Rio Grande del Norte National Monument

October 23, 2019

I spent my first full day in New Mexico visiting the bridge over the Rio Grande Gorge and and then going on the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument. I planned to get to the bridge before sunrise in hopes of a beautiful sky.  It was not to be but I ALMOST got to photograph two young men parachuting off the bridge. I also found a little memorial to someone who had died there.

The Rio Grande Gorge Bridge

Memorial at bridge

 I could not get either of my GPS's to tell me where Rio Grand del Norte National Monument was,  so finally had to aim for the town of its address. This is probably because the monument was only established in 2013 from BLM lands. Then it was just a matter of following the signs. It took me a very long time to move very short distances. My first stop was at the Sheep Crossing Overlook.  I thought this was in reference to domestic sheep but I saw a herd of at least thirty-four bighorn sheep, down about eight hundred feet down.  They were drinking, doing a little grazing, and resting.

Found it

Some of bighorn sheep

These may be all rams - the yearlings seem to split off by sexes

River views from Sheep Crossing Overview - looking upstream

Looking downstream

I next stopped and read a sign about  several trails then started chasing pictures. I found myself on a steep trail that eventually got me to the river, in ten switchbacks. It took me at least an hour. When I got back to the top, I found I had only traveled four tenths of a mile each way.

River is WAY down there between the cliffs

View of the river about half way down

Longer view of the river

I was amused by this little shelter.  It did have a little fireplace built into the wall of the mountain to the left of the picture. It was about 50 feet above the river with the trail continuing on down and then along the water's edge. But it was impossible to NOT follow many of the rules.

Can be use for day or overnight

Many of these rules are not needed here

View from last piece of trail along river

The shelter had its own little beach

And waterfall - the same one in earlier pictures but when I was level with it - it was also the end of the trail

I was REALLY going to just get back up, but the light had changed and I just had to take more pictures.

An upstream look from stream side

And these colors were too pretty to miss

The sun was high enough to start lighting the eastern cliffs

And this was the most beautiful of the long views

More cliff details showed up

I met and chatted with two trout fishermen, then snapped them when we were on different switchbacks

I see the sign - I'm saved - as soon as I climb over some tall 'steps'

Details of the trail

I had passed the most colorful graveyard I'd ever seen.  I stopped for a quick visit on the way back.

Each grave was decorated in unique fashions. Some had regular gravestones and actual fencing around them but all were riotously colorful.

I camped out in Cimarron Canyon State Park for two days.  I got home from this trip knowing that I was going to get a little snow and then a lot of cold. I planned to leave early the following morning and get to Los Alamos where it would have less snow and be a lot warmer.

But I woke up at 5:30 A and when I stuck my feet out of the tent to get my shoes on, I found a snowbank.  The snow was still coming down heavily and ended up  being about three inches, rather than the predicted inch.  I couldn't make it up the first hill, until a Good Samaritan backed my 
car back down the hill and drove it to the top.  The snow kept getting heavier until I got to a place where the road to Los Alamos was closed due to a three car wreck. I decided enough was enough, and I didn't plan to camp in the weather that was just going to get colder. So I spent the rest of the day in a motel in Eagle Nest, three miles from my campground. The town had no open restaurants, but did  have a Senior Center that served lunch. I was only about a fourth of a mile away so I ate there. AND I enjoyed a long soak in a hot bath.

Now it's Friday and I've been driving from Eagle Nest toward Bandelier National Park for most of the day, even though it is only a two and a half hour trip.  But I took lots of pictures stops  along the Rio Grand - see them on Facebook - and discovered a Pueblo that Julie and I will visit Sunday morning. when this publishes. I pick her up Saturday  and we'll do stuff in Albuquerque  before coming back to Bandelier National Monument.

Stay tuned.

Dillon Pinnacles Hike

October 13, 2019

After we left Black Canyon of the Gunnison,  Elizabeth and I managed to find a campground  in the Curecanti National Recreation we both liked, just before dusk. We enjoyed another evening around the fire before we got too cold to stay up.  In fact, I started the car and got warm before ducking into my tent and wrapping up tightly in blankets, sleeping bag, and comforter. I didn't have to wait to warm up and fell to sleep quickly.

We both go up early and had packed and eaten a quick breakfast and were on our way to our chosen hike - a four mile one that touted its beauty - just at sunrise.

We arrived at the trailhead minutes after the sun rose and started off.  We had to go round another mountain before the Dillon Pinnacles appeared. We hiked toward them, then along them as we climbed high enough to enjoy the reservoir and surrounding hills.

We hiked together for a few minutes until the trail began its rise.  I kept stopping for another picture of the same line of rocks as I was sure each new angle and closer distance was better than the earlier pictures.

The Pinnacles were too large for my lens   

I took this picture when I was at an angle to the Pinnacles and got most of them in 

The trail started along the lake, turning to go along an inlet.  Then it went along a lovely, wooded draw where I could have stayed for hours. 

The trail went to the right of the tree and is also that white patch in upper center

I had to take another picture almost immediately

I loved these leaves in French pinks and yellows

Most of the non evergreen trees were Gambel oaks

As the trail rose, I got larger views of the Reservoir

The leaf color in the draws was wonderful

There were interpretative signs along the trail. One explained that the rounded tops of the rocks were of a hard rock, while the pointed pinnacles were of softer rock that was being changed faster by wind and water.

A closer view of the pinnacles just before the trail turned to run in front of them. 

This is at the far end of the trail. I met Elizabeth coming back about here and she encouraged me to do the last bit

All that sage color is sage. I had to stop and rub my hands over it several tines. I'm addicted to that smell

Just another lake view

The trail was almost always this easy - the rest had a few small rocks on it

The varied vegetation added to the beauty

Those reds just glowed

These were the seed pods of a very tiny short bunch grass - need more practice with my new camera 

On the way back I determined not to take any more pictures  - till I had to

The dome on the far end, with the interesting intrusion

When I saw these leaves, they were pastel. But the light changed and the wind blew some away  - but they are still beautiful

Going back along the draw

This is the reverse picture of this tree and trail I took coming up

Even I was through before11:00  and, after stopping to remove my long johns, and change to tennis shoes, we were ready to go on to the town of Gunnison.  Elizabeth ensconced me in a lovely coffee house before going on another shopping tour. I edited pictures and caught on on mail and Facebook.

We got to my house around 4:30P.  I heated up our last meal - spaghetti sauce on spaghetti squash noodles while Elizabeth switch her camping gear to her car.  We decided to end the weekend a partial day early since we had planned to drive home early Monday.

It was a great weekend and the beginning of a great new friendship. Elizabeth will only be here for a year, so I'm already looking forward to meeting her at other refuges but hopping to spend more weekends with her next year.


I took a few minutes to put this out while having to do some work at the library. I wrote this on my next to last day.  I'll drive about 9 hours tomorrow going and coming from delivering my bees in Boulder. Then I have two days of cleaning and packing before starting a slow trip home. When it publishes, I'll be in the midst of playing across New Mexico with friend, Julie. We plan to visit all the National Parks and Monuments in New Mexico

Warner Point Nature Trail Hike

October 12, 2019

Elizabeth and I were quite shocked to find that, unless one wanted to hike in the wilderness part of the park, the trails were all short and easy. I got up early to catch the light before sunrise, then came back and sat quietly in the car to stay warm, while waiting for Elizabeth to get up.  She surprised me by walking into our campsite. She had decided to hike to the Visitor Center and back - there are two connecting trails so so she made a  round trip of 4 miles.  We ate a quick breakfast and started off to look from several of the overlooks in morning light.

Then both of us wanted to hike the trail leading on along the Canyon from the end of  the road. We started together,  but I was soon far behind Elizabeth and  was in heaven trying to capture the beautiful views of the canyon to the north and the valley, complete with sand dunes, to the south.

Almost as soon as I started down the trail it turned in front of a view down into the valley looking north. And the subsequent views on this side of the trail just kept getting better.

I was blown away by the view, then by the sand dunes. 

A closer view of the dunes

An outcropping of the ridge I hiked on

The front rock was sparkling in the sun 

Then I started getting lovely pictures across the Canyon- the blue in the bottom is
 the color my camera renders snow - but I was hiking in just a winter shirt. 

The trail was easy but did have a few boulders on it

This is at the end of the canyon but on the west side of the trail

This view almost seemed like infinity

At the end of the trail - these hikers  as well as Elizabeth had climbed down and then up on this spire of rock

A last look at the Black Canyon of the Gunnison from the end of the trail

This cedar tree, near the beginning of the trail had so much character,
I had to take its picture

I couldn't find Elizabeth along the trail but she finally caught up with me on the way back.  She had climbed down from the end of the trail to the spire of rock and just sat and enjoyed the view.  Then she had shown the people whose picture I took how to get out there. She was coming back and was under the ledge I was standing on when I talked to them, so she knew she had to leave in several more minutes to catch up with me.

We had planned to stay three nights at at Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP, but we both agreed we were finished.  We went back to camp and spent about twenty minutes packing up before going to Montrose where we both enjoyed a visit to a Salvation Army Resale store.  Then I assured Elizabeth. who needs winter clothes, that, as long as I was at the library, she could shop to her hearts content. I edited pictures. Then we decided we needed ice cream before we left to hunt for a camping spot in Curecanti National Recreation Area which is also along the Gunnison River.

And as I was checking on the correct spelling of the name of our second night's camp, I found we had missed this.  I'll have to add it to my Colorado Bucket List.

On a personal note: I have been trying to compete all my tasks and pin all my bees, except for the really tiny ones, which I''ll leave in ethanol for a more skilled person to glue to pins. I'll take the bees up to the Museum of Natural History on Friday, which will be my last official day.  Hopefully, I'll get my stuff packed and the house cleaned and be ready to leave early Monday morning. I will have about two weeks of camping fun, some alone, some with my friend Julie, who I last played with in Rocky Mountain National Park, and finally a weekend with my daughter at a Texas State Park.

Stay tuned.