Northwest New Mexico Loop - Part I

Thomas and I decided a couple of weeks ago to make a trip to the northwest part of New Mexico. I have been wanting to plant some more of my Alphabetical New Mexico Series and I have also wanted to letterbox in the Farmington area (I have been letterboxing for four and a half years and I haven't been to this area yet). So I mapped out a route and started carving stamps and making boxes. This trip will take us from Santa Fe down to Albuquerque then west on I40 to Gallup. From Gallup we will travel north making a detour into Arizona before ending up in Farmington. To head home we will take NM550 to Cuba and either go through Abiquiu or go through Jemez Springs and Los Alamos. So follow along and see where this trip takes us.

Tuesday, October 26

Today Thomas worked half a day while I got last minute things ready for the trip. Once he got home (after filling the car with gas, getting some cash and picking up a few things for the dogs) we got the car loaded and headed out. It was a little after one 0'clock in the afternoon when we hit the road. The drive was actually very pleasant, we made it through Albuquerque before any rush hour traffic and I40 wasn't too clogged with eighteen wheelers. We really didn't have too much planned, we just needed to be in Gallup tonight so Thomas could attend a meeting tomorrow morning and then our vacation would really begin.

Whenever we travel and visit a National Park I usually get a cancellation stamp from the park. I just stamp it on a scrap piece of paper - I never got one of the Passport books. But for some reason I decided that on this trip I would purchase one of the books and start collecting them that way. So I had mapped out what National Parks and Monuments we would be near and decided that we would stop to get the stamp and visit the area. We got to our first one today - the NW New Mexico Visitor Center near Grants. I purchased a Passport and collected three stamps here - NW New Mexico Visitor Center, El Malpais National Monument and an El Malpais National Monument Bonus Stamp. Once we were done at the Visitor Center we continued on our way.

Since we had left early enough and didn't really have any plans we decided to stop in Thoreau to see Thomas' brother, Bill. Thoreau is small and we weren't sure where Bill lived so we found the Elementary School where he teaches. As we pulled into the parking lot he was walking out of the building. We asked him if he and his two daughters wanted to follow us to Gallup for dinner. He said yes and we went to the High School to pick them up. We drove to Gallup and had a nice dinner and visit, it was good to see them and catch up on things. After dinner they left and we went to the hotel. It was a great afternoon and we are looking forward to the rest of the trip. Incidentally, while at dinner Thomas got a phone call and his meeting was cancelled. So tomorrow we have all day to play in the Gallup area.

Wednesday, October 27

This morning we woke up about 7:00am, we decided since we had all day an alarm wasn't necessary. After dressing and getting things ready we had some breakfast at the hotel. Once we had our fill of nourishment we set out for the day. From Gallup we took NM602 south to its intersection with NM53. This was a pleasant drive and I enjoyed the rock formations along the road. This also took us into Zuni Pueblo land. We turned and headed east on NM 53 leaving Zuni Pueblo land, driving through Ramah, NM to El Morro National Monument. This would be our first visit here. We stopped at the entrance and I got a picture of the sign with the monument in the background and then we continued to the visitor center. We paid our admission fee and got some information from the ranger and then I made sure to get my El Morro National Monument Cancellation Stamp in my Passport before we set out on our hike. There are two hikes here - The Inscription Trail (a half mile loop walk with some minor ups and downs, all paved) and The Headland Trail (a two mile hike that includes The Inscription Trail and takes you up 200 feet to the top of El Morro). We wanted to hike all of it. So we set out with our Inscription Trail Guide following the paved path to the numbered markers. We stopped at each point, read the guide and took in the sights. There are 23 markers along the trail and they point out some of the more interesting inscriptions in the rock. We marveled at how old some of them are, one of the oldest is from Don Juan de Oñate dated 1605. While looking at this one I looked around for a good hiding spot for a letterbox. I placed Alphabetical New Mexico: I (Inscription Rock) near this inscription because the stamp is this inscription. After hiding the box we finished this trail and then continued on to The Headland Trail. We followed the trail as it took us up 200 feet via switchbacks. On the top on El Morro there are fantastic views and it was a perfect day to be up there. We passed the ruins of Atsinna Pueblo and continued along the trail as it descended and made its way back to the visitor center. I really enjoyed visiting this place and was glad we made the trip.

From here we got back on NM53 and headed back west. I had another box to plant - Alphabetical New Mexico: Z (Zuni Pueblo). We had seen a Welcome sign on NM602 and another one on NM53 that announced that you were on Zuni Land. But I felt I wanted to place the box closer to Zuni Pueblo. So we drove into Zuni and looked around. We stopped first at an Historical Marker but it was too desolate and really had no place for a box. We next went to the visitor center and I thought maybe somewhere around there. But there was only one tree and no spot for a box, and there were a few people just 'hanging around' - it didn't feel right. We next went to a museum but it ended in the same results. I found the area to be uninspiring and was disappointed. Thomas and I decided to head back to Gallup and stop at the Welcome sign on NM602. There isn't a pullout here but there is enough of a shoulder to park safely. Even though the box isn't at the Pueblo it is on Zuni land and I felt that the views were better here. I hope it is good enough and that the letterboxers that go and look for this box aren't too disappointed.

After getting this box hidden we finished the trip back to Gallup. I had carved a stamp and made a box to hide at Red Rock Park. I mostly made the box because originally Thomas was suppose to be in a meeting this morning and I would be on my own. I thought it would be nice to spend the morning at this park and get another box hidden. So we made our way to the park and drove around. At first I thought we would hid the box on either the Pyramid Trail or the Church Rock Trail. In the end we found a spot that makes this box a drive by. We placed Red Rock near the park office. We enjoyed driving and walking around the park, especially the views of all the red rock, the view of Church Rock and the Church Rock, NM Post Office. Once this box was in place we were done for the day, but it was still early. We decided a little siesta might be good so we returned to the hotel and rested for a while. Around 5:00pm we decided to go out for a bite to eat. The hotel recommended the Badlands Grill. It was pretty good, we both had steak and baked potatoes and then split a dessert. It was a good day and now that the blog is written I can get a good night's rest, tomorrow will be very busy.

Thursday, October 28

We left Gallup at 7:15am in the dark and with a chilling 19 degree temperature. We drove north on US491 and then headed west on NM264. We arrived in Window Rock and made our way to the window rock that gave the city its name. Here there is a monument to the Navajo Code Talkers and I wanted to visit the monument and also place a letterbox. We walked around the memorial and took pictures (while freezing our butts off), during this time I was also looking for a good spot to hide the box. We eventually located a great spot and now Navajo Code Talkers has a home. From the memorial we drove to the Navajo Nation Museum. I have started collecting the elongated pennies and the museum has a machine with three designs. I got my pennies as soon as we got there and then we walked through the galleries. They have a nice collection of art, jewelry and photographs. They also have a small display about the Navajo Code Talkers. I enjoyed visiting this museum and was happy to get my pennies. It was now time to continue onward - we had a lot planned today.

We continued west on AZ264 to Ganado. We stopped at the Hubbell Trading Post and I found Jukebox Life Lessons #33. I stamped in and loved this stamp - very 'groovy' image! After stamping in and rehiding the box we went into the trading post and looked around. Then we visited the visitor center so I could get my National Park Cancellation stamp. This was a pretty quick stop because we needed to be in Chinle for a guided tour of Canyon de Chelly at noon. So we headed north on US191 toward Chinle. When we arrived we realized we had quite a bit of time before we were to meet our guide. So we decided to look for two letterboxes. We first found Falcon's Nest near Tsaile Public School and after stamping in and rehiding the box we went and found Howdy Man. By the time this second box was back in place it was time to be at the visitor center at Canyon de Chelly. We pulled in and parked and saw our guide pull in. We used Canyon de Chelly Tours which was recommended to us by Astro D. We had booked the tour with Leander but he had some school responsibilities and wasn't able to meet us - instead we got his uncle, Ben. Thomas filled out the permits at the visitor center and I got my Canyon de Chelly stamp and a Canyon de Chelly Bonus stamp. Then we headed out for our tour. We booked a three hour tour because we wanted to make it to Farmington at a decent hour tonight. The tour ended up being about three and a half hours and we got to see Canyon de Chelly and Canyon del Muerto. This was an incredible time. Inside the canyon is spectacular and we got to see so many more things than you can't see from the rim. I highly recommend a guided tour and would go with a private one. We saw tours with trucks that had open seating in the back and it looked like they were packed in. Our guide was very knowledgeable and showed us his family's farm - he spent many of his childhood years living and playing in the canyon. We learned so much history about the canyon and saw tons of ruins in the canyon walls. We also got to see petroglyphs and pictographs. For a little more detail about the tour you can read Astro D's blog post Camping at Canyon de Chelly. When the tour was done we asked our guide what he thought was the best way for us to get to Farmington and then we asked the ranger at the visitor center the same question. We got the same answer from both. So we took their advice and headed out.

To get to Farmington we took Indian Route 64 (which is the North Rim Drive for Canyon de Chelly) to Tsaile. We turned left onto Indian Route 12 and drove about eight miles to Indian Route 13. Here the landscape became spectacular. There were red rock walls all around us. We enjoyed the drive and made several stops for photos before we ascended up Lukachukai Mountain. We drove through ponderosa pines and aspens making our way through Buffalo Pass and finally descending on the other side with incredible views of Shiprock in the distance. The drive on Indian Route 13 took us just south of Shiprock. We turned onto a little dirt road that seemed to lead right up to the huge volcanic rock. We didn't drive that road, we just parked at the beginning and took pictures. From here the drive became just the drive. We turned off of Indian Route 13 onto US491 and passed through Shiprock, NM where we continued on US64 to Farmington. By this time we were hungry so we stopped for a quick bite to eat and then headed to the hotel for the night. We are settled in and looking forward to more adventure tomorrow.