New Mexico - Montana May-June 2019

Alamosa NWR

Miraculous Staircase  

After returning from Hawaii, we picked up our RV in Albuquerque and headed for Angel Fire, NM where we had a timeshare for a week. In Santa Fe, we went to the Loretto Chapel to check out the “Miraculous Staircase”, that appears to have no means of support. Of course, the real miracle is how much money they raise from charging visitors to see it. We drove the Enchanted Circle and toured Kit Carson Home and Museum in Taos.

Great Sand Dunes NP   

 From Angle Fire we headed up to Colorado to see the Great Sand Dunes NP. I figured we would be the only ones there; who wants to see a big pile of sand? Thanks to a stream that flows in front of the dunes, the answer is lots of people, especially those people who live almost a thousand miles from the closest ocean beach. The other attraction was sand sledding. We rented two boards and gave it a try. Going downhill was fun, climbing back up the dune, not so much fun. (Check off bucket list item).

Don attempts to fly down the hill

Rio Grande

Creede CO  

We spent five nights in Creede, CO.  We really liked this area, an 8,000 ft high mountain valley. We drove the “Bachelor Loop” which took us up rough mountain roads past old silver mines. During a day trip to Lake City, we saw a moose and North Clear Creek falls. 

North Clear Creek Falls

Moose

Donkey Dash

In Creede, they had a Donkey Dash, an eleven-mile race up and down the mountain, pulling a donkey that may or may not be cooperating.

Colorado National Monument

Next stop was Gunnison, CO where we hiked to Hartman’s Rocks and Dillon’s pinnacles. We toured the south rim of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. We got some work done on the Honda in Montrose and Pat went to see a podiatrist and departed with a boot on her right foot. We wanted to camp at Grand Mesa NF, but all the campgrounds were still buried in snow. We love Colorado National Monument - imagine Bryce NP without the crowds.

Colorado National Monument

Bruneau Canyon  

We drove through northern Utah, but since I didn’t need any more wives, we kept going to Idaho. Here we stopped at City of Rocks National Reserve, where you can find the names of pioneers, heading to California between 1853 and 1883, that signed their name with axle grease. Bruneau Dunes SP and Bruneau Canyon are little know gems. 

Bruneau SP

Bear Grass   

After a long drive through western Idaho we got to Savenac Historic Nursery where we caught up with Robert, who we last saw in Amarillo. We met his crew of volunteers and toured the site with him. We biked the Route of the Hiawatha rail trail before continuing to Glacier NP.

Glacier NP  

At Glacier NP they had just reopened the Going to the Sun road to Logan’s pass, after a recent snowfall. The bear grass was blooming; this only happens once every 5-10 years in the park. We did limited hiking due to Pat’s foot problem. From Glacier we headed to Fernie for three weeks.

Wild Flowers of the Rockies