Uncategorized – Page 49 – Living Wonderously

For the past 11 years, this last week in July would have found me riding my bicycle somewhere on one of the many RAGBRAI (Register’s Annual Bike Ride Across Iowa) routes that specialize in providing tours of the beautiful Iowa countryside. Either before or after that annual vacation, we would also schedule a week in the summer when we could visit family in Oregon and enjoy the beauties of that state. This year, after we decided not to do RAGBRAI, we scheduled our trip to Oregon for this week and drove there on a route that went through parts of the West that we hadn’t yet seen.

On the first day was a stop at the Four Corners Monument. It wasn’t a planned stop and it required a slight detour, as well as a $10 fee, and a half-hour wait in line. When I saw how long the line was, I was about ready to give up the idea, but Lee convinced me that as long as we were there we should get the famous photo where you can stand in one spot and be in 4 different states at the same time–the only such place in the US.

The rest of the drive on that first day was a new thrill as we drove through the beautiful canyonlands of southeastern Utah. We told ourselves that we needed to plan a hiking and camping trip in this area in the near future.

Our goal for the first day was the campground at Green River State Park, further north in Utah. I don’t know if this year’s temperatures were warmer than normal, but it was close to 100 that afternoon and didn’t cool down very much that night. I’d become used to the drop in overnight temperatures in the deserts of New Mexico so this was like being back in the East or Midwest with the hot summer nights of Virginia or Iowa. I thoroughly enjoyed our stay at this quiet campground along the river.

San Rafael Reef, a large anticline west of Green River, Utah.

Black Dragon scenic overlook on drive through Utah. — Black Dragon Canyon scenic overlook on drive through Utah.

The second day of our trip found us driving through Nevada on the stretch of US 50 that has been labeled “The Loneliest Road in America.” It may not be as lonely now as it was
when it earned that name over 20 years ago, but I can say that it is one long stretch of mountains and desert largely unspoiled by the modern-day highway scourges of fast-food establishments, convenience stores and tourist “attractions” that clutter most all of the other interstates we drive on. We had planned an overnight stay at Austin, Nevada, and, since we weren’t planning to camp, we knew we were taking a chance that we would find any suitable motels there, given the lack of services in most of the places we had passed through all that day.

Austin was settled in the late 1800’s and quickly grew to be the second-largest city in Nevada, due to a “silver rush” that ultimately proved to be not as profitable as hoped. Today it still has a couple of gas stations and restaurants and 3 motels. Otherwise, one could almost label it a ghost town. We were glad to see the motels and, while certainly not modern or fancy, the night’s accomodations were quite adequate to provide us a restful sleep.

Early morning walk on hillside overlooking Austin, Nevada.

One of many historical markers on the “loneliest road.”

The only other time I can remember driving through Nevada was on the western side of the state where it is mostly flat, barren stretches of desert. The miles of highway driving east to west across the middle of Nevada were very different from what I had expected. There are multiple mountain ranges running north and south in this part of the state. US 50 leads you up one mountain range, through a summit or pass at the top, and then back down to the desert where you head towards the next mountain range across the desert in the distance to repeat the same pattern. That seemed to take hours and hours of driving both before and after our overnight stay in Austin. But they were enjoyable hours and we had many opportunities to break the monotony by stopping at scenic overlooks or historical markers to learn more about this fascinating area.

The last leg of our 3-day drive to Oregon was familiar once we reached Fallon, Nevada, and then headed north through Reno, Nevada, on into California and then the final destination of Medford, Oregon. Now we are ready to relax and enjoy time with family here before we have to drive all those miles again to get back to New Mexico.

NM Highway 68 between Taos and Espanola parallels the Rio Grande River and offers glimpses of the river and the huge gorge it has carved in the landscape. I knew there was a lot more of this area that I wanted to see than just the time or two that we had driven by it on the highway. This week we made a one night camping trip to the Wild Rivers area of the Rio Grande Del Norte National Monument. This gorgeous upper section of the Rio Grande Gorge was grand indeed.

At this point on the Rio Grande, the scenic Red River empties into the Rio Grande. The only way to access the point where the 2 rivers join is to hike down the steep basalt cliffs that form the canyons of the rivers. There are several well maintained trails for getting down to that point, as well as other points along the rivers.

After a chilly night sleeping in our tent in the very quiet and peaceful campground that sits atop the Taos Plateau on the edge of the gorge, we were more than ready to begin our trek down into the gorge. We headed towards La Junta Point, the spectacular overlook that gives a birds-eye view of the confluence of the two rivers.

Overlook at La Junta Point. 800 feet below is the point where the Red River joins the Rio Grande River.

Starting down the La Junta Trail to the bottom of the gorge.

The trail was steep and rocky but with the built-in staircases along the way it wasn’t that difficult to get down. I would have been quite a climb to go back up that way!

IMG_20140717_091805447_HDR — One of the staircases on the La Junta Trail.

The rocky point behind me is La Junta Point where we started down the trail.

Red River flowing in from the left--notice how clear and blue its water is, compared to the muddy Rio Grande. — Red River flowing in from the left–notice how clear and blue its water is, compared to the muddy Rio Grande.

After enjoying some time at the water’s edge we continued our hike by following the trail upriver along the Rio Grande. I found it interesting that the trees here were Ponderosa Pines, while the vegetation at the top was piñon and juniper. Usually when we hike it is the Ponderosa that replaces the piñon and juniper as you hike to higher elevations, not as you hike lower. This sign explained it well.

Before beginning the climb back out of the gorge we walked to a small spring that flows out of the canyon walls. The trail that we then took back up came out on top of the plateau at the campground where we were staying. We had taken that trail down and back up the evening before so we knew what to expect. Not an easy one-mile section left to hike, but at the end we were more than ready to sit at our picnic table in the shade and enjoy our well-earned lunch break.