The Final Push

This is the final segment of my Home to Philmont 2022 blog series.

May 6, Day 10

This day was mostly a travel day. I only really wanted to see the Amistad National Recreation Area. To get there I drove from Austin past San Antonio then all the way to Del Rio, TX where I had a quick lunch at 830 Kitchen. I got a potato swirl. I’d never seen such a thing before and I’d say it’s a potato ribbon. That was more of an appetizer and so I also got a burger with pineapple on it and a lemonade.

After lunch I headed over to Amistad. The ranger was super nice and explained that unless I had a boat or fancied a really hot hike there’s not a lot that I specifically could do. There was a nice swimming spot by governors landing and could go to the dam, but other than that there wasn’t a lot. So I headed to the dam. To get to the middle I had to go through a U.S. Border checkpoint and on the way out that was no issue. Once out there I felt kind of anxious since I was the only one doing this, but luckily I basically had the dam to myself since it was a lesser known port of entry. I quickly took a few pictures then headed back to the US side where the border patrol asked some questions and verified that my Massachusetts license plate was indeed mine. He also needed to be convinced that I got the Pecans from Seguin and not Mexico. Next I was off to Comstock, TX.

Not a lot happening in Comstock, I must say. I went through yet another border checkpoint and explained where I came from, what I was doing, and where I was going then headed to the Seminole Canyon State Park. The Ranger at Amistad recommended it. It is a place with very old pictographs and a nice view of the Rio Grande river. The ranger there was skeptical I was up to the hike and after a lot of back and forth I promised that I wouldn’t do more than the shorter 3 mile hike.

You see, it was about 102F outside, I was hiking alone, and I had no cell service. I had a good attitude though and that’s what counts. I brought 4 liters of water and my rain umbrella to help with shade and since I had no sunscreen I bought the 50 SPF one they had in the gift shop. Heading out I was feeling good. About halfway to the bridge I hit the limestone part of the trail. The limestone supposedly reflects the heat back at you at the same time that the sun is blazing on your neck, or in this case my umbrella. Eventually I got to the bridge and decided that I had enough and it was time to go back. While I believed I could totally make it to the end of the trail, I felt like it would be a really really difficult hike back my car. As I was leaving an ambulance arrived to take away the woman that went out hiking before me. (She and her husband weren’t prepared I guess and the woman had a heat related emergency).

After Seminole Canyon the next thing on my plan was to see the Judge Roy Bean museum in Langtry, TX. Langtry is a super small town where when I got out of my car it seemed like it was actually a ghost town, but no, there were people behind the desk in the travel information center. Judge Roy was a famous judge who threw down the law of the land. I’d say learning about the history is worth a stop, but not the buildings. There is not much inside and sort of boring. However, with that said I will say that everything is very neatly organized and there is an awesome Cactus garden to the side. Before I left I got some free post cards and a Texas state map.

The last thing of the night was going to be a restaurant in Alpine that a friend had recommended (thinking of you Jack), but since I looked pretty gross from being outside all day I decided I wasn’t fit for fine dining and decided to just go to my hotel in Fort Stockton. It took ages and let me tell you: there is absolutely no (Verizon) cell service from Comstock to Fort Stockton. (I did have 1 bar in Dryden, which I used to upload pictures to instagram.) Once I had cleaned up I got steak for dinner at K-Bobs Steakhouse and then went to bed.

May 7, Day 11

Today I left the Best Western at 8:30am and drove to Fort Davis straight away no stopping. It took about an hour and a half and there was literally nothing to see. Being in this part of Texas before, I didn’t expect much anyways. However, once I got to Fort Davis (the city) I noticed something on the side of the road and just had to make a sudden u-turn to check it out. Turns out the Lions Club of Ft. Davis was having a bake sale! So I got some chocolate fudge. Who can resist fudge?

Once I got to the visitors center at Ft. Davis NHS I was ushered into the theater as the movie had just started. It was really short and basically about life on the fort. The fort opened mainly to provide security to the western trade / expansion route from the Apache and Comanche tribes nearby. It was sort of helpful, but in the long run the need for the fort died out once the Indian wars were over.

After the movie I headed into the gift shop for post cards and the stamp / patch. My annual card covered the fee. My plan was to hike the ridge trail and since it wasn’t as hot as yesterday I was confident it was possible. Right as I got to the edge of the shade I remembered sunscreen would probably be a good idea so I went back to the car to get it. Once ready I started the hike. There were 2 ways to go at the start: the short but steep ascent of .4mi or the long but more flat ascent of .8mi. I decided on the .4mi at first, but thought I heard a rattle snake in some cacti so I headed for the .8mi trail not wanting to risk a bite. The scenery was beautiful and the higher you got the more you could see of Ft. Davis (the town and historic site). About halfway up my fear of mountain lions got the better of me and I headed down again. I did get some cool pictures though.

After the hike I made my way to the infirmary, which was being refurbished. A sign on the wall said to look out for bats, but I didn’t see any bats. The medical practices here were about as insane as the ones at Appomattox. Anxious about a dentist appointment? Chloroform! Have an ear ache? Have a spoon of water mixed with glycerin and opium! Kicked in the knee by a horse? How about a nice 3 month stay in the hospital with a splint! Need surgery? Good luck lol. I’m alway fascinated that people thought these were good plans. After the infirmary I headed to my next destination.

For lunch I was just going to go to Sparky’s in Hatch, New Mexico and get a green chili cheeseburger, but I was also thinking about getting a steak from a steakhouse in El Paso. I texted a friend for help deciding and then set off for Hatch. It was a pretty long and tedious route. Valentine, TX has a population of 281, then Van Horn, TX which is a frequent highway stop so nothing but gas, fast food, and chain hotels, and then El Paso, TX with Mexico’s big X in view from the highway. Once I got onto I-25 it took about one more hour to reach Hatch. Now that I was in mountain time I went back in time again. The green chili cheeseburger was worth 3 hours of non stop driving from Van Horn. I can’t wait to do that route again when I visit the Big Bend National Park! *Sarcasm*

After dinner I made my way to Silver city for my hotel stay at the Murray Hotel. It had the best reviews in town I believe. The room is pretty plain, but hey you only really need a bed and shower correct? That was it for today, short day huh? (~460mi)

May 8, Day 12

Today I got up relatively early at 8am and headed to Gila National Monument 30 minutes later. Main Street in Silver City looked deserted this morning. I knew that the trip into the mountains would mean no cell service for several hours, but I wasn’t sure how long it would take. Google maps said 1.5 hours, but the official Gila National Forrest signs all said at least 2 hours. Challenge accepted! Also it should be of note that I did call ahead about the newest New Mexico fire which is in the Gila National Forrest and they said that unless something crazy happened, the park would be open for me today.

With all this knowledge I set out. It took ages because the road was full of hairpin turns and had a few cars that were slower than me. There was one scenic viewpoint that I stopped to look at because it was so majestic. All in all it took about 1 hour 45 minutes to get to the visitors center.

Once there I spoke to the Ranger for a bit before watching the park film. The Ranger showed me the cool junior ranger patch and I felt destined to have it so off I set off with the book. The trail up to the top of the dwellings is easy to hike. There’s a 200ft elevation gain, but other than that it is simple. The reason that it took me a little longer is because in the junior ranger book one of the pages has you mark all the bridges, plaques, benches, ladders, and picture opportunities. I met a guy from Mexico on the trail on my way up. He seemed pretty cool and rides a motorcycle.

The cliff dwellings themselves are rather big. There are 3ish main rooms and a few pictographs. I saw them on the ceiling. One looks like a spiral and the other like a human. Once I finished at the dwellings I got a BB8 shot and headed back down. One thing to note is that only water is allowed on the trail because of the packrats. They will eat any food you leave and over time this will erode the dwellings. Not good!

I almost left right after the dwellings, but sighed and said to myself “I’ve come this far, why not do a bit further”. You see, there are also hot springs at the national monument. I needed to hike half a mile and cross 2 rivers to get to the springs though so I grabbed my crocks and headed out. Since I have a fear of mountain lions I grabbed my umbrella to use as a weapon. Recently they have released a few wolves into the wild at Gila National Forrest so while I was on the lookout for big cats I also put some focus into spotting wolves. It was really windy so that made it tough to hear anything.

At the first river I quickly took off my shoes and put on my crocs and crossed the river. It was about shin high, not quite up to my knees and not that cold. Eventually after going through prime mountain lion/wolf stalking territory I got to the hot springs and wow were they hot! The water looked normal on the surface, but I’d say it was probably 115F water. (I know what dish washing temperature should be). While it is fine to lay down in the water, it’s important to remember to not stick your head in because of the brain eating amebas.

I didn’t stay too long and when I decided it was time, I headed back to the car. It took about 3.5 hours to reach Albuquerque even with the NM 152 N highway shortcut. That road is such a cool road by the way. I got to drive all through the mountains on a road that tops the mountain roads of Taos.

Anyways, once back in Albuquerque I had dinner with Brenda and Paul and that ended the day. See you next time!

May 9, Day 13

Once in Albuquerque the plan was to spend more time with family, get an oil change, and chill. I had some free time before my car went to the mechanic for the “check everything” check so I first got a car wash! I hadn’t the whole trip because it just didn’t make sense to as I’d just drive 500 more miles right after and get the car dirty. After vacuuming my car I headed to the Century Rio 24 movie theater to watch the new Doctor Strange Multiverse of Madness, which I gave a 9/10 on the movie list. I went to McDonalds for a quick lunch then we dropped the car at the dealership to get checked out. The only other thing we did today was eat dinner at Monroe’s. It is a Mexican food restaurant near Lomas Boulevard. Really good food! Dinner just about wrapped up day 13. Usually on friend & family day I purposely don’t cram a ton of stuff into the itinerary so that I have more time to just hang out with people.

May 10, Day 14

Oooook so it turns out that my car had some serious problems so while the mechanics worked on it I went to Nana’s to visit. I went for about 2 hours and after that I went right to the dealership to collect my car. They did a wonderful job and they even cleaned the insides of all the windows! Next we all headed to dinner and (since I got to pick the place) we went to Montecarlo’s Steakhouse. I got a 14oz steak and a miller ultra, which were both great. After that we all headed home and went to bed.

May 11, Day 15

This was the FINAL DAY of the trip to Philmont. The drive from Albuquerque to Philmont is routine as I’ve done it more than a dozen times now. It’s a 220 mile almost straight shot on I-25N. It usually takes me 3 hours +/- 5 min.

If you didn’t already hear, the largest wildfire in America was visible from my route to Philmont from Albuquerque. At the time it had just passed 200k acres. I first saw the smoke from Pecos, New Mexico. It had just started coming over the mountains and seemed to be really close. About an hour later I reached Las Vegas, NM and as far as the eye could see on the left side of the highway was an endless line of smoke.

About 90 miles later I reached Springer. Normally the mountains of Philmont are visible, but today they were shrouded in smoke from the fire. At about 10am I arrived at Philmont for checkin, which was pretty smooth. About 1 hour later the winds changed and Philmont became very smokey. Don’t turn on your air conditioner when driving through smoke! the bad news about that is that you are in an oven that is the car. Imagine driving in 80F temps with no AC.

Once checked into my job I declared the trip officially complete! It had taken me 15 days to cross through 16 states solo. Longest trip to date!

I usually refer to the last 100 miles of a trip as the final push. For example, after driving 600 miles the last hundred feel so short, but yet I sometimes still feel so far from my destination. Just one more mile!

**The Hermits Peak / Calf Canyon fire is still the largest in America as of now. (June 5, 2022) It is 317,000 acres. We need rain! Philmont is fine though, don’t worry about me.**

Overall Stats

• Miles driven: 5,000mi
• States driven through: Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Arkansas, Texas, and New Mexico. (Also 10 seconds in Mexico)
• Best Restaurant: The Oxford Burger Company, Mississippi
• Border Patrol Cars seen in West Texas: 12
• Most boring stretch of highway: Highway 90 for 350miles
• Best hotel: The Read House, Chattanooga