Thursday, April 24, 2008

Thursday, April 24 - Wagon Mound to Pecos, New Mexico

The wind came back up during the night and was very strong for a while.

Up at dawn, got dressed and moved on looking for a rest area to get breakfast. Found one about 5 miles down the road.


It turned out we did not need to be worried about our choice of places to spend the night. Someone else had spent the night in a van and across the street at the other gas station there were three large trucks doing the same thing. (as we traveled we would find that a lot of people slept in all sorts of places that you would never find happening back home) At the rest area there was a Mocking Bird singing his head off in a spruce tree. There were also some amazing Yuccas.

We were back on the road before 8:00 There are occasionally very large very dark birds soaring over the grasslands. They have pointed wings slightly canted upward and long round tails. AT first I thought they were dark phase Swainson's Hawks. But we later figured out they are Ravens. There are Ravens everywhere out here. Crows occasionally, but lots of Ravens. As we traveled south on I-25 the grade gradually changes from flat to rolling and the vegetation changes from grassland to mixed conifers.


The conifers look like very even aged mixed stands of Pinion Pine and Red Cedar. They grow so evenly spaced as to almost look planted. My memory, of long ago biology classes, tells me that their spacing is dictated by the water supply.

At Las Vegas, New Mexico we found a Visitors Information center, where we were directed to the National Forest Service office in town. From there it was suggested we might be able to camp at a campground north of Pecos. Although the campground is not officially open until May 1, we were told that the host is there and he might be willing to let us camp.

Just off I-25 we discovered Pecos National Historic Park. It was the site of an ancient pueblo and a mission established by Cortes. Duncan was welcome on a leash so we walked the trails between the old and new pueblos and the remains of the mission church. The mix of plants was interesting. Pinion Pine, Red Cedar, Choila, Rabbit Brush in bloom, Prickly Pear cactus, Yucca, and areas of grasslands. The short leafless trees we learned later were "scrub" oak.



The Pueblo was located on a hill overlooking the valleys below. Their 360 degree view afforded a strategically defensible location. There were two pueblos. The older one had been there before the Spanish arrived and the newer one, in close proximity to the church, was built by the converted Indians. There were also ruins of two churches. The first much larger than the second and built of stone rather than the adobe brick of the second. The remains of the second church were amazing. I am such a Midwesterner that this arid western climate always surprises me when I see how much of ancient ruins can survive even the periodic torrential rains.




When we reached the campground the host was most gracious and welcomed us to stay because we were carrying our own drinking water. This is a beautiful small campground in a mixed conifer forest on the banks of the Pecos River. The conifers are mostly large Ponderosa Pines with Douglas Fir and Red Cedar mixed in. We chose a partly shaded site right on the river.

I am looking forward to staying a few days in one place after the last two long days on the road. We are backed up to the Pecos river and it is running full and wonderfully noisy. We were able to hook our water up to the faucet and though we can't drink it because there is still too much chlorine in it we can wash and bathe with it. What luxury for a National Forest Campground.

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