, rafting down the Rio Grande!