Wander the West: Oregon to New Mexico - 2 weeks, 4,000 miles, and 100 pounds of dog hair - Wander the West

Once Route 66 merged with I40, I headed east for New Mexico. After staying at Lyman Lake State Park, and driving one of the longest, curviest roads I have ever done south on 191, I finally reached Clifton near the New Mexico border. There is a giant open-pit copper mine in Clifton that highway 191 snakes through on its way down the canyon, giving a rare view of many of the mine operations. Giant trucks and shovels were everywhere. At one spot, there was a view of a huge pad where there must have been 30-40 giant dump trucks and a few of those massive shovels. At another spot right on the highway, workers were using cranes to disassemble and repair the giant trucks. Pretty cool stuff.





Clifton, Arizona:

On my way to City of Rocks State Park, I stopped at Silver City, New Mexico for some mining town photos:

City of Rocks came highly recommended by WTW folks so I made that one of my destinations. This was by far the nicest state park I have ever been to and I enjoyed my two nights there very much. The park features campsites hidden among the rocks in what feel like a labyrinth. The rocks provide shelter from the wind and privacy from your neighbors. Attention to details throughout the park are amazing. All of the camp sites are named after stars or planets. Trail markers are carved into polished granite blocks. Showers and other facilities are clean and well-maintained. This is definitely a must-stop location if you are traveling in the Southwest.

My campsite was happy to see me:



Fisherman's favorite site:

After City of Rocks, I headed east on Highway 152 in seek of more old mining towns.

Kingston:


Hillsboro:

Chloride:

Heading up into the mountains on County Road 59:


A little art project I spent all day setting up:

Camping way up in the mountains on a primitive forest service road:


It was generally cold every night, but this was the coldest night by far:

Magdalena, New Mexico:


Kelly Mine, above Magdalena:


For 10 dollars you can get a pass to enter the Kelly Mine property, check out the old equipment, and hunt for rocks and crystals among the mine waste rock piles. Pretty neat.

Madrid, New Mexico was an old coal mining town and is now a thriving artists colony:


Los Cerrillos, south of Santa Fe, was a neat old mining town I was unaware of before the trip: