Northwest New Mexico Loop - Part II

Friday, October 29

This morning was an early morning - up at 6:30am and on the road by 7:30am. Thankfully the temperature was above freezing. We drove from Farmington to the Four Corners Monument near Teec Nos Pos, AZ. Thomas and I had been there before but it was quite a few years ago. The whole place has changed from what I can remember and they are still doing some construction. They recently redid the monument and now they are working on booths for the vendors and it looks as though they are also working on the parking area. And yes, Thomas and I both were in all four states at one time. After walking around and visiting the vendors (we did not buy anything) we found Wronghat's 4 Corners NM box. It was a bit tricky to get the box due to where it is hidden - I had to be very sneaky. We had a fun visit here and then headed back to Farmington. On the way back we stopped at a little pull off on US64 to find Shiprock letterbox. This was a quick and easy find, with a great view of Shiprock and very soon we were back on our way to Farmington.

As we entered Farmington we turned onto NM170 headed toward LaPlata. Only a mile or so up the road we encountered a large brown bear on the side of the road that was hiding the One Love letterbox. He graciously allowed us to stamp in and then happily sent us on our way right after reminding us that we could prevent forest fires. About 15 miles later we arrived in LaPlata and found Talley Park. There are two letterboxes in this park. The Newest Red Dragon and Puppies Three. Both were pretty easy to find. Puppies Three was left here by alamocito before she moved away. A beautiful carving of cute little puppies and from where it was hidden you had a fantastic view of the LaPlata Valley. The Newest Red Dragon was placed at the edge of the park with a nice view of the park. I enjoyed finding these two boxes and the peace and quiet of this lovely place. As we were leaving we encounterd two geocachers - I politely reminded them that if they found any letterboxes to please leave everything in the box.

After leaving the park we took NM574 to Aztec. Arriving in Aztec we found our way to the Aztec Ruins National Monument. After paying our fees I made sure to collect my National Park Cancellation Stamps - one for Aztec Ruins National Monument and one for Old Spanish Trail. Thomas and I then walked the ruins trail and marveled at the size and workmanship of the buildings. Once we made it through the ruins we walked over to the picnic area to find Aspen's Aztec Ruins Box. It was a quick find and a great little stamp. We sat under a tree while stamping in - the day was beautiful, sunny and Spring-like with a temperature of 67 degrees. After rehiding the box we decided we wanted to get something to eat. So we took a break and relaxed over some pizza and salads. Once we were full and rested we made our way to Riverside Park to find two boxes. First we found GAQLBE09 - Maine Quarter (a beautiful carve) and then walked over the beautiful new bridge (I loved the rusty finish and the lights) to find Wild Horse (a great Aspen carve). With these two boxes back in place it was time to head back to Farmington. We took NM516 and continued right into the downtown area. First we stopped to get Downtown Farmington, which I thought was a very clever hide. I found the box, took it to a bench to stamp in and enjoyed the coolness of the late afternoon while stamping in. With this box back in place Thomas and I decided to walk up the road a little bit to get Let the Wild Rumpus Start! letterbox. We arrived at Andrea Kristina's and order dessert and coffee and then found the letterbox. I stamped in between bites of chocolate cake and sips of caramel latte. This was a wonderful stamp - large (about 3.5" x 5") and beautifully carved. We relaxed and listened to a gentleman play music and talked about what a wonderful day we had.

We are now back in the hotel, the letterbox finds have been logged and notes have been sent. The blog for today is written and we have a plan for tomorrow. I guess it is time for bed.

Saturday, October 30

We had a very busy and very adventurous day today. It all started when we got up at 6:30am and got ready for the day. After dressing, a little breakfast, and filling the car with gas we were on our way. First stop - Salmon Ruins Museum and Library. When we arrived at the museum it hadn't opened yet, but we decided to walk around to the back of the building and we found the gate to the ruins open. So we went in and looked around the ruins (we didn't have a trail guide so we weren't sure exactly what everything was) and then looked for a letterbox - We easily found that New Hampshire Lily that was left here by uneksia. After stamping and rehiding the box we made our way back to the parking lot - we never saw a single person. We continued our journey heading east on US64 to the intersection with NM575. We turned north here and drove about three miles where we parked on the side of the road next to a large cliff. We made our way up to the top of the cliff to find Old Spanish Trail letterbox. We looked for the group of two large junipers at the top (this was a little difficult as there were quite a few junipers in the area). But we made our way to two which to us appeared to be at the "top". Sure enough we found a box under one of them. I grabbed it and found a good spot to sit so I could stamp in. I opened the box and found a bag with a logbook and a store bought stamp of an angel. There were also trinkets in the box (like you would find in a geocache). I became confused (this happens from time to time) and I looked in the logbook for the name of the box to make sure I had the right thing. There was no box name and no placer. I decided to stamp in using the store bought stamp (even if it had nothing to do with the name of the box). When I was done I replaced the box where I found it but kept thinking I must have found a geocache and this couldn't possibly be the letterbox. But, there were other letterboxers who had stamped in along with some geocachers. Thomas and I decided to look all over the top of the cliff under as many junipers as we could to see if we missed anything. We came up empty handed and decided that we had found the right box and returned to the car to continue our day.

We continued a little further along US64 to CR4450 where we turned south. This road is all dirt and was a little bumpy but not too bad. We drove 20 miles crossing two bridges and a wash as we made our way to Crow Canyon. Everything was going well to right before we got to the parking area. Towards the end you pass through a gate and come to a fork in the road with a sign. To the right 44 Panel, Warrior Panel and Crow Canyon Pueblito. To the left the Main Panel. We went left and came upon a very muddy area with deep ruts. Thomas continued along and we got stuck, thankfully we put the Jeep in 4L and made it through. After parking we walked the trail to some informational signs and read a little about the area. Then we went in search of Aspen's Crow Canyon Box. It was an easy find and I sat and stamped in while Thomas began looking at all the rock art. After stamping in and putting the box back in place I joined Thomas and we walked the entire trail enjoying all the petroglyphs. I had also brought a box to hide and we were on the lookout for the image I had carved. It didn't take us too long to find it and we searched for a good spot to hide the box in that area. After about 15 minutes the box was in place and Alphabetical New Mexico: C (Crow Canyon) awaits visitors. After taking tons of pictures we returned to the car and we left the parking area. As we came to the muddy part of the road Thomas switched back into 4L. We were doing fine until half way through. We got stuck again and this time we were high centering and nothing Thomas did helped. We found rocks and sticks to put under all four tires to see if that would get him high enough to get out - it didn't, the mud was just too soft and the car just pushed them into the mud. Finally I got out and tried to see what I could do (remember we are 20 miles in the middle of nowhere and no cell service). I noticed that every time Thomas went forward he would bulldoze a pile of mud in front of the car. I made him back up a little and I used my hands and one stick to push all the mud that had piled in front of the car into the ruts and lower the middle as much as I could. After about 1o minutes of this I told Thomas to try and if he got out to just keep going and I would walk up and meet him. IT WORKED! So I walked up the road and met him. My hands and wrists, as well as my shoes, were covered in mud. Luckily we had brought quite a bit of bottle water and I used almost two bottles cleaning off my hands and wrists. Now that we were free we decided to go to the 44 Panel. It was about a mile walk (partially through a wash) but it was worth it. We saw quite a few more petroglyphs and enjoyed the walk. We returned to the car and realized we didn't see a sign for the Big Warrior Panel so on the way out we looked for it but never found it. We made the 20 mile drive back to US64 talking about what a worthwhile drive we had just had (mud and all). Thanks Aspen for getting us out there. But to anyone making this journey I highly recommend a 4WD and a high clearance one at that - you never know what will happen out there with no one around to help.

Back on US64 we were still heading east until we arrived at NM527. We drove north on this road for 11 miles and turned left on Werner Grade road. A few miles up this road we arrived at a sign for Francis Canyon Ruins. We followed four of these signs to a parking area. From the parking lot we followed the .1 mile trail to the ruins. What a great spot - a small set of ruins overlooking a spectacular canyon - absolutely beautiful. I took a few pictures and Thomas explored the ruins. I then went in search of Turtle of the Lake letterbox. A quick find and a quick stamp in so that I could walk around the ruins a little more. This was another bit of a drive but well worth it. I really enjoyed the views, the ruins and the letterbox. From here we wanted to go to Navajo Lake State Park and Astro D had done this trip just a couple of weeks ago and told me that her Garmin sent her over to the dam without having to return all the way back to US64 and making the trip back around. So I punched in Navajo Dam and it told me to follow the way back to US64. Didn't want to do that so I tried again - this time putting in Aztec. No dice. One more time - Navajo Lake. Finally we had something. So we continued in the same direction as we were before detouring to the ruins. For a little while everything was going well then the Garmin started freaking out - he kept telling us to turn right onto US64. That would have been fine if we had been any where near US64. We stopped I turned the Garmin off and the on again, retyped Navajo Lake and again we were on our way and okay. This happened two more times before we finally ended up at the lake. Twice we almost decided to turn around and retrace our path and go back to NM575 and US64. I was glad we didn't because this turned out to be way faster. Once at the lake we drove over the dam and ended up on NM511. Just past the dam we found a little pullout to take a picture of the lake. From this spot you could see the Marina. I decided to hide my Navajo Lake box here at the pullout mainly because I thought the view was wonderful. After hiding my box we descended the dam via NM511 and drove a few miles to NM173. This road took us to Cottonwood Campground so that we could look for one (maybe two) more letterboxes. We found the first one with no problem, it was in a picnic area near the day use area parking right along the San Juan River. After I stamped in here we decide to give the other box a try. This is an older box and I suspected it was missing (I read something on either the Southwest Talklist or the Rocky Mountain Talklist) but I decided since we were here to try. The clues were a little wonky and twice I had to retrace my steps to be in the right spot. The last little bit was confusing - I needed to find a crude path uphill through the brush. There were many paths. I counted the steps and went a little more and checked it out and then went back a little and checked it out. After looking between two large boulders (about 10 pairs of boulders) I decided it was missing (my choice - who knows it may be there and I just didn't look in the right place). I returned to the car and Thomas and I decided to call it a day. We headed back toward Farmington making a stop at one of those car washes with the power wands to get rid of some of the mud - the car was shaking as we drove because of all the mud in the tires. Once the car was rid of most of the mud we stopped and had a bite to eat. Now showered I had logged in my finds and plants and caught up on this blog. Tomorrow we are letterboxing right here in Farmington, no long drives.