A little jaunt in the country

For Corndog’s birthday, we headed out for a nice drive and lunch in the country between here (Alcalde, New Mexico – near Espanola) and Taos. We headed up Highway 68, and at the town of Pilar, we turned off to go up Highway 570 into Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land along the Rio Grande, where the river just comes out of the deep gorge.

The Rio Grande, at the south end of the new Rio Grande del Norte National Monument.

The chilly Rio Grande, along Highway 570, just above Pilar, New Mexico.

The gorge is not so deep here as it is farther north, but it is still impressive. There were some fishermen out along the banks; a local said the fishing is getting good now, in December.

Then we saw some frickin’ graffiti.

Graffiti from 1917 and 1933, among other dates.

Graffiti from 1917 and 1933, among other dates.

I guess back in 1933 when that one inscription was made, there weren’t too many people around here. Another inscription seems to indicate 1917 — some cowboy round-up event (“8/282930/17”).

We kept on up the road, which climbed upward away from the bottom of the gorge. The view started to open up.

The confluence of the Rio Grande del Norte and the Rio Pueblo De Taos; the latter stream is in the canyon farther back.

The stream in the canyon farther back, Rio Pueblo de Taos, is the one which flows through the Pueblo itself, and supplies their water. This confluence at the Rio Grande (which is out of view at the bottom of the picture) is well below the Pueblo, of course.

And it opened up more.

Rio_Grande_Gorge_above_Taos_Bridge

The Rocky Mountains behind Taos are just visible above the gorge rim.

The Rocky Mountains behind Taos are just visible above the gorge rim.

We got a glimpse of the Rio Grande, now far below.

The Rio Grande, just above its confluence with Rio de Taos Pueblo

The Rio Grande, just above its confluence with Rio de Taos Pueblo

The drop-offs were sort of scary in places. Bliss Cat did not want to take chances, so she drove, and she did not look around.

Bliss Cat refuses to be distracted. It is a lo-o-ng way down.

Bliss Cat refuses to be distracted. It is a lo-o-ng way down.

A few more turns…

A couple more switchback turns to go - top of the gorge in sight.

A couple more switchback turns to go – top of the gorge in sight.

… and we were out on top.

We're looking west from the rim of the Rio Grande gorge.

We’re looking west from the rim of the Rio Grande gorge.

Suddenly, we’re in wide open spaces! Beautiful!

Looking back, you almost don’t see the gorge at all.

To hell with Waldo -- where did the Rio Grande Gorge go?

To hell with Waldo — where did the Rio Grande Gorge go?

It turns out that there was an easier way across all along…

The easy way to cross the Rio Grande Gorge.

The easy way to cross the Rio Grande Gorge.

Oh well.

We were cruising along and enjoying the scenery, when we saw a traffic jam up ahead. What?!!  Now, this was before one of us had any beers for lunch.

OH! Just icing on the birthday cake, I see.

A bighorn sheep by the highway.

A bighorn sheep by the highway.

The big dog in the small car ahead of us barked at the sheep, and it prudently moved off. Corndog was concerned that it might get hung up in the wire fence, but it sailed over the fence pretty handily.

Bighorn ram making his getaway.

Bighorn ram making his getaway. Those are his peeps in the background there.

It was quite a good day trip!

This entry was posted by corndogcatman.