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

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:

Having photographed enough New Mexico mining towns, I started to make my way back towards home. In NE New Mexico I camped at Angel Peak Scenic Area, which is another great spot I would recommend to anyone traveling in New Mexico:

I woke up about 4:30 am at Angel Peak and discovered that for some reason my propane had quit flowing and it was REALLY COLD. Getting out to go to the bathroom I discovered the weather had changed drastically during the night:



Being cold and not knowing how much snow was going to pile up I decided to conduct an emergency tear down and get the hell outta here operation. The drive that morning was absolutely treacherous. Ice on the highways was so bad, trucks were stuck on the hills and people were stopped everywhere on the highway. I grit my teeth and made the treacherous drive to Utah and out of the snow and ice. This is the one part of the trip I wouldn't do again, but I made it and all was good.

If there's a surefire cure for bad-weather blues - it's the Utah views! (hey I'm a poet....)

Historical marker on highway 95. Built to last.

Highway 95 Overlook:


Hanksville, Utah:

Goblin Valley State Park was another excellent state park that I really enjoyed (although this one was a bit crowded). Note for people visiting this area - there is actually a lot of nice primitive camping in this area as well so FWC people might want to stay outside the park.

Goblin Valley:


And finally an intermission:

I believe this is Temple Junction Road - the junction is just a few miles from Goblin Valley SP and you pass it on the way to the park. This is an area with a lot of excellent primitive camping space.

You dog owners will appreciate this. You know how dogs seem to pick up quirky behaviors as they get older? This is Diego's new thing - he leaves just one piece of food in his bowl every time he eats:

A view from an Interstate 70 overlook in Utah: