Took another trip through the Southwest, concentrating on southern Utah and northern New Mexico. I was again struck by the similarities between cruising on a sailboat and road tripping in a camper van. Both have moments of serene calm and awe inspiring scenery. And both require repairs of various components in remote locations.
Pretty scenery accompanied by the comforting tones of suitable tunes. Turn it up.Xena, the Warrior Princess, loves to dig holes and she’s good at it. And not just for pooping! Sometimes she lays in them. Sometimes she digs for the sheer joy of it and wanders off.More red rocks. Poor sound quality. Turn it down.We had snow at 10,000 feet in Northern New Mexico!An early example of the architectural style known as “brutalism” in an urban setting.Xena ponders her next move in the deserts of Southern Utah.The Winslow, AZ, tourist bureau, inspired by that Eagles song, created this corner. It was the first corner constructed in this part of Arizona.Xena. Looking particularly leopard-like.
Journeyed back to the American Southwest, via San Luis Obispo and Palm Springs. I’ve mapped out dispersed, aka wild, camp sites to break the longer legs into shorter ones. I’m in no hurry, so why drive long hours when I can stop and stay in the comfort of my own mobile house?
Visited Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. Yup, that’s a real place. Named after a radio show from days gone by. It used to be called Hot Springs. Throngs of celebrities converged on the town in the 1950’s annually, to host the radio show.
The natural hot springs here have the highest mineral content of any water anywhere! I suppose that means it is hard water, but it sounds better the first way. I soaked in an excellent private pool and was restored to the radiant vitality of my youth.
I camped here on the the bed of a used-to-be lake, called Elephant Butte (EL a FONT boo TAY) Lake. While there, I mounted an archeological expedition to identify significant artifacts from the past.
Xena, the Warrior Archeologist, assisted with my efforts. I was too busy with my scientific endeavors to take an actual photo, so I had MidJourney, the artificial intelligence artist, re-create the scene.
Archeology is a very easy field, requiring little more than strolling across the terrain. My first discovery was this dinosaur toenail, embedded in the dry lake bed.
Before positively identifying the object, I considered the only alternative: a doorway to an inter-dimensional portal. One of the privileges afforded me as a Master of Science is the freedom to test hypotheses without supervision. This I did, aided by a locally-procured wooden probe. Alas! Nothing but dirt under it. At least my first theory was proven correct: dinosaur toenail. I believe it is the first ever recovered.
I also discovered this object of unknown origin. Speculating from the fine workmanship and exotic materials, it appears to be of extra-terrestrial origin. I sent the coordinates to the ET Liaison Office in Roswell, in case its owner can be contacted.
I visited the Geronimo Museum, which has little to do with Geronimo, but much about the fine dresses women wore. This, of course, was in the days of gender inequality, when women got all of the niceties and men were required to wear drab clothing.
Here’s a close up of the fine workmanship of these dresses. Having little else to do, pioneer women made fabulous clothes.
This is an example of the type of chair the cow farmers would strap to unwitting horses. They used the thin strips of leather you see hanging from the front of the chair to coerce the horse into obedience.
The Desert Southwest is a sporty place, so I engaged the locals in the manly art of bean bag tossing. I bested him, leaving him in a state of consternation.
Everyone thinks of the Rio Grande as the ditch separating the US from Mexico, but it has another life, far upstream. Flowing down from Colorado into New Mexico, the Rio Grande has carved an immense gorge, second only to the Grand Canyon. It is beautiful and serene, quiet and isolated. Also only 20 minutes from the dubious civilization of Taos, New Mexico. Did you know Kit Carson lived and died there? He did, and they named a national forest in his honor. Perhaps, if you moved there and died there, you would get a national forest named for you, too!
The Rio Grande Gorge. Awesome and deadly. Some ambitious anglers test the trail to tempt tiny trout.
Minuscule and lonely, pine trees eke out a living from these stingy, unhelpful rocks.
An idyllic campsite perched on the rim of the gorge. Scenic, with views both near and far. Xena, the Warrior Princess, enjoyed exploring the rocks and charging the impertinent ground squirrels dwelling therein.
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Reluctantly, I departed Dixie National Forest, bound for Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument…just next door, geographically. They call it that because the mountains (faintly) resemble a staircase and to honor Fr Escalante, one of the early cultural imperialists sent by Spain to steal this land from the indigenous people. He also informed them that their religion was wrong and his was right.
We stayed here for 3 days, taking long exploratory walks. When I watch Xena explore, I try, mostly unsuccessfully, to imagine her experience of the world. Seeing everything from 6 inches off the ground seems so limiting. But the richness of the olfactory world she lives in must be incredible. She stops at some shrub or other and studies each leaf, inhaling, analyzing, cataloguing. I have informed her repeatedly that one leaf is the same as the next, but she is steadfast in her determination to study each separately.
We had delight weather until the very end of our stay. When 50mph winds and rain/snow threatened, prudence demanded departure. Although the van would have kept so comfortable and dry, I did not fancy driving out through the sea of mud the road would have become. So, we fled.
So much wide open space! So much peace and quiet! So much land to explore! Xena loved it.
This lovely tree provides both shade and sustenance to many desert animals.Dawn’s early light on the distant mountains. They look red because red wavelengths are faster than others and reach the Earth first. This is a universal constant and explains why red cars are faster than others.Off in the distance you can see the thin dirt road providing access to the profane world.Xena, the Warrior Princess, is particularly pleased with this camp site.Xena loves rolling the dirt at every opportunity.
I loved visiting Bryce Canyon National Park. Perfect weather, inspiring scenery, free dispersed camping right outside the gate. Xena had a great time climbing trees, ever vigilant for lizards, birds and squirrels.
I stayed several nights in Dixie National Forest. Fabulous, except for the dust. When the wind picked up or a (rare) vehicle drove past, clouds of red dust billowed. Additionally, the cat serves as a reverse dust mop, bringing fine red dirt into the van, distributing it liberally.
One of my camp sites, about 10 minutes from the entrance to Bryce Canyon. There were people around, but at least 1/4 mile away, so they were not too annoying.
Utahns (pronounced ooo tonz (like tongs)) are fond of these weirdly mutated cows and stock their forests with an abundance of them.
Look at this strange tree I discovered. It grows in a spiral! I call it a spiral tree.
Stunning views! Craftsmanship on an extraordinary level. Just amazing to think of the hordes of sculptors laboring with primitive tools under harsh conditions to create such a scene. We owe them a great debt.
The tall, skinny towers of rocks are called hoodoos. The Native Americans have a story…the hoodoos are petrified Legend People. They displeased the coyote god, so he turned them to stone. What a trickster!
I visited the Grand Canyon for several days, admiring the views of the canyon itself and staying in the adjacent Kaibab National Forest. You may have read the recent article in the New York Times about the advantages of visiting the north rim instead of the south. The north is more difficult to get to and therefore less crowded. It’s about 1,000 feet higher than the south, so it is cooler. I think its prettier.
The Kaibab NF is beautiful, a real national treasure. The forest has many well-maintained service roads and tons of places for dispersed camping. Within a half hour’s drive of the national park, I could camp in perfect solitude, peace and quiet.
You can see for miles and miles from the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.
I thought this was a clever sign design. Cut the message out of steel and it remains clear, impervious to graffiti and vandalism.
They have a nice lodge, appropriately rustic. It is surrounded by numerous cabins with varying degrees of comfort. There is also a restaurant, but I didn’t eat there. I doubt Michelin has heard of it.
It can be chilly at this altitude all year round.
Whoops! This tree threw itself across the road, apparently tired of the traffic. (Of which there is very little.)
One of the many forest service roads, lined with brilliant green aspen trees.
Xena, the Warrior Princess, rests after a long day of adventuring. She is actually a black cat, but insists on rolling around and cavorting in every pile of dirt she sees, hence the reddish tint.
One of the remote camp sites I used. Pretty clever to conceal myself behind the trees, eh?
I’ve been traveling through the deserts of the Southwest, testing out my van/house. Stayed at Giant Rock, but saw no extra-terrestrials. I did hear the Marine conducting live fire exercises at the nearby 29 Palms Marine Corps Base. The sound of artillery travels far in the desert. Xena the cat loved climbing all over the huge pile of boulders…on her leash, of course.
Traveled just a few miles further east to Heart of the Mojave preserve. So nice and quiet. Vistas, but no people, for miles. Not so good for cats, though, little to see and nothing to climb on.
Further south, I found the Cabeza Prieta Wildlife Preserve, near the (unfortunately but appropriately named) town of Ajo, Arizona, and spent another peaceful night far from civilization.
My survey of New Mexico yielded an exciting geological feature I call the Taos Gorge (because Taos, NM, is nearby) or sometimes the Rio Grande Gorge (because the Rio Grande rushes through its depths). It is maybe a third-scale or half-scale mini Grand Canyon. Even better, there are free camp sites along the rim of the gorge. Private, serene, cool in the summer and, I suspect, bitterly cold in the winter. I’ll refrain from giving specific locations so you will not rush to the place and take all the good sites.
The first leg of the Grand Adventure involved a transit of the Mojave (pronounced Moe Ha Veh, accent on the middle) Desert. After departing the Oakland Bay Area and overnighting in Bakersfield, I entered the inhospitable domain of the desert, which, to the surprise of many, was neither hot nor dry! The temps were bitterly cold, dipping as low as 40F degrees! The rainfall became so severe that windshield wiper use was necessary. Conditions extremified as I passed through Yucca Valley; the rain turned to slushy rain and actual snow flakes. Rapidly devolving into a an epic man-versus-nature contest, the situation required application of all available technology and native driving skill. Ha! Man wins!
So far, road tripping as a way of life is agreeable
