Long Climbs Up Bad Roads

Tuesday, May 3nd – Pilar to Taos to Questo – Day 82 

 Wake up and pack up. A bus full of retirees arrived to get their instructions for a river rafting tour they were on. We got a suggestion for a hike, hot springs and a swimming spot and decided to prioritize the hot springs. There was a scenic drive along the road beside the campsite that was only slightly lon6trhhpojvccbhnnknnmmmjhbvvvvuigx41qweryyuuioplk hrx!PnSFG4RVFREUI5ET7Yger than the other road to Taos.

 I don’t know if the New Mexican people appreciate that we have a SUV with front wheel drive hauling a trailer when giving us directions. The road beside the river crossed a bridge and turned to a dirt road. The road went up the side of the canyon and was a rocky, bumpy road up some reasonably steep slopes with multiple switch backs and sheer sides. I’m always nervous because if we stop moving forward, reversing a trailer down hill through switch backs would be difficult. Slowly but surely, we put the Santa Fe in first gear and made it up the side of the canyon. 

 After crossing a bridge, over the Rio Grande canyon we had just came out of, we stopped for a picture. Our destination was Taos where they have a World Heritage Site featuring a multiple storey adobe building that is an active Indigenous community or Pueblo. We reached Taos and stopped to do laundry. While we were in the laundromat, we learned the community was closed off due to COVID. Instead, we drove to the visitor centre where there were Indigenous people selling their products and art. We found out where the hot springs were, our previously directions were totally inadequate. I asked if the road in was in reasonable condition and flat. They said, “Yep, no problem”. 

 On the way out of town, Gen did some light shopping then we proceeded to the hot springs. We turned off the main road and drove through a small community where the road turned to dirt. The road was pretty good until we neared the hot springs and then it turned into the same rocky, bumpy road. This led us down a long hill, across a bridge and into the Rio Grande Recreation area. 

We parked and started the hike to the hot springs. It was a fun hike; plenty of rocks to step on and over on a path with some steep drops. We climbed up to a small cave on the way. Eventually we reached the hot spring. It was a natural pool with warm water that was quite pleasant. There was one other gentleman we talked to about a bit of everything while we soaked. 

 We left the hot springs and hiked back to the trail head. It provided a great view of the same Rio Grande canyon we left earlier in the day. We ate a meal of tuna sandwiches, carrots and hummus before we put the Santa Fe back in first gear and slowly climbed out of the canyon again. 

We were still looking for a place to stay and were debating where to stop in Colorado. We started heading north when I saw a sign for the Rio Grande Del North National Monument (the camp ground we stayed at in the morning was actually in the same National Monument but I didn’t put two and two together) and turned down the road to travel the 4 miles to a scenic viewpoint. It was right before dark so I figured it might be cool to see. It was a great view of the same canyon we had been in twice before and we stayed a few minutes before travelling out. 

 Unfortunately, on our way back to the main road we got a flat tire on the Santa Fe. It couldn’t have helped we were travelling all day on crappy roads. The tire that popped was worn down already so maybe it was inevitable. Gen and I changed the tire while the kids hung out in the car. We had several people offer to help and one person said if we needed to, we could set up the trailer on his driveway. 

Once we fixed the flat, we were looking at distances to the nearest cities and the locations of tire shops. There was one in Questo, where we were currently, but the nearest city with multiple tire shops (actually, any tire shops) was an hour and a quarter away. We weren’t sure how the spare would handle a long drive while having to support the trailer. Also, we didn’t want to get stuck in the middle of the night in a remote area, so we took Dave up on his offer to stay in his driveway. A quick drive later, we were set-up in the yard of his very nice house.