Thus we bid Farmington NM farewell and take off in the general direction of Pueblo, Colorado, because we want to cross the Rocky Mountains at some altitude, as we again cross the continental divide, this time from West to East. The distance between the two cities, as the crow flies, is only about 224 miles (360 km), However, in mountainous terrain, there are not straight roads, they curve, they go up and they go down, thus the actual distance is quite a bit more.
There are valleys and peaks and places to stop and just enjoy the view. We decided that in order to arrive in Pueblo in daylight we would do all paved road, thus crossing the Rockies at Wolf Creek Pass. Wolf Creek Pass is a very high pass in the San Juan Mountains section of the Rockies, with an elevation of 10,857' (2.06 miles above sea level) / 3,309 meters.
As we come through some nice valleys we took a picture here and there, not many, but a few. I wish we had geo-tagged them, but didn't.
 |
| A barn somewhere along the road. |
Wolf Pass is up ahead in those mountains.
The view along the road.
A ranch in the middle of a valley.
Cows grazing at the very nice green grass.
We found this nice looking waterfall on the Western side of the Continental Divide.
Eventually we arrive at Wolf Creek Pass, 10,857' above sea level, and there is more mountain above us. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf_Creek_Pass, http://sangres.com/features/wolfcreekpass.htm#.UZPgUN4o6M8
AWolf Creek Pass is also the source of a Country and Western song, here are the lyrics:
Here is youtube link to the tune by the author of the lyrics.
Here are a few other links to information about the pass.
A live view of the pass with current weather information.
Our trusted little 2004 Subaru Forester on top of the pass,
after having huffed up the
"37 miles of hell called Wolf Creek Pass", lyrics from the song.
One encounters the Continental Divide trail on top of the pass, a hiking trail that begins at the New Mexico border with Mexico and continues to the border with Canada.
Norma is pointing to our exact location on the Continental Divide / Trail.
This is a trail that some people hike in sections, taking a number of years to do so. Others hike it in one direction in one setting and as far as I know, only two individuals have actually through hiked the trail in both directions in the same year / season. In the June 2008 issue of Backpacker magazine is an excellent article about The Onion (Mr. Garret Christensen) and Mr. Magoo (Francis Tapon). They, though not together, more in a sort of competition with each other, covered the more than 5,600 miles / 9,016 km through hike with a double back to the starting point. http://www.backpacker.com/june_2008_feature_onion_mr_magoo_cdt/articles/12430
Here are links to information about the Continental Divide trail, just get a good backpack, some good shoes, a poncho, a tent and other VERY LIGHT WEIGHT essentials, and off you go; see you in a few months.
Straddling The Great Divide, West is on the right and East on the Left.
If one was to drop some water on the right side of the line it would flow east to the plain states
and then south into the Gulf of Mexico.
Still on top of Wolf Creek Pass, but now one can see the ever so slight tilt of the road going down to the East. After a few miles of driving on the "downhill side" we came upon this fantastic little lake and found a family there from Texas fishing for Brown Trout. It appears that we didn't take any pictures of them and the stringer of fish, but they had a nice stringer with about 6 good sized trout on it.
A nice relaxing stop by the lake.
The water is fine, a bit on the cold side, but fine.
As we journey along we come across the "mighty" Rio Grande River, this time not so Grande. It has its beginning way up here and flows South to eventually become the border between a section of the US and Mexico. In Mexico the river is known as Rio Bravo. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rio_Grande
http://www.nps.gov/rigr/index.htm
http://www.flyanglersonline.com/features/greatrivers/riogrande/
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=rio+grande+river+map&qpvt=rio+grande+river+map&FORM=IGRE
http://www.blm.gov/nm/st/en/prog/recreation/taos/rio_grande_wsr.html
The Rio Grande River as it appears in Southern Colorado.
Before arriving in Pueblo there are many other points of interest which we didn't stop to look at because of time constraints. There are the Great Sand Dunes National Monument, which is visible in the distance from Highway 160.
Do a Google search on this area. Nearby is Blanca Peak, also visible from the road to the North as is Lindsay Peak and California Peak.
Before arriving in Pueblo we came to one other place of interest. If one doesn't expect to see it, or if one blinks while driving, it is easily missed. The Huerfano Butte. You may well say What????
Norma by the roadside marker.
Norma pointing out our location on the map on the board.
There are some oral traditions, which I cannot verify, that this butte was used as a way point and meeting place between the plains Indians and the Desert Southwest Indian. Some also suggest that this very place is where the Spanish Missionaries (generally Franciscans or Jesuits) coming North from Mexico encountered, much to their surprise French Missionaries (generally Franciscans or Jesuits) coming South out of Canada and what is now the Northern States. But again, I have not been able to verify those stories.
Eventually we arrive in Pueblo and get checked into our old stand-by lodgings, La Quinta. Since we saw the family from Texas with trout we went to the nearest Cracker Barrel restaurant, which was really close, and ordered trout for dinner. After dinner we went to the Arkansas River (yes, it flows out of Colorado on its way East to join the Mississippi.
A very nice quiet and peaceful river walk.
A time to sit and relax after a long day on the road and after a good dinner of trout.
The sun is about to set and one had to turn the flash on.
A little color in the flowers.
I was almost tempted to get in the water, but in case of a strong current it
would be a long swim all the way to Little Rock Arkansas.
A quiet waterfall in the background.
Thus ended the journey from Farmington NM to Pueblo Colorado. Two more days and we will be home. We had a good nights rest and set out again in the morning for Wichita Falls Texas. Along the way we took a few more pictures (see below) but we also came across something of interest but didn't have the time to explore. In Northeastern New Mexico is a rather interesting land formation, known as the Raton-Clayton Volcano Field. Part of that field is the Capulin Volcano National Monument.
http://www.americansouthwest.net/new_mexico/capulin-volcano/national-monument.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capulin_Volcano_National_Monument
http://www.nps.gov/cavo/index.htm
http://www.americansouthwest.net/new_mexico/capulin-volcano/national-monument.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capulin_Volcano_National_Monument
http://www.nps.gov/cavo/index.htm
Horses somewhere on a ranch in SE Colorado.
Same ranch, more horses, this one with a foal.
A windmill somewhere in NE New Mexico.
The last "adobe" style church on this trip.
This one in Amarillo, Texas if memory serves me correctly.
Acres and acres of golden fields of cut "whatever it was".
The camera actually didn't do a good job of rendering the color correctly.
We spend the night in Wichita Falls, Texas, and then completed the journey home the next day.
A fantastic trip over all. I just realized that I began posting segments of this journey in August of 2011. Thus it has taken us 21 months to complete what was completed in not quite three weeks on the road. It is my hope that you have enjoyed these installments with their bits of history about the US Southwest and our anecdotes along the way.
I am going to take a short break from posting while planning the next great excursion, this one a circumnavigation of Lake Superior, by road but I wish by water.
See all of you later and by the way, click on the links to the advertisers. They appreciate it and so do I.
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