SE San Juan Mountains, CO & NM: Part 3

Part 3 of 3: Begins with Part 1; Part 2

Remember to click any photo for a larger version.

Thursday, August 24 (continued)

New Mexico

Rio de los Piños

The route to my favorite spot in northern New Mexico is not marked or obvious. If you come in via forest roads south of San Antonio Mountain you can easily follow the Carson National Forest map or a good atlas, such as the Benchmark series. From the north, you need to begin in Colorado. Just south of Antonito, CO I turned right off of US-285 onto County Road 12.5. This is immediately past the Cumbres & Toltec Railroad tracks. One follows the pavement until it makes a sharp bend to the left; there you continue straight on gravel.

Several years ago I was talking to someone who was familiar with this area and they asked if I knew about the Mennonite Colony around there. I did not and had not seen any indications previous years. This time as I was driving in I came across a horse drawn carriage with six young people in appropriate dress coming the other way. I slowed down and waved as they passed. The kids turned around to stare at the strange apparition they'd just seen. Lest I forget to tell you, on my way out, just across the state line in San Antonio I drove past a bearded Elder on his bicycle returning to the colony (I assume) and he gave me a wave.

It's a pleasant drive along the Rio de los Piños next to the bosque. There is a state wildlife refuge along the way which is a popular trout fishing area. They also have vault toilets at a few access points, which was appreciated as the gas station in Antonito had no facilities.

Road coming into the campground

I was hoping I would find a good camping site. I was coming in fairly early on a Thursday afternoon, so thought my prospects were good. The little meadow along the river where I'd camped a couple times before was available. It was a bit on the hot side this day, but could be a Plan B, if needed. But in fact the first official site was open and looked great, so I pulled in there. 

Campsite along the river

It had been a couple of years since I'd been back here and it looked like the forest service had cleared away quite a bit of the underbrush and low hanging trees that had made the campground just a little claustrophobic before. They'd also brought in gravel to fill the many mud puddles that plagued the road in the past. On my walk the next day I confirmed they'd similarly cleared the other sites and added gravel to the road. 

I was able to set up the camper so the solar panels got sun and I set up my comfy chair in the shade to watch the river. There was a momma Western Wood-Peewee teaching her two young how to catch flies over the river. At some point I should mention this is a New Mexico mountain river, what those from wetter climes would call a stream or a brook. But you'll figure that out from the photos, I guess.

Juvenile Western Wood-Peewees

I'd never seen Water Striders rafting before

The view from my camp chair

I didn't notice right away that my concrete picnic table had a mural. Pretty cool. I photoshopped off some graffiti, but didn't try to fix the damage due to moisture wicking up from the ground and peeling off the paint.

I had the coolest table in all the campground

It was a quiet evening after a quiet afternoon. Just before dusk a motorcyclist rode past. Looked like he was set up for back country touring/camping.

Friday, August 25

Rio de los Piños (continued)

Yellow flowers along the river

It was a beautiful morning and I enjoyed my coffee in my chair beside the river. About 9am I decided to walk up the road with my cameras. I took a few "landscape" photos, but as I've posted many, many before I concentrated on photographing the critters—not that they cooperated. I've had to really (over) process some of these so you can see what the backlit birds even look like. 

Hairy Woodpecker

Maybe the best bird photo of the trip—a House Wren

I kept hearing jay-like calls from many birds that flew high from one side of the canyon to the other, but evaded my eyeballs. Some were up beyond this rock formation.

Lots of bird activity up on the side of the canyon

Spotted Sandpiper vacationing in New Mexico

I counted the camping spots and picnic tables as I walked. There were 6 tables at nice campsites. There were a few other sites where one could camp without a table. There was another vault toilet near the 6th official site. I guess that was the end of the campground per sé.

A Field Crescent previewing the autumn colors soon to come

The motorcyclist was the only person I saw camping this morning, though I didn't walk as far as Cañon Atencio, so may have missed surveying a couple of sites. I spoke briefly with the man who was doing a little maintenance on his motorcycle. He was following a dirt roads backcountry route up from the southern border of New Mexico up into Colorado. I didn't bother him with a photo request.

Such a beautiful little canyon

Plenty of relaxing in the shade by the river that afternoon. I did manage to see and get a photo of one of those raucous birds. Turns out they were Clark's Nutcrackers. A fairly uncommon species (at least anywhere else) that I'd only seen once before. Cool.

Clark's Nutcracker finally revealed

There was some traffic driving through the campground in the afternoon and evening. Actually more than I would have expected especially as you would have to know this out of the way campground was even here. Glad I got a campsite on a Thursday. I enjoyed a pleasant evening.

About 7pm I started hearing thunder. Once I felt a few drops, I began stowing my chair, side table, etc. It was getting dark in any case. I got inside and the heavens opened up. It's easy to over estimate rainfall when in a camper with an aluminum roof, but it did pour and for quite a while, too. It was good as all the green growing things could use a good drink.

Saturday, August 26

Rio de los Piños (continued)

Morning coffee

I again enjoyed my coffee by the river. I walked around hoping for better luck with my bird photography, but it was not to be. I'd decided I'd head back to civilization today, as and the forecast I'd requested the day before using my inReach satellite communicator was for rain all day. Nonetheless, I took my time breaking camp.

On the road

I left via the northern route as it's 45 minutes to the highway rather than a couple of hours, which is a wonderful drive in good weather, but would not be that fun if in the rain. I stopped to photograph some roadside sunflowers. I think the flowers are in New Mexico and the ridge is part of Colorado. If leaving via the north route, but going south, you can take the first right after crossing the ridge. This is Road C and goes straight to the highway.

Roadside sunflowers and a portent on the horizon

I also pulled over at the state line for photos. I'd had to cross back into Colorado to get to US-285. There was a nice view of San Antonio Mountain. You can also see the clouds rapidly building over the mountains I'd just left.

San Antonio Mountain seen from the state line

A view back toward where I'd been camped and the clouds rapidly building

No drama on the drive home. A short delay for some highway resurfacing, but otherwise a smooth trip back down through Española, Santa Fe, then the freeway to the North Valley and home where it was almost muggy due recent rain.

Thanks for reading and following along.