First time out....SUCCESS

[Whtshos]

I had been planning a three week vacation for my wife and I for a long time now.
We have never done anything like this before together. I grew up in the mountains, but have not been back in a long time. Our first week was with our neighbors, staying at the house, but outdoor treks every day with an over nighter at Huero Lake off of FSR 76 that is south of Angel Fire NM.

We ventured up towards Goose Lake near Red River but got stopped about 2000 feet from the lake by snow.
At the end of the first week, our neighbors had to head home. We wrapped them in hugs and kisses and off they went.
:smiley_drive: So did we!!!:smiley_drive:
We headed north into CO and stayed the first night at a retired USFS Guard Station cabin.
Brewery Creek GS.

Great place, the left behind journals are a treat to read!!
The next night was spent in another FS GS, Carnero.

The views from here are spectacular! Nice cabin!!

 

[mph]

Looks like pretty country!

 

[Whtshos]

Continuing on

Again, this trip was a trial run to see if I could keep us comfortable and supplied. I really wanted to find out if my lovely wife would get on board with extended camping with or without amenities.
The next three nights were planned for luxury and site seeing. We booked a few nights at the Elk Mountain Lodge in La Cueva NM. Highly exceeded my expectations!!!

While here, we ventured to Gilman Cut.


Also made it to the Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks.

This place was amazing!! Don't forget to drive past the monument and see the Veterans Memorial atop the Mesa!

 

[echo7tango]

Nice! I've been through Angel Fire once before - that's beautiful country.

How do you find and reserve the retired USFS cabins? Link, please.

 

[roverrocks]

Very very nice. Thanks.

 

[Whtshos]

Moving along....

By this point, we had been disconnected for 5 days and loved it!!
We departed the lodge and visited the Plaza in Santa Fe. Had a nice day and headed to the Black Canyon CG north of town for a couple of nights to see more of Santa Fe. Upon arrival, the selection of places was limited and one night only. (Many reservations had been made)
We both decided we had seen the high points of town and would rather chill for a couple days in the mountains.
How cool was that coming from my lovely bride?!?!
We left the Canyon and blew up to Midnight Meadows at around 5:30 PM.:Wow1:
Made it to the trailhead of Greenie just before darkness set in.
Emptied the Jeep, removed rear seat bottoms and threw the bags and pillows in and slept like babies!

I Woke up with the sun and took some time to myself and made coffee and watched the sun rise in the meadows.
Ohh how I have missed this!!!

I set up the tent and put everything away inside for a short trip up to Greenie after momma got up.

 

[Whtshos]

How do you find and reserve the retired USFS cabins? Link, please.

http://www.fs.fed.us/recreation/reservations/

 

[Whtshos]

Final days...


A short run from camp and we crested the summit of Greenie Pk.
The view into the Red River area is SUPER!! Wheeler standing so majestically in the background.
We spent the rest of the day hanging out at camp and napping and catching up on some way over due TALK.
The next morning while I was cooking breakfast, she decided the bags needed securing, so she held them down till the 'tators were ready!

I was hungry!!

(Disregard the Mason jar with Georgia peaches floating in the, uhh, umm, water, yeah water. It was used professionally as anti-freeze for the chef):chef:

 

[Whtshos]

On our way out...

We were able to visit with a friend of ours we had not seen in over 20 years in Cimarron NM. The ladies wanted to stay in the ST James Hotel. (Check it out, really neat!) but not for me.



I opted to stay at the empty fairgrounds and babysit her pooch. We slumbered in the Jeep for the night.:ylsmoke:

While we were at Midnight Meadows, we decided to head home, save a week of vacation and roll it over for next year. She said she would like to spend a week or two in Big Bend next fall. I now have approx 15 months to build/find an expo(ish) trailer to haul gear and provide a platform for a RTT. I'm stoked!!!

 

[Dvsjw_Betterhalf]

I'd rent before you put a lot of money into something to be sure she really gets into it. If she is new to the entire camping thing, it may take a few different times and differnt types of gear to find what can make you both happy. I'll never forget when my husband came home and timidly said he found a good deal on a motorcycle .... I got all excited and said YES ! He hadn't realized I had been raised on motorcycles and both my parents had one while I was growing up I was more excited than he was. LOL

Glad you both had a positive experience for this first time, it can be great bonding time for a couple having time to just talk and cook together. Be sure you get her involved in helping some or you will burn out on doing all the work. Be sure to have some camping time in the "sucky rainy" weather too, so she isn't surprised how different it can be. I LOVE to camp but have to push through those rainy times myself and be sure I don't make everyone miserable during those times. With my kids (16 & 19) we realized that 6-7 days of camping then 1 day hotel , followed by 5-6 camping, 1 day hotel was the route we had to go to keep them interested. We did a 21 day National Park trip loop (I think we saw 10) a couple of years ago that was so awesome and stayed 3 nights only in a hotel.

 

[Whtshos]

I'd rent before you put a lot of money into something to be sure she really gets into it. If she is new to the entire camping thing. Be sure you get her involved in helping some or you will burn out on doing all the work. Be sure to have some camping time in the "sucky rainy" weather too, so she isn't surprised how different it can be. 6-7 days of camping then 1 day hotel , followed by 5-6 camping.

Excellent advise!! Thank you!

 

[hankincolorado]

Excellent!!

 

[xjman88]

Love the trip report! Gives me some ideas for places to camp when we move back out to NM.

 

[DetroitDarin]

Looks like a lot of fun!

 

[Whtshos]

A more direct link.

http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/recreation/rentals/#toppage
You will have to register with the rec.gov site to confirm info. I have yet to recieve any SPAM from their affiliates.:clapsmile
Paid for reservation and was then sent the gate and cabin lock information. The listed prices on the site are not so accurate but the rec.gov is correct with a $10 processing fee. In my opinion, well worth what I paid.