#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. 

#207 Southwest Trip Fall 2023, Part 1

 Southwest Trip Fall 2023, Part 1

A trip! A real trip! And we even got into a plane to fly from Portland to Albuquerque, New Mexico. The plan was to spend three nights in Santa Fe, eight nights in Taos, and a last night in Albuquerque before flying home. It was a fine plan, too. The trip from Portland to ABQ through Salt Lake (on Delta Airlines) was pleasant with easy connections and smooth flights. The one long walk between connections in Salt Lake was eased by riding on a passenger carrier driven by a very friendly local. We picked up our rental intermediate SUV, a Kia Sportage, with no problems and headed up the freeway toward Santa Fe, an hour and a half drive. The main purpose of the trip was to enjoy photographing one of our favorite parts of the country along with visiting our adopted niece and her family in Taos.

Since the trip was a big photo opportunity, this blog in three parts will be photo oriented. This first segment will be telling a little about the towns we visited as well as some of the trip’s major attractions. Consider the photos in this blog postcards from the Southwest.

Typical Santa Fe Door

Santa Fe. We stayed three nights in a studio apartment at the Worldmark Santa Fe—a timeshare. Our unit, 1108, was a nicely-sized studio with small kitchenette and a good bed. We didn’t need to use the included gas fireplace because the weather was very summery. 

The WM Santa Fe is conveniently located only a few blocks away from Santa Fe’s downtown plaza—filled with art shops, restaurants, and museums.

Parking Adventure. It’s an easy drive from our timeshare to the downtown parking structure, except it wasn’t easy this trip. The normal parking lot entrances/exits on San Fransisco Street were now just exits and we had no idea where the new entrances were. We were stuck now in a tourist area one-way grid. We wound through the tight streets until we finally saw a sign which pointed to “Parking.” We did end up with a good parking spot via the new entrance and later found out that disabled parking is now free. Although the parking was hard to find this time, Santa Fe’s a good tourist town.

DDD Recommendations. As fans of Guy Fieri’s “Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives” show on the Food Network, we seek out his recommended restaurants wherever we travel. On this trip we ate at three of those Triple D restaurants and missed another. In Santa Fe Anne and I had breakfast at the number one recommended eatery in town, The Pantry, one morning and dinner at the top pizza place (number 1 for the last 15 years), Backroad Pizza. 

While in Taos we had lunch at Sol Food Cafe in Arroyo Seco a short ways out of town. 

Barn Near Arroyo Seco

Also in Taos we tried to eat at Antonio’s Taste of New Mexico, but we couldn’t get in. The recommendation as a new DDD spot has made it uber-popular.  Obviously, we ate well on this trip.

Pecos National Historic Park. Twenty-seven miles east of Santa Fe are the ruins of the Pecos Pueblo (Cicuye Pueblo) which was made a National Monument in 1965 and renamed an Historic Park in 1985. Today the park consists of several hiking trails leading to ruins and the main pueblo ruin along with historic church and a nice visitor center. 

Small Museum in the VC

The five story pueblo was built around 1100 and at one time housed about 2000. The area has been occupied since about 11,500 BCE. The Spanish mission church has an interesting history being originally built in 1619 and destroyed during the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. 

The church was rebuilt in 1717 and abandoned by 1838. We spent our time visiting the ruins of the main pueblo and the massive church.

The Main Street through Taos

Taos. Eight days of our trip we stayed at the Worldmark Taos (timeshare) in a comfortable one bedroom apartment. 

WM Taos is near the center of town (elevation 6900 feet) and is only minutes from the main shopping district at the town Plaza. Also in the Plaza the US flag flies 24 hours a day with special history. 

During the Civil War confederate sympathizers tried to take the US flag down, but were thwarted by Union officer Kit Carson, a Taos resident, who ordered troops to guard the flag 24 hours a day.

We shared a breakfast table at Michael's Kitchen with an RVer, Jeff. Nice company and good food.

Anne at one of the shops on the Taos Plaza. The older gentleman was perplexed by my photography.

 

The town, founded in 1615, is best known for the nearby Taos Pueblo, and for being a very active artist colony. The town of 5700 has numerous art galleries and several interesting museums. 

The Farmhouse Cafe and Bakery is one of the most popular eateries in Taos and has some good mountain scenery for background.

The vista behind The Farmhouse Cafe.

Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The lovely mountain range runs over 242 miles  from Santa Fe past Taos and north into Colorado. Numerous peaks in the range reach above 14,000 feet.

Views from near Arroyo Seco.

The Rio Grande Gorge Bridge and Rio Grande del Norte National Monument. Ten miles northwest of Taos is the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge restored in 2012 and its new parking area. The bridge is 600 feet above the river and its 1200 foot span is the 10th tallest in the US.

 The view of the Taos mountains from the bridge is a tourist favorite. A little further from Taos is another gorge related site (really, a series of sites), the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument. While impressive views can be found at the several viewpoints, none really rival the bridge views. 

 

Photographers and other artists will appreciate the lack of crowds which throng to the bridge.

A biker's club was visiting the old church the first time we stopped.

San Francisco de Asis Mission Church in the main plaza of Ranchos de Taos, four miles south of Taos. Also known as St Francis de Asia, the adobe church was built between 1772 and 1816. It became a National Historic Landmark in 1970. 

The adobe exterior walls pf the church need to be re-cemented every year. The church is a favorite subject of artists such as Georgia O’Keeffe, Ansel Adams, Paul Strand, and Bob Jones. 

The Church from the Back

The church is known to be “one of the most photographed and painted churches in the world” (Taos Chamber of Commerce).

Our pilot greets passengers on the homebound leg from Salt Lake to Portland.

NEXT: Part 2 in two weeks.