Farmington, NM to Wichita, KS (Days 9 & 10)

Northern New Mexico is an interesting mix of dirty desert towns and cute little alpine towns. Farmington is the former. But just east of the town is a number of Anasazi ruins, the most accessible of which is the Salmon Ruins. There's a huge complex of rooms here, the outline and footprint of a large building that housed hundreds of people.


Steaming east toward Taos, NM, i started climbing into the Rockies, the southern extent of which almost reach Santa Fe. i crossed the continental divide twice, once going west and again coming east.


But i was completely unprepared for the day i was about to have. i just kept going up, up, up into the mountains. The land became exceptionally green, the air cool, and the trees just barely budding to an early spring.


As i rounded some curves near the crest of the mountains, i started seeing white patches. At first i thought it must be sand. It wasn't. It was snow. i later found that my elevation here had been slightly higher than 10,000 feet.



This was the most beautiful view i encountered the whole trip. The rocks of the Brazos Cliffs are over 1.7 billion (1,700 million) years old. It was spectacular. i could have stayed here all day. i could have cut down a tree, built a hut, and stayed here forever.



Alas, i eventually had to descend. As i did, i drove through Carson National Forest. There were a lot of beautiful scenes here, sprawling, lush fields nestled between peaks. Lots of cows. i imagined they were pretty happy cows. i would be a cow here...



i pointed the car toward Raton, and my last night in a motel. i followed US 64 through the town of Cimarron, "where the mountains meet the plains." And on my way north to Raton was disappointed to find that i had to merge onto Interstate 25 for 4.1 miles before catching the rest of 64 on the other side. After nine days and not a single mile on the interstate, i was crushed.

i stayed that night in a Motel 6. Let me just take a moment to sing the praises of this chain... it's dependably clean, cheap, and accessible. It feels safe, the water is hot and the A/C works. As much as it is possible to love a motel chain, i love Motel 6.


Day ten was really just supposed to be a travel day, and i got up and continued east on US 64 with that intention. There was one stop along the way, but i didn't figure it to take very long. In the town of Capulin, New Mexico, i took this photo, because i thought it was so representative of the desolation of this part of the country...



The stop was Capulin Volcano National Monument. There was a trail along the rim of the volcano and i wanted to hike it. It was a short one, only about a mile and a half, and as it followed the volcano's rim, i assumed it would be an easy one. Boy, was i pleasantly surprised!! Capulin kicked by hiking boots. It was fantastic. Here is the photo from near the top of the trail, looking into the crater. If you click the photo, you can see the parking lot on the far side of the rim.



In Clayton, New Mexico, i turned onto US 56 and managed to drive right past the last attraction i wanted to hit: the common point of New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma. Unfortunately, there was a massive amount of construction at the border and i couldn't easily turn around to go find it. Oh well.

I followed 56 through Boise City, Oklahoma, which, like Guymon on the way in is just another forgotten panhandle town. And this one didn't even support the now famous (in my mind) Oklahoma Panhandle State University. i did drive back through Greensburg, Kansas, and managed to take one unobtrusive picture. So here it is... Greensburg, Kansas, one year after the EF-5 tornado turned it into rubble...



So that was it... it's taken me most of the summer to complete the review of the Great Southwest Safari. Not much else has happened this summer that i care to blog about at present. i did go home to Pittsburgh for a month, and visited Emily and her little sister and parents. That's worth talking about, i guess, but i'm pretty much spent at the moment.

School starts in a few days and though i love vacation, i am ready to have something to occupy my mind.

i will post again before my Labor Day Mini-Adventure, but probably not much.

Could it be....?

Louisiana and the completion of the Lower 48? Who knows!!

Flagstaff, AZ to Farmington, NM (Days 7 & 8)

The next morning i left Flagstaff and drove north on US 180. The drive to the Grand Canyon was only about an hour and a half. Very shortly after i left the city, i drove by Humphrey's Peak, a mountain i was destined to be running across on the horizon all day. It is the highest point in Arizona at 12,633 ft.


i approached the Grand from the south. As i meandered through nondescript scrubland, i started looking around for it. i've been to a number of National Parks: Yosemite, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Mammoth Cave, Acadia... the list goes on and on. All of them looked like Parks. Most of them you could see coming from miles away. Crossing the Wyoming prairies you can see the Tetons from so far away that you spend about an hour and a half thinking, "i must be almost there!"

The Grand Canyon is stealthy. It sneaks up on you. i drove up to the first lookout parking lot still wondering if i was in the right place. As i walked up to the railing, the Canyon spilled out in front of me. It was as if the Earth was opening it's mouth in a great big yawn. Thirty yards from this, you wouldn't know it was there...


...yet it is quite possibly one of the most spectacular sights on the planet. It is unbelievably large. Even standing before it, i could not fathom it's size. It is visible from space. i am the first member of my family to reach it.


The trails down to the bottom of the Canyon are two-day affairs and, despite hard work i am still not physically fit enough to attempt it in June. The hike i really wanted to do, the Hermit's Rest Trail, was unfortunately closed during my visit. But the Rim Trail is very well maintained and not much traveled if you're willing to walk a few miles from the visitor's centers. Getting a little solitude in the Park is important. This place presents you with a lot to ponder.

In this last Canyon picture, you can see the mighty Colorado River flowing through...


i spent the entire day at the Grand. It really deserves more than that, but alas, a day was all i had. So i turned back East for the first time, on Arizona Route 64. As i made my way to Tuba City for the night, i entered the Navajo Lands. That evening everyone i encountered was Navajo. Gas station attendants, motel clerks, and even Taco Bell cashiers. There were tons of roadside stands selling pottery, jewelry, and rugs.

Tuba City was an oddity. There were three motels in town, a Quality Inn and two mom 'n' pop places. One of the independent motels was $64 (twice what i was accustomed to paying) and had no A/C. The other was $74. Given that the Quality Inn came in only $10 higher, i decided to stay there. It was the only night i spent in a chain hotel.

i thought i would be really bitter about shelling out so much for a room. But let me just say... it was worth ALL 84 dollars. The sheets were clean, the A/C was powerful, the pillows and the comforter were feather. The shower was hot and the TV wasn't green. i took a shower that night so i could fully appreciate the experience clean. They also gave me a coupon for a free breakfast at the diner next door and free espresso at this cute little coffee shop. i left Tuba City feeling very spoiled.

i headed southeast on Arizona 264, and crossed the Hopi Lands, also called the Painted Desert.


The Hopi Indians are known throughout the area as keeping the closest to their traditions. Most of the Natives there still live in traditional homes and are proficient in traditional arts, mostly pottery and weaving. After leaving the reservation i traveled north on US 191 to the town of Chinle, gateway to Canyon de Chelley (pronounced Shay).

This was probably the highlight of the whole trip. This is one of the most spectacular places i have ever seen. The Grand may be bigger, the Pine Creek may be greener, but this one took my breath away.


For those of you who believe in a very involved God... can you just see hands sculpting these rocks? To me they look like they were shaped on a potter's wheel. Ironic, since the Natives who inhabit it are renowned for pottery.


Sprinkled along the North Wall, there are more cliff dwellings and ruins. The Navajo people do not allow outsiders to enter the Canyon without a guide. There are still many Native people inside the Canyon, living and farming the land.



After i left Canyon de Chelley, i drive north and east to the trading post of Teec Nos Pos and then detoured a few miles north to see the Four Corners. This is the only place in the United States where four states meet. Simultaneously, i stood in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah.



After that i said goodbye to Arizona and crossed back into New Mexico. The color of the rock seemed immediately to change from red back to brown. And this very spectacular rock called Ship Rock loomed out of the desert. The Navajo say that on a hot summer day, viewed at sunset from the South, it looks like a ship sailing on a sea of desert. This view is from the west, unfortunately, but i still think it's pretty remarkable.

From Show Low, AZ to Flagstaff, AZ (Days 5 & 6)

i woke up in Show Low and headed West again on AZ route 260. This country road followed the Mogollon Rim along the border of Fort Apache IR and Apache Sitgreaves NF until it crosses the rim and starts downhill into the Tonto NF. It was here, crossing the rim, that i snapped this photo, looking down into Tonto.


Shortly after crossing the rim, i saw a pull-off for a trailhead, and made a snap decision to park and do some hiking in this spectacular area. i found myself on the Highline Trail, a beautifully maintained, 51-mile walk from Christopher Creek to Pine. i walked about 4 miles of it and then got a very odd feeling. As it was a spur of the moment hike and i had brought only water and not my whole pack, i didn't have my knife and was feeling very vulnerable. Mountain lions have quite a healthy population in Arizona and New Mexico. So i decided to turn back. i had a lot of driving left to do anyway. But what i did see was stunning. Here is the trail heading up the mountain.


Between the mountain towns of Payson, AZ and Pine, AZ, there is a unique geological structure called the Tonto Natural Bridge. Before being allowed to pay your $3 and enter the park, the rangers will give you a cross-examination regarding your gear! "Do you have at least 2 liters of water?" "Do you have sturdy hiking boots?" "Be prepared to be out of the park by 7pm or we will be sending a rescue crew."

The hiking in the park was strenuous, but not impossible. On the other hand, it does get VERY hot in Arizona, and there were a lot of out-of-state tourists there. Given the level of caution, though, i would be willing to bet there was a major accident of some kind. You can hike both over and under the natural bridge. And running through it is a little trickling stream, probably responsible, over thousands of millenia, for carving the thing.



After the natural bridge, i headed toward Sedona, but took some sage advice from a local and stayed the night in Clarkdale, instead. It was much cheaper, and i had a great night in the smallest room of the trip. Once i was settled in my room, i headed back out to see Jerome, AZ. The residents call it "the largest ghost town in America." There are plenty of abandoned buildings in Jerome, many from the 19th century. But it is not a ghost town. It's become another artist community, but getting there is really the fun part! To reach Jerome on US 89A, you have to navigate your car up a series of switchbacks, and the whole town sits on a 30-degree slope!



The next morning i drove the remaining 15 or so miles to Sedona. Sedona is an artist town with lots of shopping and new age wisdom. For instance, the locals believe there are four or five "vortexes" around town. These are places of power, supposedly humming with energy. But amid all the tarot readers and crystal medicine, there's a lot of history too. For instance, this cliff dwelling from 7000 years ago...





One of the vortexes is at Cathedral Rock. i hiked in, anxious to feel the "energy," and sat patiently at the base of the rocks for a good half hour. Nothing. Maybe i'm just not "tuned in."



As i hiked back, though i was rewarded. It was hot, and so i climbed down to the stream and sat on the cool rocks in the shade. i drank some of my water and watched the rapids to my right. After a few minutes, a family of common mergansers started darting up the river, fighting against the rapids. Mom, dad, and about seven baby mergansers swam right in front of me. The chicks were all fighting for a spot on mom's back, pushing each other off and slipping off in their clumsiness. Dad gave me the best shot, but i was absolutely kicking myself for not having a telephoto lens here...


i headed back into the town of Sedona proper, and then up one of the high hills surrounding the town to get a picture of the whole thing.


The last sight on my list as the afternoon wore on was the Chapel of the Holy Cross. Built right into the red rocks, it is a spectacular structure. i didn't go in, but walked around outside and took tons of photographs. Isn't the sky just ridiculously blue here?



i left Sedona on 89A going north. The road winds through the base of Oak Creek Canyon, and the going was VERY slow. Another set of switchbacks led me up the mountain and out of the canyon. With that i followed to Flagstaff where i stayed night 6.