Enchanted Circle

Yesterday I took a quick trip to Albuquerque to pick up my friend Regina at the airport. On the way I made a detour to the Bosque to search for Coronado's Campsite. I arrived at the parking area and made the short walk to find the box. It was a nice find in an interesting place, except that there was some construction going on in the near area. And there were a few construction vehicles that passed by me - a little uncomfortable and noisy. Once I stamped in and replaced the box I headed for the airport. Regina arrived right on time and we headed back to Santa Fe. We spent the afternoon and evening talking and just catching up.


Today we decided to drive the Enchanted Circle. This drive starts in Taos and goes along Hwy 64 to Angelfire and on to Eagle Nest. Then takes Hwy 38 to Red River and Questa. The circle completes in Taos via Hwy 522. I wanted to look for two letterboxes and plant two letterboxes. Around nine this morning we left Santa Fe and headed to Taos. From there we drove on to Angelfire to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. We walked around and took pictures and looked for a good place to hide my letterbox. It was very windy and a little cold. Eventually we found a spot and hid the box. (I will get the clues posted soon.) We visited the chapel and the memorial - which was nice since it was warmer inside. We left the memorial and went to find the Elliott Barker Trail and the Angelfire letterbox. Once we found the trailhead we took the short half mile hike to a small pond. Along the way we saw a couple of hawks flying around. At the pond we followed the clues and easily found the box. I sat and stamped while Regina walked around - she was trying to stay warm. (She lives in McAllen, TX and says the temperatures this past week have been in the 90's.)

From here we headed toward Eagle Nest to look for another box and to plant another box. On the way we stopped at a historical marker to find The Lazy Wheeler letterbox. This was an easy find just off the highway. Our next stop was Eagle Nest Lake - I had another letterbox to plant. When we got to the lake it was hard to find a spot to hide the box. But I was persistent and eventually found somewhere to hide it. (Again, I will post the clues soon.) Today was a nice day, the sun was out and the drive was beautiful - the only problem was the wind. Now that the letterboxing was done for the day we headed to Red River to get something to eat. But we were soon distracted - we stopped to see Elizabethtown. This is a ghost town on Hwy 38 between Eagle Nest and Red River.

It was interesting - we walked through a small museum, took pictures of the old courthouse and visited the cemetery. Now we could head for Red River to find some food. Unfortunately it is the slow season in this area and all the restaurants were closed until around 5:00pm. So we did a little walking around in Red River but succumbed to hunger pangs. We decided to head back to Taos and find an open restaurant. The drive to Taos was beautiful. Wheeler Peak has snow on it already and there were still plenty of trees with fall colors. Once we had eaten we headed back to Santa Fe. It was a great day, a beautiful drive and a relaxing adventure.