#208 SW Fall 2023, Part 2

 

SW Fall 2023, Part 2

Along the Rio Grande River between Santa Fe and Taos, NM.

This post continues our story of our fall trip to Santa Fe and Taos, New Mexico with pictures I hope will give a sense of the beauty we find in the American Southwest. I’ve already presented images of the Sangre de Cristo mountains, but we also took a couple of day trips from Taos hunting for special scenery. In previous trips to the Taos area I’ve taken photo tours with local professional photographer Geraint Smith—both were fantastic experiences. 

A Geraint Smith photo we purchased last year at a Taos gallery now hangs in our living room.

In fact, they were so good that I thought I could find the great scenery myself. Boy, was I wrong. This time I found good photo subjects, but more than anything else I proved how valuable the knowledge of a professional guide can be. I owe Geraint even more thanks. Please take a look at his work on his website [ https://geraintsmith.com ]. Let me know if you enjoy the following tour of the areas around Santa Fe and Taos.

Another view along the Rio Grande.

Camel Rock. Between Santa Fe and Taos just off the freeway is a rock formation worth noting. Camel Rock is a 40 ft by 100 ft chunk of sandstone that (with a little imagination) resembles a camel. The view of this 450 million year old structure is better from the parking area than the close-up view at the end of the short trail up to the rock. 

A view from Camel Rock.

The Camel

The camel image was stronger before a large piece fell off in 2017.

Arroyo Hondo Cottonwood Tree. One of the scenic spots Geraint took us to on our last tour with him was a spot we revisited (after driving past it twice). It’s a particularly picturesque lone cottonwood tree just off Hwy 522 north from Taos just before reaching Arroyo Honda, a small unincorporated village. We past the village on our way toward Colorado and when we drove the Enchanted Circle. 

The tree is lovely particularly as it changes into its fall colors. We were a little early this year, but it’s still  a photo worth a stop.

Last Year's Colors

Garcia, Colorado. One of the spots we visited with Geraint was, according to residents, the oldest continuously inhabited settlement in the state. Garcia (7730 ft) is a small village off Colorado state highway 159 (NM 522). 

The area around Garcia is criss-crossed by a multitude of small paved and gravel roads. 

Ute Mountain, CO

Anne and I found some good photo subjects, but missed some of the great subjects of the year before.

Enchanted Circle Scenic Byway is an 84 mile loop into the high scenic area in the Sangre de Cristo mountains. The route goes from Taos north (the way we did the circle) on NM 522 to Questa where you take NM 38 through Red River to Eagle’s Nest. From there drive NM 434 to Angel Fire where you catch NM 64 to go back to Taos.

Climbing up to the first mountain pass.

The route goes through mountain passes as high as 9500 feet and large valleys or plateaus.  

Both Red River and Angel Fire have well developed ski area and the road encircles Wheeler Peak, the highest mountain is New Mexico at 13,161 feet. We stopped in Angel Fire for lunch, but instead of going to the tourist restaurant (fancy and expensive), we opted for J & A Cafe, a rustic off the main road local's spot which was filled with locals. There we shared a fantastic lunch of fresh catfish and chips for $11.95.

When you drive the Enchanted Circle you are passing through scenery made famous by “Easy Rider” and “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” which were filmed in the area. The last adventure for us of the Enchanted Circle was the mountain road construction project about a mile out of Angel Fire. We wait almost an hour to drive the five miles of curvy construction up to the last pass over into Taos. I ended up being the lead car (after the working truck) and led a mile of traffic the last 18 miles of the trip.

The road into Taos, after the roadwork area, is a wonderfully colorful canyon, but there are very few turnouts and with a mile of cars behind me I wasn't about to stop. Anne did get this great view from our moving car.

NEXT: Museums and Friends in about two weeks.