A fun drive in NM

[undefinednomad]

Hwy 434 south of Angel Fire.

It is a paved road, but it sure is fun to drive... I learned to drive on narrow winding roads in AK, this made me feel right at home. I drove it on 3/9/07 when my plan of going snowboarding in Red River turned into taking the scenic route because the snowboarding didn't go well.

I have some pictures here:

http://undefinednomad.blogspot.com/2007/03/red-river.html

 

[Scenic WonderRunner]

Thanks for the pics.....and the heads up on a very Kewl place!

I first drove through the area in 1978........in an 18 Wheeler!

I purposely took a short cut through Eagles Nest and this whole beautiful area to explore and take pics.

I could easily have a cabin up there to retire in one day!:elkgrin:

Now just where is my ....."cabin to retire in" Smilie>?!!!!!



.

 

[jerdog53]

I'll have to get up there and take a look, thanks for the info!

 

[77blazerchalet]

They're all good in that area. Highly recommended in my book is NM 76 from Espanola through Chimayo & Truchas, then on NM 75 a short distance, then NM 518 to Ranchos de Taos. US 64 to Angel Fire & Eagle Nest is so pretty, and continue on to Cimarron for more spectacular scenery and twisty curves.

When I lived in Albuquerque, it was my preferred route to my Colorado summer vacations. Pic below is my previous 'expedition'-abused hatchback on that route, it was a bit better for offroading than my current VW GTI.

 

[Ursidae69]

They're all good in that area. Highly recommended in my book is NM 76 from Espanola through Chimayo & Truchas, then on NM 75 a short distance, then NM 518 to Ranchos de Taos. US 64 to Angel Fire & Eagle Nest is so pretty, and continue on to Cimarron for more spectacular scenery and twisty curves.

You are talking about my neck of the woods. :victory: I live off NM 503 in Pojoaque/Nambe and am up exploring north and east of Truchas every year. Great roads and great hikes in the area. I plan to backpack the Truchas peaks this summer after the snow melts.

 

[kcowyo]

Agreed. :costumed-smiley-007

The drive through Truchas, en route to Taos was very cool -

 

[undefinednomad]

You are talking about my neck of the woods. I plan to backpack the Truchas peaks this summer after the snow melts.

Do you have any specific recommendations on places I should come up to visit? I have been up wheeler a couple of times, and loved it, but I would like to find some more good places up in that direction.

 

[Ursidae69]

Do you have any specific recommendations on places I should come up to visit? I have been up wheeler a couple of times, and loved it, but I would like to find some more good places up in that direction.

The Sangre de Cristos are great, lots of cool places to check out.

 

[Wanderlusty]

Of all the western states, we have covered the most ground in New Mexico. It is just close enough that I could easily plan a long weekend there. In fact, we have done just that in previous years.

One more road to add to the agenda of a future trip....

Oh, and pavement....no biggie. I think the spirit of this place is the drive to explore. Sure there is an emphasis on dirt....but there are plenty of cool places on pavement.

 

[alia176]

I was curious if there's a book on exploring NM, sorta like Charles Well's style if you know what I mean.

Thanks.

 

[undefinednomad]

The Sangre de Cristos are great, lots of cool places to check out.

Thanks, I will actually be going up there this weekend for a three day hike

I dont know exactly where I am going, because I am not planning that part of the trip. Hopefully I will have something of a report next week.

 

[undefinednomad]

report on my trip to The Sangre de Cristos

The Sangre de Cristos are quite nice, I was up in the Pecos baldy area a week ago, very nice.

http://undefinednomad.blogspot.com/2007/05/pecos-hike.html

It's more of a foot powered expedition, but I mostly drive places so that I can start hiking anyway. :rappel:

 

[Dirty Harry]

It's more of a foot powered expedition, but I mostly drive places so that I can start hiking anyway. :rappel:

Looks like a beautiful trip. Did you get hailed on or was it only in the distance?

 

[Ursidae69]

The Sangre de Cristos are quite nice, I was up in the Pecos baldy area a week ago, very nice.

http://undefinednomad.blogspot.com/2007/05/pecos-hike.html

It's more of a foot powered expedition, but I mostly drive places so that I can start hiking anyway. :rappel:

Nice photos!! :arabia:

 

[undefinednomad]

it was a great trip, but it did rain on us every day sometime between noon and 5 pm. Then it would clear off and give us a perfect start filled night sky. On Saturday the rain was more of a snow/hail while were above 11,000 ft or so. It did a pretty good job of testing my taku jacket, this was the first time I have used it in the "summer" and it work pretty well. The taku is a light, highly water resistant, but not quite water proof shell. I can't wear true rain jackets when i am hiking because I get too warm. (I used the taku for a snowboarding shell in the winter)

With any luck at all I will be back up there the week after next for a 7-8 day hike to who knows where with nothing but time on my hands. :REOutCampFire03: