I officially retired at 3:45 PM on Thursday, May 29, 2008, with the idea in mind of being free to travel and do my own thing. Right ?? Nope. I’ve got a “to-do” list 2 pages long and growing all the time. Fix the truck, fix the car, get rid of junk, prepare to travel, etc., etc., ad nausaeum. Finally, today, June 8, 1½ weeks later, I said “Enough ! ! !” I jumped into the new (to me) Toyota 4Runner, went for breakfast at the open air patio in Tesuque, about 6 or 8 miles away, then headed north in search of adventure.

When I was in this area for 6 weeks in 2002, I did the Taos tourist thing and wasn’t overly impressed. It’s nice enuf, but Santa Fe is nicer, and has everything Taos has and much more besides, so I haven’t bothered going that far in the 18 months I’ve lived here. Then again, I’ve heard about some canyons and mountains that might just be interesting, so with those in mind, I headed north.

Upon arrival in Taos, about 80 miles north, I pulled into the tourist assistance center to look at brochures and get ideas. When I explained what I was doing, the very nice young ladies there suggested the “Questa Loop,” about 25 miles further north. This is a side track that explores part of the upper Rio Grande Canyon. Hmmm………OK, let’s take a look. When I was leaving the parking lot, a local resident looked me over pretty closely………..

Prairie Dogs are very common here. On the road again, I went north to Questa, a little mining town at the beginning of the tourist loop around the ski areas, tho’ it’s not really a tourist destination in itself. On to the little raggedy village of Cerro and the beginning of the “Loop.” Out onto the plains, and it’s hard to believe there might be a major canyon anywhere around. There is - that dark line is deceptive…………

A little farther down the road, take the 1st turnout and park. Walk a short distance to the overlook………….

………and hang on tight. This is a major canyon, the Rio Grande is flowing strong and fast with snowmelt, and this is a sight to see. That was looking upstream, now a look downstream shows that the canyon gets even bigger and rougher…………….

All the way down, there are trails hacked into the cliff, and signs of much use. At this, the 2nd overlook, 2 carloads of people were preparing to carry several kayaks down this trail. Presumably, their girlfriends would pick them up downstream. I dunno, that’s snowmelt and it must be awful cold……………..

Signs tell us that the canyon is about 500 to 600 feet deep and it’s very rugged. Some hike. I was a little disappointed when I got home and downloaded all the pictures into the computer. Each viewpoint was different, all were beautiful, and I shot dozens of Unique Pictures. Trouble is, when I got them home, they all look pretty much alike, so I’ll just give some highlights…………..

Here’s my new (to me) 2002 Toyota 4Runner, Der Bug’s replacement. Der Bug is fun, great around town, and a gas on the back roads, but it just isn’t a very good highway car, overheats on long runs in the summer, can’t pull the boat, and for all its’ capabilities, it just isn’t a 4WD….not to mention needing fairly constant maintenance, being 39 years old now. On test runs the ‘Runner has already shown that it’ll easily go places with its’ 4WD and high/low range transfer case - in air conditioned comfort - that Der Bug just can’t handle…….tho’ it’s not nearly as much fun. Today, we covered 250 miles in complete comfort, and burned just over ½ the fuel the Diesel Dodge would have needed. So far, it’s working out perfectly - a great day tripper…………… (next day, Monday, filled up the ‘Runner, and it took 11.2 gallons to go 265 miles for the day.  Almost 24 mpg. Wonderful ! ! !……keeping in mind that it was almost all highway driving, mostly at 60 - 65 mph on these rough roads.  It’s been hitting 17-18 mpg around town - still quite good)

At the bottom of the Loop, we come to the Red River, flowing down its’ own canyon after coming thru the town of Questa. See the inverted triangle on the mountain just to left of center at the skyline ?? That’s the tailings dump for the big molybdenum mine that is the main employer in Questa. The Red River’s canyon is steeper, and the river is really wild, but quite narrow. Wonder if it’s raft-able ??……………..

That would be a heck of a ride, for sure. A look downstream just barely shows the confluence of the Red and Rio Grande Rivers………but what’s that splotch of color in the foreground ??……………

Now, that’s one determined cactus, growing on nearly solid rock. It sure has a view tho’, and contributes to the view for the rest of us…………

All the way around the Loop, there are fairly frequent turnouts and quite a few primitive campgrounds. Each overlook has its’ own trail down to the rivers, and all show signs of frequent use. I’m not in shape for the season yet, so took it a little easy today. Glad I did - tonight I’m just a little stiff and sore and will sleep well. Next time out, we’ll push harder. Here’s the top of a trail down to the Red River. It’s about as close to straight down as a trail can be made to go…………..

There’s a sign at the top cautioning that dogs may have problems with the ladders on the trail. Here, you can see one, way down there, and a pair of people below it……………

Here’s the confluence of the really white water Red River with the sorta white water Rio Grande. Beautiful view, this…………….

On the way home, for a change of scenery, I took hwy 64 west across the Rio Grande bridge west of Taos and to Tres Piedras (3 rocks) then south on 285 and on home. Of course, crossing that huge gorge on the bridge called for a stop on the far side and a walk back out onto the span for a final look at the river. Hmmm………..what’s that I see in the distance ??……………….

Why, it’s a group of rafters, heading south. You know, cold water or not, that does look like fun. Maybe later in the year ??………….

‘Course, there wouldn’t be as much water in the river then, so it wouldn’t be as exciting. Hmmm…….maybe next week ??………

Lar.

www.gogittum.com

www.gogittum.com/blog

Santa Fe, New Mexico

Posted: June 8th, 2008 under 08 New Mexico, 08-6-8 Questa Loop.
Comments: 1