Peaceful Days in Northern New Mexico (Abiquiu, NM)

Howdy folks!  We arrived at Abiquiu (pronounced a-bi-kew) Lake Sunday afternoon, October 2.  We set up in a Corps of Engineers campground (Riana Campground) that was fantastic!  It was a fairly remote location but the views, terrain and quiet were mighty impressive. 

The 2860 acre lake, at an elevation of 6400 feet above sea level, is the result of a a flood control dam built in 1963. As the pictures will reveal, the surrounding countryside is endless mountains, valleys and cliffs adorned with multiple layers of color. Very nice! After getting settled, we spent much of the first evening hiking the rugged area adjacent to the campground for several miles. Very satisfying.

Arriving at Riana Campground

Campground overlooks mountains and lake

Spacious campsite

Lake and mountain views from our rear window

Even a pole to hang our well-traveled fern 

The next day Debbie tackled her walking tapes with a vengeance and I took off on a spectacular bike ride.  I rode 15 -20 miles (forgot to reset my GPS) in an area running along the Rio Chama River.  It was such a great ride!  The route included rutted road, cobblestone like surface, abrupt hills and turns and finally gravel road leading to pavement.

At the turn around point I was somewhat halted by a helicopter sitting in the middle of the road.

It was medevac carrying a heart attack victim to Albuquerque.  I did a little detour into what I later learned was the Abiquiu Pueblo Plaza.  I told Debbie it was like stumbling into a Belizian village.  Very unique.

The ride back was of course a duplicate of the ride out with one glaring exception.  To enter the area I rode down the backside of the Abiquiu dam.  However, the return trip required riding back up the 340 foot dam. Now let me tell you this was a daunting challenge.  There are several switchbacks to the top.  But the sensation is that if you pause for a nano second you will drift back.  So ride to the top, without stopping I did!!  I felt like I might have to spit out my lungs but I was mighty pleased with myself!  Can you tell? 

We chilled the rest of the day.

Tuesday we drove The High Road to Taos,  a scenic route.  The route was a nice sampling of unspoiled NM terrain.
 

 It also passed through several  pueblos, which my definition would be village, that were little changed since their origins in the late 1800's.  One was pueblo Chimayo  which was the home of Santuario De Chimayo'.

The church setting was picturesque, charming and reverent.

Its claim to fame, respectfully, is that it is a source of healing soil.  The local woman telling us about the church was named Grace.  Nicely appropriate. 

Outside of Taos we stopped at a Vietnam Memorial.  It was built by the grieving parents of a soldier lost at the height of the Vietnam War.  It's now a state park.  I've never been to war but this sort of experience only underscores my strong desire for ALL troops to come home safely, NOW!  Enough said.

Before returning home we went west of Taos to the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge.  This bridge is about a quarter mile long and 650 feet above the Rio Grande.  Mighty cool!

We got home safely.  It rained all night and Wednesday we made our way to Albuquerque, NM for the Balloon Fiesta.  More on that later.

Duane

Great Sand Dunes National Park (Mosca, Co)

We arrived at Great sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, just east of Alamosa, CO, on Friday afternoon. We’re located only a mile or two from the front gate of the park. The campground (Great Sand Dunes Oasis) has full hookups but is little more then a gravel yard.  The place needs a little polish but the location and views far outweigh any cosmetic shortcomings.

The Campground

Our Site

 

Our View!!


After setting up camp we headed for the park.

Imagine this, the main attraction is the dunes. There are mountains and trails all around the dunes, but folks are here to see and play on the dunes. That’s one of the great things about this park facility. To a very large degree there are no areas off limits. On the dunes you walk where you want. So after enjoying a 20 minute movie we made our way to the dunes. Now you’re going to see lost of photos. But ladies and gentlemen, I assure you none of them will fairly represent the enormity of the dunes or the effort required to hike to the top. First the facts. The dunes are the highest in North America. The park covers 85,000 square acres. The hike to High Dune is 3 miles round trip and 650 feet of elevation gain.

But the hike is TOUGH!! You’re slipping or sinking in sand CONSTANTLY!! Not long after we got started I expected Debbie to bail out. Repeatedly I thought she’d turn back. But nooooo. The gnarly exercise queen stuck with it. ”Summiting” was quite an accomplishment and as often is the case, the effort was well worth the reward!! The unique character of the dunes themselves coupled with the terrific views make this a very special event. TOO COOL!!!

 

 

Saturday we moseyed to Alamosa. Our plan was to visit a couple wildlife preserves. Our first stop was the Alamosa National Wildlife Refuge.

The truth is that we walked a trail two miles out and two miles back and it was the least impressive wildlife refuge I’ve visited. It was more like a wasteland with a trickle of the Rio Grande for company.

Actually,  Debbie didn't totally agree with my assessment of the area.  She did point out that at least we got to see the distant mountains as we walked.

We did hustle through four miles so the exercise was productive. Did we see any wildlife you ask?  A few small birds flew by and we almost stepped on this snake.

Next we made our way across town to the Alamosa Ranch and Open Space Wildlife Viewing Area. Such a long name! This was far better then the first stop but still not great. We did another four miles that included circling a public golf course, some natural areas and finally an impressive collection of fresh water ponds. These were the temporary home of LOTS of Canada Geese,

a few other species we didn’t recognize, and at least one American Bittern. Now the Bittern is only special to us because we’ve viewed him as a migratory bird in Florida and there they are rarely seen.

So the highlight of the day was yet to come. As a reward for our eight miles we stopped for pizza. We ordered a 16 inch meat sorta lovers pizza. We ate the whole thing with a 65/35 split. That still qualifies for “splitting”....doesn’t it?!!

Today (Sunday) we head for Abiquiu, NM.  We're staying at what appears to be a fairly remote Corp of Engineers campground.  Don't know what the phone and Internet options will be there, so if you don't hear anything from us for a few days, that's probably why.  On Oct. 5 we plan to arrive at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta.  We've had that event on the agenda for a long time, so we're really excited.

Duane

Pikes Peak (Colorado Springs, Co)

Wednesday started with a trip to the bike shop to get the two wheeler running again.   We then began our  drive to Pikes Peak. 

The road is entirely paved and the quality of the road is quite good.

In fact they were busy repaving a small portion of the road during our drive.

On the drive down there was a fellow, maybe law enforcement or safety of some sort, stopping all cars to check the temperature on their brakes.  He suggested we pull over for 10 minutes. We complied.

In all fairness, there are segments of the road that are a bit death defying.  These segments leave you with the impression that the slightest error could result in tumbling to one's death.

Obviously enough, we negotiated the drive up and down cheating death one more time.  While driving up we stopped at a most scenic lake that was greatly enhanced with fall colors, mostly aspen. 

The top of the mountain is not particularly scenic but the view is unparalleled.

A little to our surprise, we were a little woozy with the altitude so we moved slowly. The bottom line is that it's a beautiful mountain and a must do!

Thursday morning I returned to the bike shop.  The bill was $188.  Ouch!   But that included replacing the pedal crank assembly, gear cables, handle bar post bearings, repacked front and rear wheel bearings, adjusted gears and some kind of of overall tuneup of all remaining considerations.  Thursday evening I had a great 1.5 hour ride on a challenging trail maintained by the county and the bike felt like new.  I bought the bike 10 years ago for about $350 and have barely performed any maintenance  since then so it seems like money well spent. 

Thursday afternoon included a tour of the Air Force Academy Chapel.

It's a noteworthy structure and includes areas for Protestant, Catholic,  Buddhist and Jewish services.



Protestant





Catholic

Jewish



Buddist

We left beautiful Colorado Springs on Friday.  Presently we are at The Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in Mosca, Co. Truly a site to behold.  More on that next time.

Duane

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