Thursday, April 20, 2006
Day 16.
We stopped briefly in Carlsbad, then headed north to Roswell - hometown of UFO conspiracy theories. The scenery along the way didn't change, 360 degrees of flat barren landscape. Well I guess if you're going to spot a UFO this is about as much uninterupted sky as you're going to find anywhere. We pulled in late to Roswell and made some idle chat with a couple of blokes at the local bar.
Roswell is famous for the alleged UFO crash in 1947 a short distance from the town. I stopped by the UFO museum, and it has to be said that they did have a lot of compelling evidence to at least back up the claim that "something" happened there. They also have copies of US government papers produced around the time - field guides on how to recover an extra-terrestrial craft or body! That part was interesting. About the only other thing of note in Roswell is the New Mexico Military Institute, a huge castle-like complex.
We headed north on a whim, up to Santa Fe in northern New Mexico and the first 3/4 of the trip was boring as all hell! We were gradually climbing the whole time, but the barren desert country offered nothing to stimulate my mind, and so with nothing better to do I started searching the sky for UFO's. Each time there was a glint in the sky my heart would skip a beat, maybe it's true? But sorry Roswell, all I saw were IFO's (aircraft).
We pulled into Santa Fe, and stopped at a sign that read "Second St Brewery". I met some laid back locals who pointed out some places i should visit while in the area, and Jen the friendly bartender filled my glass with free beer before I had a chance to object (like i would). They told me of some hot springs out west, and so I decided that would be tomorrows destination.
Day 17.
Got the bike off the back and took Forrie for a tour of downtown Santa Fe. This is easily the prettiest city I've seen in the states. The architecture is almost entirely of mexican influence, rounded terracota sun-baked walls, dusty red streets, and the downtown plaza area full of american indians from out of town selling their hand made jewelry and crafts. Spotted a Trader Joe's so went off to replenish the fridge with real food again.
The road north out of town took us into crazy rugged mountainous country controlled by Indian tribes. This is undoubtedly the most amazing landscape I've seen on the trip so far. We wound our way up to the town of Los Alamos, where the top secret "Manhatten project" resulted in the creation of the atomic bomb. We kept driving up into the beautiful Jemez mountains, winding steeply up onto a volcanic plateau where the forest gives way on the top to a huge caldera formed as the result of massive volcanic eruptions. We wound our way down to the village of Jemez Springs and got directions at the local pub back up the mountain and 5 miles down a rugged dirt track to the hot springs.
Perched halfway up the mountain on a steep slope water pours out of pipes to the spring, into man made rock pools. The water cools as it travels down the pools so you can pick your temperature. I was in heaven - not only did i get to wash but i got a hot bath! I stripped off and jumped in, the "no nudity" sign at the bottom of the hill was ignored by most. I met a hippie couple from Colorado and and an unemployed writer from Albuquerque, who kindly offered me a beer. It was after the sun had set and the stars were out that I made my way down to cook some food and catch an early nights sleep.
Day 18.
This place is intoxicating! I went up for an morning bath, and as we were wandering back down the hill I my jelly-like legs started off in the opposite direction up a beautifully serene valley - all i could do was follow them. We meandered a few miles up the valley, watching for trout in the stream, before turning back for the van. Later in the afternoon a cold wind came through the valley - there was still patches of snow and frozen dirt - and so I went up for one last swim. With the bus booked into a mechanics in Albuquerque the next morning i reluctantly left the most relaxing spot on my trip to date. We drove down the mountains and stopped at another spring, and then hightailed it out through indian reservations all the way to Albuquerque.
Day 19.
I was worried that an exhaust leak in the van might cause a valve to burn, so took it in for preventative repairs. Having the bike really paid off as we spent the day cycling around Albuquerque. The old town district is much like Santa Fe, and after some breakfast we headed north up the Rio Grande, and across out to the Petroglyph National Monument (here a monument is the same as a park, only its create by an act of the president rather than congress). We walked in blazing heat up a canyon where the blackened rocks had symbols, animals, and other patterns carved into them many hundreds of years ago by the native indians. Some date back thousands of years. I was amazed to see people running through the hot sandy dunes.. then i stopped to take a look at me, pushing a bike and dragging a dog, and realized who was the stupid one.
Word came from the mechanics that they wouldn't be finished today and so I find myself here, checked into a dog-friendly hotel down near the old town.
We stopped briefly in Carlsbad, then headed north to Roswell - hometown of UFO conspiracy theories. The scenery along the way didn't change, 360 degrees of flat barren landscape. Well I guess if you're going to spot a UFO this is about as much uninterupted sky as you're going to find anywhere. We pulled in late to Roswell and made some idle chat with a couple of blokes at the local bar.
Roswell is famous for the alleged UFO crash in 1947 a short distance from the town. I stopped by the UFO museum, and it has to be said that they did have a lot of compelling evidence to at least back up the claim that "something" happened there. They also have copies of US government papers produced around the time - field guides on how to recover an extra-terrestrial craft or body! That part was interesting. About the only other thing of note in Roswell is the New Mexico Military Institute, a huge castle-like complex.
We headed north on a whim, up to Santa Fe in northern New Mexico and the first 3/4 of the trip was boring as all hell! We were gradually climbing the whole time, but the barren desert country offered nothing to stimulate my mind, and so with nothing better to do I started searching the sky for UFO's. Each time there was a glint in the sky my heart would skip a beat, maybe it's true? But sorry Roswell, all I saw were IFO's (aircraft).
We pulled into Santa Fe, and stopped at a sign that read "Second St Brewery". I met some laid back locals who pointed out some places i should visit while in the area, and Jen the friendly bartender filled my glass with free beer before I had a chance to object (like i would). They told me of some hot springs out west, and so I decided that would be tomorrows destination.
Day 17.
Got the bike off the back and took Forrie for a tour of downtown Santa Fe. This is easily the prettiest city I've seen in the states. The architecture is almost entirely of mexican influence, rounded terracota sun-baked walls, dusty red streets, and the downtown plaza area full of american indians from out of town selling their hand made jewelry and crafts. Spotted a Trader Joe's so went off to replenish the fridge with real food again.
The road north out of town took us into crazy rugged mountainous country controlled by Indian tribes. This is undoubtedly the most amazing landscape I've seen on the trip so far. We wound our way up to the town of Los Alamos, where the top secret "Manhatten project" resulted in the creation of the atomic bomb. We kept driving up into the beautiful Jemez mountains, winding steeply up onto a volcanic plateau where the forest gives way on the top to a huge caldera formed as the result of massive volcanic eruptions. We wound our way down to the village of Jemez Springs and got directions at the local pub back up the mountain and 5 miles down a rugged dirt track to the hot springs.
Perched halfway up the mountain on a steep slope water pours out of pipes to the spring, into man made rock pools. The water cools as it travels down the pools so you can pick your temperature. I was in heaven - not only did i get to wash but i got a hot bath! I stripped off and jumped in, the "no nudity" sign at the bottom of the hill was ignored by most. I met a hippie couple from Colorado and and an unemployed writer from Albuquerque, who kindly offered me a beer. It was after the sun had set and the stars were out that I made my way down to cook some food and catch an early nights sleep.
Day 18.
This place is intoxicating! I went up for an morning bath, and as we were wandering back down the hill I my jelly-like legs started off in the opposite direction up a beautifully serene valley - all i could do was follow them. We meandered a few miles up the valley, watching for trout in the stream, before turning back for the van. Later in the afternoon a cold wind came through the valley - there was still patches of snow and frozen dirt - and so I went up for one last swim. With the bus booked into a mechanics in Albuquerque the next morning i reluctantly left the most relaxing spot on my trip to date. We drove down the mountains and stopped at another spring, and then hightailed it out through indian reservations all the way to Albuquerque.
Day 19.
I was worried that an exhaust leak in the van might cause a valve to burn, so took it in for preventative repairs. Having the bike really paid off as we spent the day cycling around Albuquerque. The old town district is much like Santa Fe, and after some breakfast we headed north up the Rio Grande, and across out to the Petroglyph National Monument (here a monument is the same as a park, only its create by an act of the president rather than congress). We walked in blazing heat up a canyon where the blackened rocks had symbols, animals, and other patterns carved into them many hundreds of years ago by the native indians. Some date back thousands of years. I was amazed to see people running through the hot sandy dunes.. then i stopped to take a look at me, pushing a bike and dragging a dog, and realized who was the stupid one.
Word came from the mechanics that they wouldn't be finished today and so I find myself here, checked into a dog-friendly hotel down near the old town.
roswell's ufo museum
santa fe
heading up the mountain to los alamos
camping at the spring
san antonio hot spring
..
crossing the rio grande!
this is on the outskirts of albuquerque
Petroglyph national monument
petroglyphs
Sunday, April 16, 2006
Day 13.
The drive to Brownwood had been mostly after dark the previous night, and I was excited to see cacti joining the scenery as I drove west into the desert. I really had no idea what was ahead, and I was excited when out of the blue appeared a little pump sucking oil from the ground. It was just like in the old westerns, a small see-saw crane bobbing quite serenely up and down. Before long I found myself in the heart of the Texas oil fields, the barren landscape simply littered with wells. The road had historic markers every so often and I stopped to read about the area, the "wild west", and I was travelling on what was once a stage coach route that took passengers and mail from east to west in 25 days. I didn't linger on the thought that I wasn't doing it much quicker! At one spot was an old post office called Notrees - the areas most distinguishing feature (I write this as I'm in a town called Carlsbad and I really don't want to run into Carl!). The stage coaches drivers and passengers were heavily armed as attacks from the Indians were common in this area. Another marker pointed out a rise 4.5 miles north that was a stronghold of the Indians.
We pulled into a beautiful desert park on the banks of a large lake. We swam/washed, then headed off for Midland, Texas. The oil fields gave way to a high rise skyline in the middle of the desert, and I sensed this might be an interesting place. As we drove into Midland, a sign proudly announced it as the home of G.W. and Laura Bush (apparently he grew up there). I lowered my expectations somewhat, but was not prepared for what I found:
Midland, Texas, biggest hell-hole on earth (even more so than eastern Kentucky). Where _NOTHING_ is natural. Quite probably the founding home of strip-mall America. Where women of all ages are either blond or they have chests protruding out proudly perpendicular to their body - usually both. Where men go around slapping girls butts and the girls squeal a happy acknowledgment. Where the average age of divorce is 25. Where "Days of Our Lives" hair-do's are still in fashion. Where the only bar in town with "live music" turned out to be a god awful karaoke bar. Is this Bush's vision of the american dream?
Day 14.
Seeing as I was in the centre of an oil field I decided it was time to do an oil change, and at the same time fix the electrical problems with my dual battery setup. Late in the afternoon I headed west, the oil wells giving way to barren desert, no more ranches (or at least livestock), and yucca's taking the place of cactus. Its amazing in such a vast countryside how the scenery can change dramatically at the turn of a corner. As we got closer to the Guadalupe mountains, the flat turned into beautiful rolling hill country, and as the sun set we slowly climbed up to the base of Guadalope national park.
The Guadalope mountains were once a reef in the Permian age, now home to high elevation desert flora and fauna. As no dogs are permitted on the trails and it being easter weekend, I decided I would get up before sunrise the next morning and hike for a couple of hours before the heat of the day set in. I envisaged hiking for an hour in the dark by headlamp, and then for a couple more after sunrise. As I read a notice at the trailhead warning of mountain lions in the area my courage faded with the sunlight. No bloody way would I be hiking alone in prime hunting time for mountain lions!
Day 15.
I set off in daylight just before sunrise to a place called Devils Hall. It was great being up before the masses hit the trails, and I spotted several Mule Deer along the way. Up the valley mountainsides closed in and twisted further into the mountains to Devils Hall, a spectacular gap in the mountains only a few metres wide, with high cliffs on either side. The floor is rock, with evenly terraced steps down the twisting valley. On the way back I took a detour up a track that would eventually end at Guadalope peak. On a point out in the clear, way above the carpark below I could hear a noise - was that bloody forrest barking?! I headed down and sure enough Forrie was doing her best to wake the camp, and failing that, shred the curtains in the kombi.
We drove out and the wind was insane, coming from the south we were virtually blown up into New Mexico. I had secured the poptop with extra rope inside, but we were getting blown all about on the road so I pulled over and took the dog crate off the roof rack and used the strap to secure the poptop down on the outside from rear to front.
The drive to Brownwood had been mostly after dark the previous night, and I was excited to see cacti joining the scenery as I drove west into the desert. I really had no idea what was ahead, and I was excited when out of the blue appeared a little pump sucking oil from the ground. It was just like in the old westerns, a small see-saw crane bobbing quite serenely up and down. Before long I found myself in the heart of the Texas oil fields, the barren landscape simply littered with wells. The road had historic markers every so often and I stopped to read about the area, the "wild west", and I was travelling on what was once a stage coach route that took passengers and mail from east to west in 25 days. I didn't linger on the thought that I wasn't doing it much quicker! At one spot was an old post office called Notrees - the areas most distinguishing feature (I write this as I'm in a town called Carlsbad and I really don't want to run into Carl!). The stage coaches drivers and passengers were heavily armed as attacks from the Indians were common in this area. Another marker pointed out a rise 4.5 miles north that was a stronghold of the Indians.
We pulled into a beautiful desert park on the banks of a large lake. We swam/washed, then headed off for Midland, Texas. The oil fields gave way to a high rise skyline in the middle of the desert, and I sensed this might be an interesting place. As we drove into Midland, a sign proudly announced it as the home of G.W. and Laura Bush (apparently he grew up there). I lowered my expectations somewhat, but was not prepared for what I found:
Midland, Texas, biggest hell-hole on earth (even more so than eastern Kentucky). Where _NOTHING_ is natural. Quite probably the founding home of strip-mall America. Where women of all ages are either blond or they have chests protruding out proudly perpendicular to their body - usually both. Where men go around slapping girls butts and the girls squeal a happy acknowledgment. Where the average age of divorce is 25. Where "Days of Our Lives" hair-do's are still in fashion. Where the only bar in town with "live music" turned out to be a god awful karaoke bar. Is this Bush's vision of the american dream?
Day 14.
Seeing as I was in the centre of an oil field I decided it was time to do an oil change, and at the same time fix the electrical problems with my dual battery setup. Late in the afternoon I headed west, the oil wells giving way to barren desert, no more ranches (or at least livestock), and yucca's taking the place of cactus. Its amazing in such a vast countryside how the scenery can change dramatically at the turn of a corner. As we got closer to the Guadalupe mountains, the flat turned into beautiful rolling hill country, and as the sun set we slowly climbed up to the base of Guadalope national park.
The Guadalope mountains were once a reef in the Permian age, now home to high elevation desert flora and fauna. As no dogs are permitted on the trails and it being easter weekend, I decided I would get up before sunrise the next morning and hike for a couple of hours before the heat of the day set in. I envisaged hiking for an hour in the dark by headlamp, and then for a couple more after sunrise. As I read a notice at the trailhead warning of mountain lions in the area my courage faded with the sunlight. No bloody way would I be hiking alone in prime hunting time for mountain lions!
Day 15.
I set off in daylight just before sunrise to a place called Devils Hall. It was great being up before the masses hit the trails, and I spotted several Mule Deer along the way. Up the valley mountainsides closed in and twisted further into the mountains to Devils Hall, a spectacular gap in the mountains only a few metres wide, with high cliffs on either side. The floor is rock, with evenly terraced steps down the twisting valley. On the way back I took a detour up a track that would eventually end at Guadalope peak. On a point out in the clear, way above the carpark below I could hear a noise - was that bloody forrest barking?! I headed down and sure enough Forrie was doing her best to wake the camp, and failing that, shred the curtains in the kombi.
We drove out and the wind was insane, coming from the south we were virtually blown up into New Mexico. I had secured the poptop with extra rope inside, but we were getting blown all about on the road so I pulled over and took the dog crate off the roof rack and used the strap to secure the poptop down on the outside from rear to front.
into oil country
a relief - time for a wash
the texan oilfields
still half asleep :)
guadalupe national park at sunrise
a mule deer..
view of south western texas
