Chupadero Mountain View RV Park - San Antonio, NM

 Chupadero Mountain View RV Park - San Antonio, NM

San Lorenzo Canyon is jointly managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Land Management as a primitive recreation area. This scenic east-west canyon offers ample outdoor opportunities for hiking and primitive camping. Not only a destination for hikers, the Canyon offers outstanding opportunities for photographers. Millions of years of Earth’s history unfold in San Lorenzo Canyon, a picturesque area of sandstone cliffs, arches, and hoodoos. The cottonwoods indicate there may have been a reliable water source at one time in the area. The area has remnants of old ranches and homesteads; springs and tiny creeks are hidden in the canyon bottoms and washes. 

We made a short visit to the canyon after setting up Ethel and taking my post drive nap.

Karma starting a scramble up the cliffside.  He has become an avid hiker with few fears except bridges with grating on them, and he is deathly afraid of them.

Lisa debating how much hiking she wants to take on without her full equipment. We opted to come back and explore the canyon when we are better outfitted for desert hiking and crawling around the rocks. This area is definitely a place we want to explore.

Lisa ventured up the cliffside and immediately regretted her choice of footwear today.

The canyon had a lot of beauty and definitely requires further investigation at a later date. There were a few boondockers camping, but otherwise, we had the place to ourselves.

The Armendaris Ranch stretches along the Rio Grande from the Bosque Del Apache National Wildlife Refuge at its northern border, then south along the river for almost fifty miles to the southern end of Elephant Butte Lake near the town of Truth or Consequences. Total acreage of the ranch is 362.885 acres.

These mountains surround Elephant Butte Lake.

Chloride, NM

The history of Chloride reads like the script for a bad western – silver strike, population boom, Apache raids, salvation by the militia, cattle versus sheep, tar and feathering, and even bear attacks.

An Englishman named Harry Pye was delivering freight for the U.S. Army from Hillsboro to Camp Ojo Caliente in 1879 when he discovered silver in the canyon where Chloride is now located. After completing his freighting contract, he and two others returned to the area in 1881 and staked a claim.

The name "Chloride" was finally selected, after the high-grade silver ore found there. It became the center for all mining activity in the area, known as the Apache Mining District.

During the 1880s, Chloride had 100 homes, 1,000-2,000 people, eight saloons, three general stores, restaurants, butcher shops, a candy store, a lawyer's office, a doctor, boarding houses, an assay office, a stage line, a Chinese laundry and a hotel.

Chloride and the surrounding area began to decline with the silver panic of 1893, when the country went on the gold standard and silver prices dropped about 90 percent. Today, about 27 of Chloride’s original buildings are still standing, including the Pioneer Store, which now serves as a museum. Main Street is lined with false front structures, as well as adobe buildings, some restored and some suffering the effects of time.

There are two cemeteries and the 200- year-old oak "Hanging Tree" tree still stands in the middle of Wall Street. About 20 residents, many of who are descendants of the original founders, occupy the town. The road abruptly ends at the edge of town. There is only one road that leaves and enters the town. Absolutely no one just happens to pass through Chloride, it is miles from the nearest town.

These panels explain the history of the town.

More history of the town is posted on this sign.

The Hanging tree still stands at the entrance to the town.

This was a very bizarre stop. A google search of the area attractions lead us to Chloride. We went to the museum and met the daughter of the owner of the town.  She is an encyclopedia of the history of Chloride.  Her parents apparently had retired and were going to travel the country.  They made it to Chloride and were so enthralled with the town that they started buying the various buildings and property.  They have spent huge sums of money and many years restoring the town into what it is now. It spent many years boarded up and abandoned when they first visited the area. From what she told us, they do not know what they are going to do with it as they pass. They are the end of their familial line. Her dad has offered to donate it to the state to be maintained as a museum and tribute to the past, but there was very little interest by the state since there is little to no revenue source to maintain it.  It would possibly be a fun place to stay for a few days, but it is so far off the beaten path that we believe it eventually will just fade away again. It would be a great little town for a movie set, but other revenue sources from the town are are virtually nonexistent.  

The views of the Gila National Forest were more of the landscape so common in the southwest.

Sand Cranes statues were in the campground where we stayed.  We were told that the area is a migration area for the Sand Cranes during the winter.  They will have as many as 10,000 in the area during their migration. This tiny, privately owned campground was very poorly planned and designed by someone with very limited knowledge and understanding of RV travel/life. When we checked in, the owner seemed surprised we were planning to spend a week in the area. He said he should give us a discount for staying a week (which is customary throughout the country). He called his wife to see how he could adjust our rate, but she informed him he was not to give us a discount because we had a big RV. The rates were already very affordable, but it was the principal of this interaction we found amusing. "She said I could not give you a discount" was such an odd comment since the discount was his idea, not ours. This campground is one that I could not refer to others. It's primary purpose is a spot for a quick overnight stay while en route to somewhere else, not as a destination. We basically paid for a parking space for a week with hookups, minus any other amenities- including space between sites to put a grill or chairs. It was a very bizarre place.

We experienced our first dust storm. There were wind gusts up to 70-75 miles an hour and the dust was swirling in the dry desert areas. We also saw our first tumbleweeds. It made for an interesting and difficult travel day trying to keep the RV upright and on the road. Later, we saw a RV about the same size as ours that got toppled on its side during the high winds.

Tome Hill

Edwin Berry (Baca), an iconic New Mexico penitente (member of a religious society that originated in Mexico. They practice self whipping and other forms of self torture and sacrifice during the Holy Week, hence the word penitence.), folklorist and musician who revived a Holy Week pilgrimage to Tomé, a Spanish land grant community nearly 300 years old and about 35 miles south of Albuquerque in Valencia County. Every year many people of various faiths make the trek up to the sacred shrine for a spiritual experience. On Good Friday every year, people flood the area in a pilgrimage to the site in honor of Christ's death and resurrection. There remains about 1,800 petroglyphs dating back nearly 2,000 years ago left by the ancestral pueblo people. 

Berry, who died in 2000, is credited with erecting a 3 cross crucifixion shrine in the late 1940s at the top of the volcanic hill, which he often described as the perfect church: “Open to all, at all times, and no collection plate.”

You can barely view the 3 crosses from the base of the hill.

Much of the outdoor art we have seen in the Southwest has been pieces of raw steel cut into shapes.  This display is unique because there were multiple pieces of plate steel, cut the same, and spaced apart to give it a 3D appearance. This little park area was across the street from the shrine on Tome Hill, as part of the parking lot.

This view of the crosses is about halfway up the hill.

Looking back towards the car from the halfway point is actually steeper and more impressive than the picture shows.

Ancient petroglyphs at the top of the hill remain visible despite many years of harsh weather and human interference.  In 1992, a project was created to protect and maintain the site and artifacts.

Lisa and Karma viewing the crosses and shrine at the top of the hill.

Stations of the cross and a tribute to the Ten Commandments are found at the top of the hill. 

The views we saw from the top over looking the surrounding area.

We saw this rock arrangement on the way down on the west trail. We went up the east trail and down the west trail. We should have done the hike in reverse order. 

This blooming cactus is the only one of this type we have seen.

The Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument is a complex of three Spanish missions located in New Mexico, near Mountainair.

Once, thriving Native American trade communities of Tiwa and Tompiro language-speaking Pueblo people inhabited this remote frontier area of central New Mexico. Early in the 17th century Spanish Franciscans found the area ripe for their missionary efforts. However, by the late 1670's, the entire Salinas District, as the Spanish had named it, was depopulated of both Indian and Spaniard. What remains today are austere yet beautiful reminders of this earliest contact between Pueblo Indians and Spanish Colonials: the ruins of three mission churches, at Quarai, Abó, and Gran Quivira and the partially excavated pueblo of Las Humanas or, as it is known today, the Gran Quivira pueblo.

Someone has a sense of humor. We had no plans to disturb any rattlesnakes long before we saw the sign posted.

The Quarai ruins settlement was first built and occupied between 1200-1300 AD.  It was later abandoned in the 1670's due to rampant disease, famine, drought and brutal Apache attacks. It was left abandoned until 1820-1830 when some Spanish ranchers salvaged from the ruins and rebuilt part of the settlement to build their ranch. They too abandoned the site after a major Apache raid in 1830. This was the last known time the settlement was occupied. The ruins were acquired by the state in the 1930's. Only a portion of the ruins have been excavated. There are mounds known to have buried ruins, but these remain undisturbed.  There is a visitor center and a 0.5 mile trail through the ruins. In the forest, an interpretive sign reads that when Francis Gardes traveled through the area, he heard birds sing a song called "When Explorers Came". The trail became known as the Francis Garde National Historic Trail, and it passes through Quarai.

The walls range in thickness from 3-6 feet and reach a height up to 40 feet. It is very impressive how intact these ruins are, especially considering it was built over 700 years ago. Whatever they used for mortar has definitely stood the test of time. 

The Abo Pueblo community was established in the 11th century on the edge of the existing pueblo culture, and often attracted roaming Nomadic Tribes of the eastern plains.

San Gregorio de Abó Mission (located in Mountainair, New Mexico) was one of three Spanish missions constructed in or near the pueblos of central New Mexico. These missions, built in the 1600's, are now a part of the Salinas Pueblo National Monument which includes San Gregorio de Abó Mission, Quarai and Gran Quivera.

The mission at Abo was established in 1625 by Fray Francisco Fonte. He kept very meticulous written records of events at the mission during his time there. His records provide much information about life at the pueblo that would otherwise not be available.

The Gran Quivira Ruins are located about 25 miles south of Mountainair, at about 6500 feet above sea level.

The Gran Quivira, as it has been called for over a hundred years, is by far the best known of the Salinas pueblos, and in fact is one of the most celebrated ruins in all of the Southwest. It is altogether the largest ruin of any Christian temple that exists in the United States. From the first, there has been the connection of glamor and romance and the strange charm of mystery, which adds tenfold to ordinary interest. How and when it first received its deceptive title of "Gran Quivira" we may never know; there are dozens of traditions and theories and imaginings. From the days of Coronado, the name of "Quivira" had been associated with the idea of a great unknown city, of wealth and splendor, situated somewhere on the Eastern Plains. It is not at all unlikely that when some party from the Rio Grande Valley, in search of game or gold, crossed the mountains and the wilderness lying to the east, and was suddenly amazed by the apparition of a dead city, silent and tenantless. It bears the evidences of a large population, of vast resources, of architectural knowledge, mechanical skill, and wonderful energy, they should have associated with it the stories heard from childhood of the mythical center of riches and power, and called the new-found wonder the Gran Quivira.

Lisa and Karma were inspecting the Gran Quivira from the interior.

These openings were designed for the roof supports. The ruins demonstrate they had a good understanding of engineering.  

The roof support openings appear to be 18' x 24".  From the time we have spent in the area, we have no idea where they would have found the timber. No trees grow in this area. Transporting the lumber for miles was a feat unto itself.

We returned to San Lorenzo Canyon, lunch packed for the trail and with proper hiking gear this time.  We did not start at an official trailhead, we headed to the area that seemed to attract us to it and set off on this chilly and windy day.

Lisa loves downhill skiing, she just had never done it in the rocks.  LOL

Lisa and Karma were taking a rest break on the hike to the top of the Canyon.

These were the views from the top of the Canyon walls looking over the area.

We found this cave in the canyon wall, but we could not access it.

This is a side view of the guardian of the canyon. The Guardian is wrapped in a blanket while overlooking the canyon.

We spotted several Hoodoo's in the canyon. This ended up being an amazing several hour hike. It was different from most of our hikes, because there was not a clearly defined trail to follow. We had to figure out our route as we went. We blazed our own path. We had the canyon to ourselves. We truly had a great day. 

The  Martians were apparently visiting Socorro, New Mexico.

We were close to the testing area of the atomic bombs from WWII.

We found this Memorial to the Military in the town square of Socorro.

This was the old Train Depot in San Antonio, New Mexico.

Fort Craig

Fort Craig was a U.S. Army fort located along El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, near Elephant Butte Lake State Park and the Rio Grande in Socorro County, New Mexico.

The 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo called for the construction of a series of forts along the new boundaries between Mexico and the United States. Apaches and other Native American groups were reportedly harassing settlers and travelers on both sides of the border. The attacks by the tribes from U.S. territory into Mexico was a problem the U.S. government was obligated to address under the treaty.

In 1849, an initial garrison was established at Socorro, New Mexico.  Fort Conrad was then established in 1851 on the west bank of the Rio Grande near Valverde Creek. This was near the north end of the Jornada del Muerto, which was an especially dangerous segment of the major route known as the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro. Although it was an ideal location from which to launch military campaigns against the Apache and Navajo, Fort Conrad was beset by construction problems and was under constant threat of flash floods, so it operated for only a short while until a replacement was built several miles away.

In 1853, the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment began constructing a new fort on a bluff nine miles downriver from Fort Conrad. The new fort was named in honor of Captain Louis S. Craig, an officer in the Mexican–American War who had been murdered by deserters in California in 1852. The new fort was garrisoned in 1854 with troops transferred from Fort Conrad.

Life at remote Fort Craig was uncomfortable and lonely at best and deadly at worst. The buildings were a constant source of misery to the soldiers, and records reveal litanies of complaints about leaky roofs, crumbling walls and chimneys, crowded conditions and filth from crumbling dirt roofs and muddy floors.

By July 1861, Fort Craig had become the largest fort in the Southwest, with over 2,000 soldiers. That same year, several regiments of New Mexico Volunteers were established to handle the new threat posed by the Confederate Army of New Mexico.

In February 1862, all five regiments of New Mexico Volunteers were sent south from Fort Union to reinforce Fort Craig and to wait for the Confederate advance up the Rio Grande.

After capturing several military installations in the newly established Confederate Territory of Arizona, Brigadier General Sibley led his enthusiastic but poorly equipped brigade of about 2,500 Confederate Army of New Mexico men. On February 7, 1862, the Army of New Mexico left Fort Fillmore and headed north towards Fort Craig, but marched well around the fort after the Union Army refused to do battle on the plain in front of the fort.

On February 21, 1862, the Union troops led by Colonel Edward Canby and the Confederate Army of New Mexico of Brigadier General Sibley first met at the Battle of Valverde, a crossing of the Rio Grande just north of the fort. Both sides took heavy casualties. At the end of the day, the Confederates held the field of battle, but the Union still held Fort Craig.

The Battle of Valverde is considered a Confederate victory. However, the New Mexico Volunteers, under the command of Colonel Miguel Pino, found the Confederates' lightly guarded supply wagons and burned them. Sibley was forced to march further north without the supplies he had hoped to take from Fort Craig. On February 23, 1862, the Confederate forces marched around the Union Army and headed for Albuquerque.

Between 1863 and 1865, Fort Craig was headquarters for U.S. Army campaigns against the Gila and Mimbres Apaches.

Fort Craig was permanently abandoned in 1885.

The BLM runs a visitor center at the Fort Craig Historic Site, located 105 miles north of Las Cruces and 32 miles south of Socorro.

Around 2004, it emerged that 20 bodies had been looted from the cemetery at Fort Craig, evidently by a collector of military memorabilia. To prevent further looting, 67 more sets of remains were exhumed by Federal archaeologists for reinternment at Santa Fe National Cemetery. in 2007

At the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, the refuge offers unique bird and wild life viewing opportunities each season. Peak visitation occurs in winter when Bald Eagles. thousands of sandhill cranes and snow gees flock to the fields and marshes.

It is a very strange place- we are in the middle of the high desert yet there are marshes/swampy areas for waterfowl.

We noticed the stones and rocks embedded in the sandstone here.

Void in the cliff wall where the sediment millions of years ago did not fill completely.

This cliff wall of sandstone is continually being eroded by the winds and abrasive materials, such as sand, that the wind captures.

We saw this  batch of very small Hoodoo's.  These almost appear to look like mushrooms.

Changes in geological features from the different era's created the various cliffs and canyons through out our country. It has been such an interesting journey seeing all of the various formations created by the wind and water. We have a much greater appreciation of the beauty found in nature as we embark on our adventures across the nation.

 

The National Radio Astronomy Observatory Very Large Array (yes, that is the actual name of the facility) studies the celestial objects that give off radio waves. This site operates the world's most versatile radio telescope.