Hello from Covid Isolation! (In case you are wondering…I didn’t get Covid from any of my road-trips. I’m careful on them.) I’m on day 5. Time to write a blog or two.
*It’s been about 2 weeks since I was sick and I’m fine now.*
I started early at around 1:45am. You see, I was on the fence about going, but what made me finally crack was my roommates fan. It was keeping me up all night and I thought “if I’m not going to sleep anyways, I might as well just do the trip now”. Famous last words!
Heh obviously not for me because I’m writing this now. The original plan was to go feed some chipmunks in central Colorado, but just like in Super Ambitious Backup Plan a snowstorm threatened my safety so I changed plans. Imagine driving on this road by yourself. It’s a one way road, no passing room, in the mountains, with probably no cell service or GPS, and only gravel. I thought adding 2” of snow to the mix was too risky. I’d been checking the weather reports at 10pm and the weather report went from 40% to 60%. With the protests of my roommate, I set off.
It just so happened that at the time New Mexico decided to close Carson National Forest because of all the wildfires. Fortunately for me it was the next day so as long as I did this trip in 24 hours or less I should be all set. The only other time I drove through the forest was at 5:30am for the trip with Graham. This time I feverishly hoped the road was open because it was now going to be 3am. Luckily it was. Sometimes instead of a final push, I’ll instead leave as early as possible to get as much of a head start on the day as possible. This is the prime example: 315mi (6.5 hours) at 1:45am.
I was planning on breakfast in Durango Colorado, but I placed too much confidence in myself driving on zero hours of sleep and had to pull off to nap. I pulled into Mesa Verde National Park at around 9:30am. Mom and I have been to Mesa Verde, but we neglected to see the Yucca House! So I had to come back. You need to get the stamp at Mesa Verde NP and I was initially a bit peeved to have to drive all the way to the top to get the stamp (it would take over an hour), but the Ranger at the front gate said I could get it at the lower visitors center once I flashed my annual pass. I did a U-Turn and headed back to get it.
There is nothing at the site itself besides the Yucca House…or so I thought. It’s about a 30 minute drive from Mesa Verde heading southwest. It’s technically on someone’s farm so you have to be really respectful when driving up to it. There were cows everywhere! They were respectful of me and let me pass with no issues.
Once I pulled into the farmhouse driveway, I parked, and headed over to the gate of the Yucca House National Monument. The ranger said I’d have a blast. Haha! Basically it’s a few mounds of earth with a retaining wall. Also there were apparently diseased tics and fleas nearby that were killing the local rabbits. I needed to be careful since I had shorts on.
After the Yucca House the plan was to go to the last stop of the day: Canyons of The Ancients National Monument. It’s about a 30 minute drive back north. After hitting a gas station, where I got a cool Gatorade water bottle, I arrived at the visitors center. The Ranger was delighted to hear I had about 4 hours to kill at the park and right away he pointed out the best / his favorite hiking spots.
First I drove to the very popular Sand Canyon Pueblo. It was waaaay out in the desert of Colorado. (The south western corner of Colorado is like a mini preview of Utah.) after traveling for about 30 minutes on dirt farming roads I made it and wow! It was just like Yucca House: nothing there lol. Still, I came all the way out here to see just this so I walked around for a bit. It was really hot, but the path seemed like a good place for a BB8 pic.
CHANGE OF PLANS! After making it back to the highway I noticed another National Monument connected to this one called Hovenweep so I headed there next. Initially I had to drive all the way back towards Yucca house, but with the introduction of Hovenweep to the plan I got to loop around north into Utah. More interesting that way.
Hovenweep National Monument is sort of like a micro Grand Canyon with castles. Basically there is this smallish canyon and around the edges instead of dwellings carved into the walls, they are instead built on top like castles. The buildings are made of bricks and it is believed that this was a flourishing city up until a 10 year drought struck and everyone decided to abandon the area.
There is a really nice 2 mile walk around the canyon rim and I did that while filling out my junior ranger booklet. I’ve sort of become addicted to getting all the different junior ranger stamps / badges as well as the normal gift shop patches. Overall if you are nearby this is totally worth a stop, but be warned that it’s really far into the Utah desert and you should totally fill up with gas first.
The way back was pretty uneventful as I made the loop back to Canyons of the Ancients to continue adventuring there. I passed only one trailer home all the way back if that tells you anything. Once back in Colorado it didn’t take long to get to the trailhead. There are a bunch of trails here and I once again started hiking at the hottest time of the day. It was 90F and the trail was set up in 1 mile increments so at every mile there was a cool cliff dwelling.
Unfortunately for me a severe thunderstorm was heading my way. About a mile in I decided to turn around because I wasn’t super interested in hiking through a storm to see more cliff dwellings. After visiting about 5 different cliff dwelling parks they have become less interesting, so now I don’t really care if I miss them. I’ll totally try to see them, because I need to feel like I’ve earned the stamp.
Reluctantly I headed back to Philmont. With a near 7 hour drive back I didn’t want to stay too late anyways. For the first time ever I drove through Carson National Forest when it’s not dark and wow it’s big! I got treated to a sunset on my way out as well, which was amazing. Stopping wasn’t in the plan, so I kept going.
When planning I didn’t know if I’d make it to Taos in time for dinner or if I’d roll in at 12am when literally everything is closed. Luckily for me it was 9:30pm and one my favorite burger places was open: The Burger Stand at the Taos Alehouse! I ate dinner fast and arrived back at Philmont at 11pm.
Philmont to Utah and back in less than 24 hours! Overall this trip was totally worth it. Next time I’ll try to leave at a more reasonable hour and perhaps stay the night somewhere. I’ve been thinking about camping rather than hotels recently. I unfortunately will have to drive at night on the Eagles Nest / Taos / Carson National Forest / Durango road again to visit more things, but I will keep you tuned in every time!
Estimated miles: 683mi
Actual miles: 765mi
Elk seen: 4
Mountain lions seen: 0
National Park Rangers talked to: 6
