In The Shadow of Longs Peak
Wednesday, April 19, 2023
It was windy all night which did not make for sound sleeping. And it was not warm so we waited till the last minute to get up. First stop was the outhouse which I was delighted to find clean and had at least some toilet paper. Second was to open the truck and start making coffee. Oh, sometime in the last year, I brought my camping red metal French press to Gary’s to replace the glass press which broke. In its place I bought an Aero Coffee Press but did not quite get how to use it and every time I pressed coffee would splatter everywhere. Our friends in Silverton demo’d proper use and coffee was ready quickly and easily. And I got additional practice, since more coffee was made when they arrived to join us on today’s outing to Chaco. We finished up and packed up for today’s outing.
As mentioned, I read where Chaco was 75 minutes south of Bloomfield; we were already 15 minutes south of Bloomfield so our time estimate was an hour.
The description from the website said “The main route to Chaco Culture National Historical Park starts 3 miles south of Nageezi on US 550, starting south along the paved road 7900, then turning west on the unpaved road 7950. The last few miles are rather rough.” We were in the lead and turned on the Navigator, which had us turn on CR 7890. 7890 was a good gravel road which twisted and turned and was pretty remote and I might point out not on the Gazetter but it is on goggle maps. I was not too worried until we headed down and across a wash. Gary was pretty confident, put the truck in 4 wheel and did not even blink as he headed across and up the other side.
Eventually, we dead-ended into road 7950 and took that the rest of the way to Chaco. It was rough! But we were treated to a small herd of wild horses along the way.
Finally Chaco! We head to the Visitor Center and get our pass, which our senior all-access-pass covers. Our first destination is the Una Vida Ruin. The trail starts at the Visitor Center and is about 1 /2 mile away which we can see across the flats. We hike out and enter into another world. There is a trail to climb that goes up to a series of rock images but I pass thinking that coming down will injure my knee and I am saving myself for other sites. The vista though is impressive. And a rock wren was hopping around.
Thursday, April 20, 2023
Another windy night but by morning things were calmer. We had already decided to pack up and make this a short trip, but the calm and sun had us wondering if we should change our mind. But by the time we finished breakfast, the wind was coming up again, so we did break camp and pack up. Plus the forecast temperatures for the next couple of days were to be even lower.
We are on our way probably by 11 or so and head north back to Bloomfield then west to Farmington. There are signs for river access points along the San Juan River. The river is high but I do think it would be a manageable run. We turn south on NM 371 toward Bisti. It’s just over 35 miles to CR 7297 where we turn east and follow the signs for 2 miles to Bisti. We can see where people have remote camped along the way but it’s pretty open, maybe better suited for a camper. There is lots of parking at the Trailhead and a functioning bathroom though it seems like it was not as clean as the one at the campground. We leave all our gear behind thinking we would not be gone long, which we are not. I decide to cross country back to the road then back to the trailhead. Gary is arriving just as I do.
Overall I am not that impressed but later read where the highlights are a bit of a hike with route-finding. Again, I need to research things more before coming.
Our site-seeing done, we head back north to Farmington, then east to Aztec, north to Durango and east to Pagosa Springs on US 160 and get a room at the Quality Inn ($133). When we drive up, the building is definitely worn down but to my delight the rooms are in a much newer building just south of the office.
A warm shower is a treat.
We arrive too late to go out to eat, instead making quesadillas in the microwave accompanied by a beer.
A warm soft bed out of the wind is another treat.
Friday, April 21, 2023
Our adventure is nearing its end.
We pack up and check out. Then on to an excellent breakfast (breakfast burrito) at Boulder Coffee Café. We get gas and continue east on US160 to Monte Vista then north on US 285 thru the San Luis Valley and continue to Denver, where again we make a wrong turn trying to get unto C-470 going north. I think we are at my house by 4 PM or so. After unloading we cook up the remaining frozen dinners and had a nice supper. All is well.
I do want to mention that there are tons of Forest Service Access Roads in CO, no end of the exploring we might do.
Wednesday, April 19, 2023, cont.
Then on to Chetro Ketl. I look up and see what later I determine to be a falcon overhead, just beyond the edge of the cliff overhead. Along the way are panels of rock art with carved images but I cannot name either animal. One has a rider on its back but does not look like a horse.
Chetro Ketl first appeared to be small but you need to walk around and get inside the plaza to gain perspective.
We decide to head back to the Visitor Center and take in the movie and look at the various displays. We will need to return.
Its still windy out. We head back to camp but take CR 7950 to CR 7900 back to US 550.
We were going to do a group dinner at camp but decided it is too cold so our friends head back to town. Gary and I return to camp, make another Dutch Oven dinner, this time chicken cordon bleu. It is much chillier this evening and we are pretty happy that supper does not take too long. Once done, we put things away and crawl into the tent.
The wind and cold are beginning to wear on us.
Chaco Canyon and Bisti Badlands
17 April 2023 - 21 April 2023
Exploratory Outing to New Mexico
Summary
I began researching this trip in mid-winter. Chaco has long been on my list; Bisti and De-Na-Zin have been recommended; paddling possibilities are the San Juan and Las Animas Rivers in the Farmington Area, written up in paddling.com as Class 1/2 and no permit needed; the Aztec Ruins in Aztec, NM, which is a highly restored ruin and historically was part of the Chaco Culture System. In addition, we hiked in Ruin Canyon near Cortez, CO in Canyons of the Ancients National Monument about 10 years ago, but we were unable to locate the trailhead when we went a couple of years ago as a day outing on our McPherson trip.
As we got closer, we decided to limit our outing to Chaco and Bisti with Aztec Ruins and De-Na-Zin as possibilities.
For this trip, the idea was to camp at Chaco for 3 nights then move north to Angel Peak Recreation for the Bisti/De-Na-Zin outings, then visit Aztec Ruins on the way out of town. Six weeks out, I tried to make reservations for Chaco, but they were already full! For the future, I noted that Camping Reservations on recreation.gov are available at Chaco on a rolling 3-month-out schedule.
So, what to do? According to google, Chaco is a 75-minute drive from Bloomfield, NM, thus about an hour past Angel Peak Scenic Area, so we decided to make Angel Peak our base camp.
An email to the BLM in Farmington recommended Angel Peak for camping, mentioned that neither remote camping nor biking was allowed within Bisiti, and noted that there were lots of gravel roads in Angel Peak that could be biked.
We decided to leave on Monday, April 17,2023, spend the night in Silverton with friends, then head to Angel Peak. Our outings would be to Chaco, Bisti and De-Na-Zin, and if time permitted, the Aztec Ruins.
Monday, April 17, 2023
We left my place in Longmont by 9:50 and were in Silverton by 6:30.
We got off I-70 in Grand Junction and made our way to City Market on 24 Road with no problem. Once done there, we needed to find US 50 and head south out of town. This turned out to be somewhat of a trick. We headed south from City Market on 24 Road. 24 Rd does not have a direct entrance to Bus -70 which is also US 50. Just beyond that is the River Road. We continued south on 24 Road which turned into Redlands Parkway and intersects CO 340. At that junction we headed east and pulled into a gas station at Monument Road which I assumed to be US 50. After filling up we head south on Monument Road but soon realize it is not US 50. So, we turn around, retrace out steps back to the intersection of CO 340 and continue east to North 1st Street which is US 50 and turn south. US 50 wigwags a bit in this part of Grand Junction but we stay the course and are soon out of town. I see on the map that River Road becomes Riverside Parkway which intersects US 50 so that would have been the proper route.
This was not the only time on this trip we would have navigation challenges. Going south on US 50 we got confused again and got off the main road in Delta. And more confusion in Montrose trying to find the turn-off for US 550.
Next time I will need to study the map in more detail!
Now we continue to Ouray on US 550. We pass Ridgeway State Park which seems to have quite a large body of water even though it is low. May be a place to come back to with our sea kayaks.
I have not been down this way since those New Years Outings for ice climbing before I met Gary. From Ouray it’s on to Silverton where I have never been.
Getting to Silverton was an adventure, driving the ‘Million Dollar Highway’, a narrow, winding road with lots of exposure and in some places, no guardrails. I am taken with how rugged the peaks are. And piles and piles of snow!
Finding our friend’s place in Silverton was not difficult. And more piles of snow in their yard! They live in an old cabin that was upgraded before they bought it and they made additional improvements and expanded it. It is a picture-perfect re-do.
We sleep well.
Tuesday, April 18, 2023
We were driving away from Silverton around 10:00 AM, heading south to Durango, CO where we stopped for gas. Somewhere along the way is a sign for Vallecito Reservoir, another possible paddling destination. Now we are on our way to Aztec, NM along US 550 which follows the Animas River. In Aztec, another navigation mishap occurs as we miss the turn for US 550, and drive as far west as Flora Vista before turning back to Aztec. We found US 550 and headed south to Bloomfield, NM. Beyond Bloomfield we cross the San Juan River and continue south.
We arrived at our destination, the Angel Peak Scenic Area around 1:30 PM and follow the directions for the campground: east on CR 7175 which turns south near the rim of the canyon. Angel Peak turns out to be a badlands type of area, similar to but not quite as colorful as the Devils Kitchen site in Wyoming that Kari and I visited on our camping outing to the Cloud Peak area west of Sheridan and Ranchester, WY.
The campground is 6 miles along this road. We bypass 3 picnic areas. They each have an RV or truck/camper combo parked so it appears that you can camp in the picnic areas and the description on the BLM sites does not say camping in the picnic areas is prohibited.
We come to the campsite loop and first do a drive through. There are altogether nine campsites and 2 restrooms. A couple of the sites have picnic shelters. Most of the upper sites were already taken so we circled around and looked closely at the first 3 sites. The first and third had a flat enough spot for a tent. We picked the 3rd since it was a little bigger and had a couple small pinons for shade and possible windbreak. But we would have been hard-pressed to add a 2nd tent in any of these sites. The upper sites may have had more room but they definitely would have been even more windblown.
As always, we first work at getting the tent set up, choosing the Sierra Designs, since the wind is already picking up then sit down for a beer. We decide to drive and see if we can find our way into the bottom of the Angel Peak Canyon. We drive north and then east on CR7020. After a bit, we dip down into a wash. Gary gets out to check the road and it is solid enough so we drive across. We are in the bottom of the Angel Peak canyon. There is a road to the south that we take, wandering around for a bit. There are lots of oil and gas operations. Then head back to camp but decide this would be a good place to come back and explore by bike.
Later I see on google maps a place called Kutz Canyon Paleontological Area and a hiking trail at the Castle Peak Picnic Area. Again, I should have done more research at home.
Back at camp, the wind continues to pick up and getting the coals started for Steak and Ale Pies in the Dutch oven takes some persistence on Gary’s part. Once done, they are quite a treat. In the meantime, it is nice enough to sit out and write.
We have cell service here, a bit of a surprise!
This spot is an OK base camp but does not have the ambience of other places we’ve been, Comb Ridge for instance and some of the places in the San Rafael Swell.
Sitting here, what would I write? What do I see, hear and feel?
- I definitely hear and feel the wind as it crosses the ridge above our camp. The waning sun is behind and to my left, which makes us facing north, though I would have guessed that we were looking south. It’s gotten chillier since we’ve gotten back from our outing and I have added a chamy shirt, the grey pile jacket and a hat.
- We are tucked in a small spot here. In view is only the campground road, our truck, our tent and a scattering of pinon pines on both sides of the road. As mention, the sun is waning, its light soft and diffuse and throwing long shadows. Across the road, the land tiles upward; more pinons grow but not densely. There is no distant vista to be seen.
It is not long before we crawl into the tent, as it’s gotten even more windy and no longer warm.
Wednesday, April 19, 2023, cont.
We head back to the parking lot and drive down the loop road to the parking area for Pueblo Bonitp and Chetro Ketl. I think Pueblo Bonito is the crown jewel of Chaco. It is absolutely huge with fine stone walls, numerous kivas and plazas. I could not resist photographing a couple of structures with attached down-spouts.