The Road to Frying Pan and Other Adventures

Thanksgiving

We've had a couple of beautiful days ahead of the lousy weather we're having now (overcast, rain, cold, with little improvement in sight).  Two days ago we took an excursion to a canyon I hadn't visited...Frying Pan.  Why is it called Frying Pan?  No one seems to know.  Local lore says a woodcutting party from Fort Cummings was ambushed here by the Apaches with loss of all soldiers.

On the way to Frying Pan, there is a grave site which is supposedly a little girl who died out here in the wilderness.  

l to r:  Gilbert, Steve, me, Mike

Mike and Gilbert at Frying Pan

When returned to the Hitchhiker, I released the dogs and they ran to the back ramp and up to the stoop.  When I got to the ramp, I saw they had run right by a (probably young) coon-tailed rattlesnake (Rattlesnakes) lying on the bottom plank of the ramp.  Oooooo dear....I was wearing boots so I scooted past it and secured the dogs on the porch.  Mike encouraged the snake to move on.

Mike and Gilbert discuss the world situation.

And on another wildlife front, I have caught four or five mice in the rig in the past month.  It's getting chilly and they are all hunting for someplace warm and dry for the winter.  One of the guys in the next court has caught probably a dozen.  



We had planned to gather up the mavericks today to go to a local truck stop for an elegant Thanksgiving feast.  With rain, rain, rain starting early this morning, the ranch road is a bog.  At the last big rain, one of the park residents slid off the road into a ditch and needed help to get back out. Another consideration is that the local mud turns into concrete when it dries.  It takes a minimum of $3 at the local car wash to blast it off, sometimes a lot more.  So we are enjoying a quiet day at home.  Looks like pizza tonight.  

Tomorrow the mavericks are going to Palomas, Mexico, for margaritas and lunch and a little light shopping.  It's a fun day and we can't ride the desert anyway.

I have ordered a HAM radio for the Honda, as communication in the desert is iffy.  Wireless phones work someplaces and not others.  One of the guys here set up the HAM repeater and monitors traffic.  It's gotten a lot of people out of bad situations, as they can call back to the ranch for help.  And it's always helpful for drivers to be able to contact each other on the move.

Muppet and Bella

Camp Cody and Coyote Canyon

Wyatt and Michelle came over to Hidden Valley Ranch Sunday morning to take another desert ride before they left for Albuquerque.  

Just outside the gates of the ranch a mile or so is what is left of Camp Cody.

Camp Cody NM 1

Camp Cody 2

There is very little except for the lines of rocks which outlined different areas and the lanes through the camp.  There is also an old concrete stock trough, probably used to water the cavalry horses.

There's a high point which Wyatt and Michelle climbed.  Michelle found several partial skeletons of small animals so something lives in the rocks which hunts...

Monday we took a short ride to Coyote Canyon, a couple of miles from the ranch.  At this time of year, the good riding days are going to get scarce but this one was beautiful.   It was warm, sunny, and almost no wind, a rarity at this time of the year.

Coyote Canyon

It may be several weeks before a new post...things are very quiet on the ranch now.

Miscellaneous

Sunday night, October 25

Well, the excitement in the park today was watching the local medical helicopter circle over us three times before landing in an open space northeast of the clubhouse.  One of the owner's twin sons took a turn too fast and overturned the four-seater side-by-side with other kids on board.  One of the girls had a pin in her pelvis from an earlier car accident and the other kids landed on her, re-injuring her.  

Talked to the park owner this morning and she was scheduled for surgery today (Tuesday).  That's one of the down sides to living out here.  If you need emergency medical help, it comes from the sky with a VERY BIG price tag.  Someone said the minimum is $60K and may be more if they have to take you to El Paso instead of Las Cruces.  

Moral to this story:  Don't do stupid stuff and drive SLOWLY AND CAREFULLY.

Sunday, 8 November

Well, we are facing the last of the consistently beautiful weather.  The photo below was taken last Sunday at the top of Switchback.  Clear, warm, sunny....gorgeous.  Today is pretty but windy and chilly.

l to r:  Mike, Steve, Nancy, with Lola, Muppet, and Josie.

Wyatt and Michelle came down from Albuquerque and we ran the trails yesterday.  See photos below:

The Shooting Lesson

Wyatt and Michelle

Wyatt and Michelle take off in the Honda.

Why You Don't Go 4-Wheeling in the Desert Alone

17 October Saturday

A group of eight of us made the run to Fort Cummings through Massacre Canyon on Thursday.  Those of you who read the blog regularly know that this trip is a popular one here in the park.

We had five rigs, two people to a rig except for Mike and me.  Each of us drove our own side by side.  Got over there just fine and Mike and I started home by way of the Powerline Trail.  The others were spending more time at the fort and then were going back the way they came.

The trail to get to Powerline has suffered some damage over the summer from all the rain we've had.  Part of it is washed out and we had to find alternate ways to go.  Mike shut down his Yamaha Rhino to scout ahead.  When he returned, the Rhino wouldn't start.  Hhhhmmmmm....same problem he had several weeks ago.

Dead Rhino

Mike and Steve jump start the Rhino.

All the rigs are equipped with HAM radio transmitter/receivers so Mike radioed to the others that he was disabled.  They came promptly, jump started the Rhino, and we started back toward the fort.  And then the next problem:  the CHECK ENGINE light came on and the radio quit.  Immediate cause for a halt.  We considered shooting the Rhino, the way you would shoot a broke-down horse.

After consulting with the others, the decision was made to tow the Rhino to Highway 26 while I drove back to the ranch, hooked up the Jeep to my trailer, and drove out to pick up Mike and the rig.  Whew!  While I was getting out to the Fort Cummings road, Mike called the shop which had said it was a battery problem and he had a lively discussion with them.  In short:  they gave Mike a refund for the new battery, re-installed the old one, and started looking for the real problem.

Parts are ordered but it will probably be late next week before the Rhino is operational.  The two times it has quit, we've been places where we could actually get out easily and return to base.  I should not complain, as there are other spots (such as at the top of Fluorite Ridge) where we would have had great difficulty with a disabled vehicle.

On another topic, there have been reports on javelinas inside the park perimeter.  Neither of us had seen them until yesterday.  Mike was at the front of the porch and saw a javelina run out past my carport.  Then I went out at night and (presumably) the same beast ran behind me and up the lane.  We walked the dogs together this morning and saw it again near the storage lot.  Here's why it's concerning:  Javelinas

The one we saw is likely the male.  There is a female, who is probably pregnant, living near the cattle guard entrance to the wash where lots of people walk dogs.  (In an earlier post, I talked about how the generous rain this year is leading to lots and lots of wildlife babies.  Javelinas like it, too, apparently.)  Now is when a lot of people who are not desert-savvy are coming into the park.  This poses risks to them and to their dogs, as the javelinas will win unless the human is packing a .45.  One of the guys suggested I walk the dogs with a shotgun on my shoulder!

It's very important to be properly attired and accessorized on our desert rides.  

The proper headgear is essential:  a floppy wide-brimmed hat with a chin strap will allow the wearer to turn up/down the brim as required and the chinstrap keeps it from heading to Mexico.

A thrift-store man's long-sleeved shirt protects delicate skin from the desert sun.  Shorts are required on the hot days to prevent overheating.  

Cowboy boots protect feet and lower legs from cactus spines, rocks, rattlesnakes, and 4x4 injuries.  

And now the accessories:  

Aviator super-dark sun glasses spare eyes from the glare of the New Mexico sun.

Around my neck I am wearing a Garmin GPS system, useful for finding one's way back to the ranch when all the terrain looks the same.

A .38 caliber pistol loaded with snake shot provides a measure of insurance that the curious rattlesnake will not survive to bite.

And of course no outfit is complete without three dogs....

WE RIDE BY NIGHT!

Just to break up the monotony, the partial pack of Crazies (several have not yet returned to the park from their summer travels) decided to do a night ride.  What a night to pick! We had front row seats on the side of a mountain called Switchback.  When the moon broke over the edge of an adjacent peak, we all thought we were seeing some sort of search light.  The eclipse had started but there was still about a quarter of the moon uncovered.  Over the next hour or so, the whole moon disappeared behind what looked like a gauzy screen.  We waited and waited for the eclipse to pass and then finally started home, as it was getting late.  The eclipse started to pass as we got back to the main road into the ranch.


Super Moon with eclipse

More on the lunar eclipse

I tried to take a few photos but my camera just wasn't good enough for this.  All I got was some blobs in the black night sky.  Not very impressive.

The next night we went out again to a different spot and watched another spectacular sunset and moonrise.  

The desert is very different at night and I won't drive so I was a passenger on both trips.  (Have been night blind for years.)  On a moonless night, you can't see anything at all...all the landmarks disappear and you stand a good chance of driving into an arroyo before you know you are off the trail.  It was fun to be a passenger because I could watch the wildlife.  A baby skunk (!) ran ahead of us for about 100 yards on the trail before it finally broke off. Fortunately we didn't hit it.  (Week before last, I was driving down one of the large arroyos which surround the park and flushed an owl.  Dumb owl...it flew ahead of me down the wash for probably 200 yards before it figured out it could do a 90 degree turn and fly out of the wash and away from me.  So much for the intelligence of owls.)

This has been a good year for desert wildlife.  With plenty of rain, there are bumper crops of rabbit babies, quail babies, mice babies, rat babies, and snake babies.  The snakes are very active right now, eating themselves into a stupor and getting ready to go into their winter quarters.  Several people have either shot or captured rattlers near their trailers in the park.  Fortunately, I have a large bullsnake living on my site and rattlers avoid bullsnakes.  

Walking the dogs just before dawn this morning, I heard the local packs of coyotes talking to each other across the valley.  A neighbor saw Javelinas walking down one of the park lanes in the early morning hours a couple of weeks ago.  Mule Deer also frequent the park and the areas adjacent to it. There are also small herds of Pronghorn Antelopes which we occasionally see on the desert rides.

The park has been quiet as the snow birds have not yet arrived.  I have enjoyed how empty and peaceful it has been, knowing that it will get busy and noisy very soon.  

Wrapping Up

Ran into a number of interesting signs on my travels this summer.  One on an ice truck read "Guaranteed to Melt."  And then there is this one in the background:

Last stop was Canyon de Chelly.  Photos below do not do justice to how beautiful this is.

Good advice, cliffs or not.

On the way to/from the Canyon is Hubbell Trading Post.

Went back through Albuquerque on the way home to Deming.  The Sandia Peak ski area chair lift runs during the summer.  It's a fun ride up to the top, more fun than taking the much more civilized tram on the other side of the mountain.

Went to Mexico for lunch last week.  This statue is in the plaza of a small shopping area.

Pancho Villa meets General Pershing.

Life here on the ranch is pretty quiet so I will probably not post again for a few weeks.  

Busy Weeks

Whew!  Too busy in the past couple of weeks to update the blog.  I will start this entry with where we are now and then work backwards to the time we left Glacier National Park.

Staying at the NRA Whittington Center just south of Raton Pass, New Mexico.  This area has had a lot of rain and the high desert is green and beautiful.  Unfortunately, it also has billions of mosquitoes this year thanks to the extra moisture.  Between dawn and dusk it’s okay outside; otherwise squadrons of the wretched little bugs swarm you every time you poke your head out of the trailer.

View from the campground.

Wildlife abounds here at the Center.  There are warnings about bears and cougars coming into the campground and deer and elk routinely wander through.  Yesterday we saw pronghorn antelopes at the shotgun center.  

Today we went to the Capulin Volcano National Monument.  

View from bottom of the crater.

View from the rim of the crater.  

Spent all day yesterday driving to visit the Fort Union National Monument.  The ruins of the fort have been pretty well preserved.  This fort was the supply depot for the Army installations in the Southwest, such as Fort Cummings near Deming.  It also where the Union Army  departed to confront a Confederate force moving up the Rio Grande valley.  The battle at Glorieta Pass saved the western gold fields and wealth from falling into Confederate control.  A little-known battle but an important one.

The fort sits astride a section of the Santa Fe Trail and you can see the wagon ruts still.  

Jail for the dangerous prisoners.

After we left Glacier National Park, we traveled across Montana in the cold (42 degrees at one point), rainy, VERY windy weather.  One of our stops was Spearfish, South Dakota, only 20 miles or so from Sturgis.  It was our misfortune to be there within days of the motorcycle rally at Sturgis; the park was packed with bikers.  We got one of the last sites available and were darned glad we had made reservations.  The prices at this park go from $35 a night to $110 a night during the rally. 

Arrived in Yale, South Dakota, in time for our friend’s birthday party.  Another RVing friend from Texas, Gilbert Minzenmayer, also came to the party.  Wenda and Bill live on a farm so we released the dogs from their leashes and let them run and play with Winston, Wenda and Bill’s dog.  After spending a few days with them, we all spent a couple of nights at the Oahe Downstream Campground outside Pierre. 

Wenda and Bill

Bill, Wenda, Gilbert, Mike

Everyone trying to be my size.

Encountered bikers again at the stop in Wall, South Dakota as we headed back west.  It’s 100 miles to Sturgis from Wall and the place was overrun with bikers.  We drove through Badlands National Park with a thousand of them.  It was not a treat.  

Note "CLOSED" sign in the window.

Downtown Wall

Bikers in Badlands National Park.

Leaving Wall, we stopped next at Chadron, Nebraska, and the park had MORE bikers.  If I never hear the roar of a motorcycle again, it will be too soon.  NOTE TO SELF:  Do not be within 1,000 miles of Sturgis during the motorcycle rally. 

And now for a real treat:  CARHENGE at Alliance, Nebraska.