Magnus Goes to the Red Rock Country, Day 16

Wednesday, September 25

For our second day at Cochiti Lake, we decided to risk the long drive without Molly to see Bandalier National Monument. We left at about 10:30 and did not return until after 3:00. Which sucked. Except it was such a very great place!

The drive to get there--and back--was horrid.  We had to go up a huge hill to get to the suburbs of Santa Fe; I was driving and I didn't get a good start on the way up, so by the time I reached the top my speed was down below 50. In a 75 mile per hour zone!  Bad driving, I say so myself.  (Luckily I was in the truck climbing lane, stuck behind a big truck that wasn't doing any better.)

The parking lot was full but we were able to squeeze into a spot in the overflow parking area. The visitor center was so crowded that all we did was visit the restroom and show our pass. But when we got onto the trail to the ruins, the people thinned out nicely. And everyone was very polite.

 

There's a long canyon wall where there are dwellings all down it. So cool. And ladders you could climb up and look in.

Next to the canyon was a mostly dry creek and a wooded area, then the opposite wall. And in the wooded area, very close to the visitor center, I saw a Hepatic Tanager!   New life bird!

 

Later I took Molly for a long walk, almost to the boat ramp. The only reason we didn't go all the way is there were warnings about blue-green algae in the lake and I didn't want Molly drinking out of it.  Stupid me forgot her water dish!

We saw an interesting animal down there. It was a little larger than a squirrel, thicker bodied, and with less tail. But it was nowhere near the water, so I don't think it was an otter.  Maybe just a squirrel.  No good picture.

Magnus Goes to the Red Rock Country, Day 15

Tuesday, September 24

Leaving Ruins Road for Cochiti Lake COE Campground. We got a late start on purpose because it was only a 3-hour drive but the check-in time was 3pm.

Cochiti Lake was almost the exact opposite of the RV park we'd just left. It was quiet, with few people. No road noise. Birds. Lovely.

 

 

 

 

 The lake is very low but we could see it off in the distance from our camp site. It's a Corp of Engineers campground, built when they built the lake, and a little aging but well kept up.  It's very large and spread out, with lots of camping loops. Not excessively crowded, but enough people that I had to keep Molly on a close leash.

There was plenty of walking along the roads, which is usual for a Corp Campground, but there are also a couple of trails. I didn't find them until the second day, so we never took one.  Sadly, it was very hot. We did a good bit of walking, but we didn't especially enjoy it.

Magnus Goes to the Red Rock Country, Day 14

Monday, September 23

Long drive but maybe not as long as we were expecting. Actually in distance it wasn't that bad, but the slowdowns and all the shitty little towns with speed limits pushed our drive time up to a little over four hours.  We ended up not taking a lunch break because there were no rest areas expect the little one way back in the Ute Mountain Indian Reservation.

Always mountains ahead and in the distance, but the only significant elevation change we experienced was at the beginning, getting down out of the Canyonlands and Moab rocky scenery. We went alongside El Sal Mountains, but not close enough to have to do their ups-and-downs.

And so we arrived at Ruins Road RV Park. It's smack dab in the middle of the little town of Aztec; it has no view; not great as far as amenities and lot spacing, and it's 99% permanent dwellers so it feels like you're in someone's back yard.  But it backs right up to the Animas River and has a tent area there, somewhat private from the RV sites.  Molly and I will go walk back there in the evening.

The river:

 

After getting set up, I tried to go jogging with Molly on down Ruins Road to the Aztec National Monument Site.  Note right now: although it's called "Aztec", it was not built by the Aztec peoples of South America, nor did they ever come anywhere near this area.  Apparently that term was indiscriminately applied by the Spanish explorers to cover all native sites.  It was built by ancestral Puebloans, the same ones who created Chaco Canyon.

(Apparently the modern day tribes don't like their ancestors being called "Anasazi"; it's somehow a deragatory term.  So the correct term is "ancestral Puebloans")

Molly and I jogged cautiously down the city streets and onto the monument, where we found prairie dogs galore. They had a town just outside the visitor center and another over by the picnic area.  A nice park employee told us it was okay to have dogs in the Picnic area and parking lot, and also--I think--on the bike trail. But we only went a little way on the bike trail before I got worried that we should be there and turned back.  There were interpretive plaques alongside the trail and it was clear that we were on the monument's grounds.

But as we went back, I was able to see over the fence to the Archaeological/Restoration site--it was huge and looked really cool. So we jogged back to the RV, avoiding getting attacked by a home dweller's loose dog who fortunately responded well to the word "NO" and never left his yard. Maybe he was on a shock collar or maybe just well-trained, but whatever the reason, it was a nightmare to see an unleashed dog running right toward us. The owner came out of the house, but I ignored her and went on with a snarl.

In any event, we won't be going back to that RV park again. Leaving Molly behind, Ed and I walked the 1/3 mile stretch back to the monument.  Great place. Some of it was recreated by the archeologist Earl H Morris in 1916, who spent seven seasons excavating Aztec West and the great Kiva. In the 1930s he returned to supervise reconstruction of the great Kiva. It looks much like they think it did originally. Most of the (many) other rooms are pretty much in their original state or else the restoration was so skillful I couldn't tell old from new.

Great place and I'm incredibly happy we went to see the ruins.

Magnus Goes to the Red Rock Country, Day 13

 Sunday, September 22

Last day at Sun Outdoors Canyonlands Gateway, thank heavens. It's a nice place but simply too crowded. I chose it because it was away from town and close to Arches National Park, and I don't regret that choice. But the many millions of people and dogs all over the freaking place are driving me batshit crazy.

Pretty nice day. Got up early-ish and went for a short drive into Canyonlands National Park. We only had to wait in a 2-3 car line to enter, but when we left at 10:30 or so there was a significant line building. And more cars on the way.

Lesson learned: go early. If you want to see wildlife, go very early.
Add to places-to-go list: Definitely want to come back to canyonlands and drive dirt roads down into the canyon.
Then we took a break and headed back to Arches for our 12-1 entrance time slot. The way it works is that you pre-reserve an entrance time and then once inside, you can stay as long as you want.  This is supposed to reduce congestion on the roads and prevent the parking lots from filling up. For those purposes, it seems to work pretty well. But the wait to get inside the park was over 30 minutes, on account of all the people who needed to pay fees, ask questions, or be turned away because they hadn't reserved a time slot.

Gorgeous place, with at least one dirt road that Ed really wants to come back and take someday. We--and the paved road--stayed mostly up at the top of the cliffs for the scenic views, but the dirt road went way, way down. Maybe to the canyon floor. Nice.

No matter, though--we were prepared for it.  Once inside, we proceeded all the way to the end to walk the little trail to Landscape Arch, Devils Garden, plus a few of the others. It was a nice dirt trail, well worn by innumerable feet. But with some significant ups and downs that tired us out after a while.

Awesome views, all day long. I'm overcome with bug-eyed wonder.

Also I saw a whole conglomeration of Bushtit.

I couldn't identify them at first--my only thought was Verdin which I've seen out in the desert. But this didn't seem to be the place for them, plus Verdin don't usually flock like that. Merlin ID'ed the call for me, and after looking at the bird book, I agree.

And home, after a quick stop at the City Market grocery to pick up some perishables.

Magnus Goes to the Red Rock Country, Day 12

 Saturday, September 21

It was a pretty short drive to the next campground, Sun Outdoors Canyonlands Gateway. Which is good, because we had a timed entrance permit to Arches for 2pm, which was the earliest I could get at the time I reserved it a month or so earlier. But it turned out that 3pm might have been better.  By the time we arrived and had lunch and Ed did his exercise and Molly got her walk, it was time to book it over to the park.

The line to get in was horrendous. We probably left the RV park at 2-ish, but by the time we were inside Arches it was nearer to 2:45. And then we hit a road construction one-lane road with a pilot car delay to get up the first big hill inside the park.  That took another 10-15 minutes or so.  

 

But little matter--the place is so gorgeous that there is no bad place inside  to be at.  No arches up there in the front, but rocks and slopes and views and...pretty much everything you could want except birds. Ah, well, I knew I was taking a chance when we came here in September. By the time I get home, fall migration will be about over. 

And then back to the campground.

Review: Sun Outdoors Canyonlands Gateway
All about the location

It's a nice, family run place, but very, very crowded.  We were squashed in like sardines in a spot only barely long enough for our 35-foot motorhome and toad.  The hookups and all worked fine, and I even think we had a little picnic table squeezed between our side door and the next neighbor's sewer line.

I noticed that back away from the road there were some sites for larger RVs that were much more spacious. I should ask for one of those next time.

The place was set up nicely for dogs, and when we went for a walk the maintenance man (maybe owner?) stopped to warn us about the goat's head stickers around the sides of the park. They weren't as bad as he said, but we did pick up a couple.  The dog park--a double one--was big and dusty but more than adequate. And there were baggie stands here and there.

All that said, it's in a prime location to access both Arches and Canyonlands.  You can go to either one without encountering Moab traffic.  So I'd recommend it--just don't expect peace and quiet or starry night views.

We ate supper that night at The Broken Oar. Even though we arrived just as they opened (at 5pm), the food took a long time to come. My food was okay, but the French Dip Sandwich was excellent.  

Magnus Goes to the Red Rock Country, Day 11

Friday September 20

Second day at Offroad RV Resort.  We went back to Capitol Reef--in the Jeep this time--so we could enjoy it. Our first stop was the pictograph site, where there were a surprising number of pictographs (petroglyphs?) on the cliff wall under a slight overhang (or sometimes not).  At the foot of the cliff the park service had constructed a little boardwalk for easier viewing and to keep people out of the mud of the creek.

 

Most of the creek was on the other side of the road, where orchards were planted many years ago and still irrigated. They allowed u-pick-it fruit for $2 a pound although there was no one there to measure the pounds and no place for a scale.  But the trees were mostly bare other than some late apples.  I should have brought one back to the motorhome, washed and ate it.

Then we took one of the short hikes to see scenic views.  Sadly, I didn't make a note of which one.  But it is certainly a lovely, lovely place.

review: Offroad RV Resort
A little expensive but worth every penny
Site 31, surface gravel

The owners were very nice, the view of big rocks and mountains in the distance great.  Though this was desert, its proximity to the Fremont River brought out a swarm of little bats at sunset.  We didn't see any other wildlife except lizards and a small flock of turkey, but there were some very interesting tracks over by the water.  The owners had a lot of little trees planted and I expect the place to be gorgeous in a year or two.

We had full hookup--50-amp, water, sewer although the owner did asks us not to do an excessively large flush of the septic system. Just the usual dump and a quick clean out--their water was reverse osmosis filtered and not to be wasted.

There was firewood and ice for sale at the office. No other amenities, but I can't say we needed any. A couple of short trails for dog walking. Great night sky views.

Other than the price ($65/night) I'd say the place was nearly perfect.

Easy drive to Capitol Reef--petroglyphs, historical places, and gorgeous red rocks.

Magnus Goes to the Red Rock Country, Day 10

Thursday, September 19

We had a wild and crazy drive from Ruby's to the Offroad RV Resort. It was only about 120 miles, and I had evaluated the routes and decided on taking U.S. 89 to Utah 24. But google had that listed as a whole lot longer, so we started north on google's fastest route--which immediately became a mess with free-range cattle, no shoulders, and a hint of a dirt road ahead. We rapidly found a turnaround spot and went back to SH 12.

Starting out

 Going up

All that wasted about 10 minutes. SH 12 was a good road, with an indication of shoulders, but the route it chose turned out to be a hoot.  It went around a bunch of rock formations, the red kind that are so cool to observe.  Then it went way up in the mountains, passing a pine forest and then a taller pine forest and then aspens and almost a tree line. We topped off at a pass at "summit 9700 feet", which I assume means that we were at the summit, otherwise why tell us?

Then down a bunch of 8%, 10% and even one 12% grade (only a mile for that one) to end up in the incredibly gorgeous Capital Reef National Park. We'll go back there tomorrow. And then we found ourselves in a whitish, grayish wasteland of boulders and gravel slides and dry desert washes. Not all that pretty, but scenic.

 Rest stop

That went on for a while, but we'd picked up the Fremont River by then and the road was following its course. Roads that follow rivers go the way of rivers--left then right then left then right then...nausea.  Eventually the Fremont disappeared and I despaired--Offroad RV Resort was supposed to be on the Fremont river. 

 

But soon the road went through some farmland and rediscovered the river. And there we were--Offroad RV Resort.

 Huge bluff and rock formations to the south, west and north.  A river running right alongside the campground, and lots of new tree plantings that they're keeping watered. If the water holds up, the place will be awesomely gorgeous in 20 years or so.  But for now it's awfully pretty.

The very nice owners changed us from the back-in spot I'd chosen alongside the river to a pull-through site a little ways over. They were being nice and I appreciated it, but the other place had every chance of seeing wildlife while drinking our morning coffee and the new one didn't. No biggeee--it makes Ed happier and it certainly does make it easier to hook up and leave on our last day.

The resort had two trails, one a little quarter mile loop through "the forbidden forest" and the other a one-mile loop to the river.  They said it was a mile, anyway--I'd have said a half mile or three-quarters.  I was wearing my hiking sandals, so I decided to step off the flat, hardened mud at the upper riverbank down onto the flat, hardened mud closer to the water. Which was wet, flowing mud.

Sorry to say, the second layer of mud was not hardened at all. My foot sunk down above my sandal and brought a considerable chunk of the goo back up with it. Yucky!  if I'd put both feet down I'd probably still be stuck to this day.

In the evening I sat out to watch the sun go down, and soon was watching a lovely parade of little bats. So sweet!