| APRIL
17 MONDAY
(by
Terry)
Have been a little on
the lax side with our web posts over the last couple of days. Saturday
and Sunday were very busy days for the campground hosts. The
campground was full both nights, and on Sunday many extended families came
out to picnic with their families. The Park ranger went around a
couple of times, reminding the non campers that they still had to pay the
five dollar day use fee.
We on the other hand have been
taking it easy. I did not feel well on Saturday and Sunday, but feel
better today., and Ron did not have the time to get the web site updated.
Went fishing today, but did
not do very well. Fished in the Flats above the Texas hole. Lots of very
shallow, crystal clear water in braided channels. Was advised
to use a 6x tippet, and very small flies, size 24. I had one fish
that I was able to hook up, but it broke the tippet as soon as I set the
hook. The rest of the Afternoon was spent casting over additional
fish, but I could not get them to play with me. Will be running into Town
later to see if I can pick up any tips or hints. Quit fishing about
5:00 pm as the wind was coming up and at times was quit gusty.
Our Weather Watcher program had a warning posted on the screen advising
that there was a wind advisory for NW New Mexico till 8:00 this evening.
Have to fix my wading boots
each time I go out to fish. The felt sole is delaminating, and I
can not glue it until I have had a chance to clean the felt and get
everything completely dry, until then I duct tape the sole each morning
and it will last the day. There has been one comment about the appearance
of my boot, but I am not going to take a couple of days off from fishing
when I have all summer to fix the boots. Am thinking about adding
removable cleats to the boot when I reglue the soles.
The flats above the Texas Hole
on the San Juan River, Navajo Dam NM
APRIL
18 TUESDAY
(By
Ron)
I had
ordered on Sunday from Amazon.com a new camera Review:
Fujifilm FinePix S5200 Digital Camera
and FedEx
came through and it got here on Tuesday about noon. So now reading the
manual and how to use this thing. A new toy to play with, what could be
better than that.
We had
planned to stay thill Thursday and move on east on US HW 64 and fish the
Chama river, but we hear it is still muddy from spring runoff. So might
just stay here thru the weekend where the fishing is good and the weather
is even better. Besides I need to play with the new camera. We need to
go to Bloomington to get propane and milk and stuff in the next day or
two. OH and the tanks need draining so looks like time to get the macerator
pump out and do its thing. If you forgot how we do this see our We
don't use a blue boy anymore article.
APRIL
19 WEDNESDAY
We had
to decide today if we were going to move out tomorrow or stay through the
weekend. We have been here for 10 days now. It is time to dump and do we
pull all the stuff out and do it in place or just head out in the morning
and dump in the campground fac. So it was time to do a little research
on the net to see where to go and where to stay on the road ahead.
It will be US 64 across northern NM. We would like to stay at Heron Lake
State park and see how the fishing is on the Chama river (may be to muddy)
There
is a lot to explore in this area so will play it by ear.
After
this area (as a heads up) we will move on this this area below.
But will
reprot with pic with our new Fuji S5200 camera on both these areas.
But Oh
I had a good day when we went to Bloomfield today to get propane, diesel,
and groceries.
When
we stopped for fuel, the pump would just not start for Terry, he kept pushing
the push start button and nothing would happen.
SO I
had to get out of the truck and with ONE push, it started.
I keep
telling him he is Gas Pump Challenged. So a pic with the new camera was
in order when I gave him guff about not being able to start the pump. Yes
you saw the price, Diesel $2.86 a gal. Ouch!
Pic
taken from the divers seat back in the truck, in case I needed protection.
So
off on down the raod we go in the morning.
APRIL
20 THURSDAY
On the
road again. This morning we left Navajo Dam heading east on HW 64
towards Chama, NM and points east. We had wanted to go this way last
spring when we were at Navajo Dam, but there was a late snow storm and
we went south through Albuquerque. That storm, last spring, left
us in Las Vegas NM with 4 inches of snow on the ground the next morning.
We were
also a little leery of the road, it had been reported to us that the road
was a very difficult pull and that we might have trouble getting through,
steep grades, narrow road etc.. All the reports were wrong.
There are some portions where there are long grades, but no posted steep
grades. It was a nice drive, the road had been rebuilt a few yrs
back and had held up well. We could recommend this as a good drive.
Wanted
to see what the Rio Chama was like, had read a bit about it on the
internet at some of the Fly Fishing Sites, but had only a little information.
Had been told at Abe's Fly shop that the river above the dam at El Vado
Lake would be off color with spring run off and not fishable. They
were right. The good stretches of public water above Chama will have
to wait till next time. Below the dam at El Vado Lake the water looked
to be clear, but access is limited, private water and all that crap.
We ended
up at El Vado State park, and we are the only ones here. When we
pulled in the sign at the entrance said they had no water. When we
talked to the Parks employee who was cleaning up the grounds he stated
that they were going to try and get the water system up and running
tomorrow.
Here we
are an electric and water site with no water. We asked if the camping
fees would be reduced due to the lack of weather, but the Park Employee
could not give us an answer. It is $14 they might reduce it just for us.
Tomorrow
we will head further East, We want to get a good start so we can
get settled in before the week end campers get off of work. We intend
to be somewhere in the Taos area. Tune in tomorrow to se if things go as
planned. We plan to head to the Orilla
Verde Rec Area. See the map above.
APRIL
21 FRIDAY
We left
El Vado State park, and heading down US 84. Stopped for diesel at
$3.10 a gal. I just didn't think I wanted to head over the pass on US 64
going twd Taos.
Good
choice as I'll explain later. So when we go to Espaniola headed back
up US 68 twd Orilla Verde Rec area. By the way diesel at Espaniola was
from $2.85 to $2.99.
All the
HWs form Farmington to here has all be great, no problems for big rigs.
So we
pulled off at the intersection of State 570 and 567 into the BLM visitor
center. Got our campground info and up the canyon we went. WOW we hit it
big, what a great area.
Rio Bravo
campground water/electric/no dump $15
Time
to take a drive, GET IN...
The
nice valley road comes to an abrupt end and heads straight up. We are severl
miles down river, looking south in this pic.
Heading
up and out of the canyon on the north end.
If
we had come in from US 64 this is what we would have found for driving
down into the canyon. I would have not been a happy camper. Washboard,
sharp bends, not for taking a 5er over at any cost. It looks better than
it was! The blacktop road comes up from the south and stops at the bridge
and then the road goes to greavl like the above pic.
A view from the top ridge before
heading down. I am standing on the road taking this picture.
While I am updating this Terry
is off fishing. Many miles of what looks like prime waters. May stay here
for several days. Here is the BLM Orilla
Verde Recreation Area web site Check out the pdf visitor's
guide.
This is a wonderful area just
like the Navajo Dam area and we will be back.
Have a great weekend we plan
to!
APRIL
22 SATURDAY
We went for a drive and
took the THE
ENCHANTED CIRCLE drive.
Route: From Taos Plaza, Hwy.
64 north to Hwy. 522 north to Questa; Hwy. 38 east to Red River, then south
to Eagle Nest and Angel Fire; Hwy. 64 west to Taos.
Did not go up to Taos Ski Valley.
It would have been in and out so took the big circle drive
Saw the ski town of Red River.
Nice layout and not many people this time of year.
Between Red River and Eagle
Nest has high valleys. Did not expect what we found on the drive.
Wide long range views were
everywhere high up..
This gave us a chance to check
out HW 64 on the east side on how it will be to pull the 5er. Looks
like the only really tuff road will be the downward track of 2 miles down
the east side of the pass. Lots of short switch backs.
Our setup should handle this
just fine. It has a 25 mph on the east side and you can bet I will doing
that or less in second gear.
Came back to downtown Taos for
a little tourist trap entrapment.
Terry loves this stuff and
I sit on a bench and people watch.
Did have him buy a T-shirt
for his nephew.
To prove we really did go to
Toas, here is Terry in the main town square.
Much of the square, and for
that matter Toas looks tired, and worn from years of neglect.
Perhaps it is just that early
spring look, but they need to spruce up things big time.
New tulips in the square. Had
to play with the new camera.
Got back to the campground just
in time for "A Prairie Home Companion w/ Garrison Kellor" streaming
on the interent. No npr down in thic canyon. Terry is off the visitor
center to ask if the $3 a day charge applies to campers to park and fish
the river. It is overcast and still warm at over 75.
He just got back, the
camping ticket is also good for the day fee to fish.
APRIL
23 SUNDAY
What can
I say about Sunday... read the paper and contemplate life in general is
the
standard
operating procedure. Rough but someone has to do it.
Thinking
about the path forward and came up with a couple of ideas. We are
going east out of Taos in US 64 and we were going to go to Cimarron
Canyon SP but discovered to the south Coyote
Creek SP. Have emailed both parks for conditions (fishing) and
road reports to get to them and the roads to get back out to I-25. Also
if water and dump stations are available and open.
We have
pretty much covered much of northern NM on our way east and have had great
fun doing it.
See above
for an overall state map.
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