Driving away from our great time exploring the Willis Creek Slot Canyon we turned Southeast on Cottonwood Canyon Road just to head “thataway” and see what we might find. A little more than 4 miles later we came to the turnoff to Kodachrome Basin State Park. We initially turn up that road and then quickly …
Category: Nature
Having talked to the nice woman at the Sunset Campground within Bryce Canyon National Park we now had our sights set on checking out this slot canyon. Leaving the Park we headed up Hwy 63 into the town of Bryce itself and stopped to fill up the Tacoma. Turning right onto Hwy 12 from the …
We approached the park from the West by way of the Red Canyon/Scenic Byway Route 12. It was there that we were first introduced to the extensive color palette (heavy on the reds) we would be enjoying for the next couple of days. Before we arrived at the actual Park entrance where we usually take …
Using Dennis Casebier’s book as our guide we started the day at the edge of the mighty Colorado River. After a few fits and starts as we figured out the difference between what the book says we should be seeing and what we actually see we finally found the right turn off Needles Highway and …
About 100 miles west of Albuquerque, New Mexico sits the El Malpais National Monument which takes its name from the Spanish word Malpaís, meaning badlands. With a name like that full of danger and foreboding is it any wonder that Willow and I decided to give it the once over. If you were wondering about …
On our first full-day in the El Malpais National Monument, we decided to take it easy and relax but wanted to first take the quick six and a half mile drive and check out the La Ventana Arch. La Ventana (“the window”) is the second largest natural stone arch in New Mexico and the most …
We spent our first full day in the El Malpais National Monument as a rest, relax and rejuvenate day. We had limited out caloric expenditure to taking a short drive to visit the La Ventana Arch and its short, easy hike and then lounged around the campground catching up on reading and writing for the …
After our time at Diablo Canyon we still had items on our “Must See” list further up north and so began the journey in that direction. Heading out of Santa Fe on Hwy 285 we eventually transitioned onto Hwy 84 in through the tongue-twisting tiny town of Abiquiu, New Mexico. About 15 miles northwest of …
Heading up towards the Northern edge of New Mexico we decided to check out what our camping options were around Santa Fe. As usual we try to focus on National Forest areas as it is regularly free and beautiful. Our second choice is BLM land. It’s also mid-week (Wednesday) which is when we try to …
Beside the Gila Cliff Dwellings and the White Sands National Monument one of the other Top 5 places we wanted to visit while exploring New Mexico was the VLA or Very Large Array. Many, many years ago I sat and intently watched each and every episode of Carl Sagan’s original 13-part series Cosmos: A Personal …