Author: bjregan

Enjoying retirement activities. Main goals for retirement are to stay spiritually, physically, mentally and emotionally healthy.

Back in New Mexico

Ute Lake, NM
Conchas Lake, NM

A week ago we were at the tail end of our two-week road trip to Ohio and Michigan. The last day of driving was only a couple of hundred miles from Tucumcari to Albuquerque. We took some time to stop and visit two New Mexico destinations that we hadn’t yet seen-Ute Lake State Park and Conchas Lake State Park.

Both lakes are reservoirs on the Canadian River, in relatively flat terrain, where hiking trails are pretty much non-existent. Ute Lake had a nature trail along the lake that provided an enjoyable short walk, but mostly we were just sightseeing from the car. Today it was time to get out for some real hiking.

Lee wasn’t too thrilled with my suggestion that we hike the La Luz Trail. But, being the good sport that he is, he agreed with the plan. If you start at the trailhead, hike the 7 1/2 miles up to the tram, and then take the tram down, it’s another 2 miles of hiking to get from the tram back to your car. There wasn’t anyone we could impose upon to give us a ride and I wasn’t anxious to hike the extra distance. My solution was to use Uber to get back to our car after the hike.

Some might say that La Luz Trail is an expensive hike by the time that you buy tram tickets and pay Uber. But to me, it’s more than worth it. Couples wouldn’t think anything of paying an amount more than that for a dinner and movie date. And I enjoy that hike much more than any movie or concert or dinner date. There’s such variety on the trail. The views are awesome, especially the towering granite cliffs when you get closer to the top.

When you know it’s going to be high 90’s down in Albuquerque you start hiking early enough so that the first couple of miles before the tree line is done before the heat of the day.  Then the trail begins to weave in and out of nice shady spots as it winds up the mountain.  The section that goes multiple times across the big rock slide starts to get tiresome, but just when you think you can’t take any more, you come to the intersection with the side trail up to the Crest House and you know the worst is over.  After a refreshing lunch break it’s an easy mile or so to the tram.  And I enjoy that section because it parallels the tram line and you can hear the humming of the wires and watch the tram cars as they go up and down.

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As much as we enjoy our trips to other places, it’s still good to be back in New Mexico.

Tucumcari Tonight!

Driving west through Amarillo on Interstate 40, just as we made it past the city traffic, there was the billboard I’d seen many times over the years at various points along the interstate–Tucumcari Tonight! And today that was actually going to be our stop for the night.

Since Tucumcari is less than 200 miles from Albuquerque, it has never made sense in previous travels to stay overnight there. But with some extra time built in this week on our drive from Michigan to New Mexico, Lee planned a Texas side trip to explore Lake Meredith National Recreation Area. From Elk City, Oklahoma, where we had spent the night, the lake was a 2-hour drive west and then north. It wasn’t too far out of our way, since after visiting the lake, it was less than 40 miles to drop down to Amarillo and get back on the interstate. And then it’s just 100 miles to Tucumcari, leaving plenty of time for a hike at the lake.

We found a nice trail that went through a canyon and along a mesa. There were good views of the lake, which is a large reservoir on the Canadian River. When Lee suggested the visit to Lake Meredith I had imagined that it would be a flat, featureless landscape like the other parts of the Texas Panhandle. I was pleasantly surprised at the interesting geologic features and the lush greenery along the trail.

Tomorrow we will have time to check out either or both Ute Lake State Park and Conchas Lake State Park in New Mexico. Even if put together, those two lakes would be a fraction of the size of Lake Meredith. I don’t think there will be trails to hike but we haven’t been to either one so as long as we are in the area we might as well drive by. Who knows if we’ll ever get another chance to visit Tucumcari. There doesn’t seem to be much here except a whole lot of motels. No wonder there are so many Tucumcari Tonight billboards.