From Red to Green

The drive from Chavez to Taos again took me over some more gorgeous terrain. The most significant change that happened on this portion of my travels was the change from Red Rock and dry hot conditions to lush green mountains and rolling cattle pastures. I stopped in the town of Durango to get some much needed caffeine and some breakfast. It is a quaint old town, originally established as a mining town in 1880. Some of the old main street is still intact, but as so many of the popular resorts these days, it has also fallen victim to chain stores and sprawl. I decided make my visit short and keep on heading out of town.










The portion of the drive over the next several hours was just beautiful, lush, green, mountains and streams. The road to Chama was full of old farm houses and many "open range" cattle. A significant feature of this area is the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Narrow-Gauge Railroad which still connects Chama and Durango I believe. It is an amazing ride through tons of different terrain and geological formations. I have done the out and back from Chama and would recommend this trip highly to anyone staying in the area.












Another significant change during this leg was the temperature. I went from the high 90's and low 100's to cool and cloudy. Both Cousteau and I found it amazingly refreshing!
Along the way from Chama to Taos you cross several significant sites. First is the Continental Divide, next the Brazos Moutains, and finally the Rio Grand Gorge near Taos. There were also significant portions of the drive that wound through Carson National Forest where one could spend a lot of time exploring from the looks of all of the turn off roads that lead the this lake or that river and so on. The Brazos Mtns were significantly cooler than anywhere I had been so far. Cousteau and I got out to check out some overlooks and he got his first "Southwest freedom" and was able to roam around. From mountains it was down to Taos where you must first cross the Rio Grande. What an amazing fissure in the earth. It is so deep and
narrow. Luckily I was late enough in the day to get some nice shadows. It was still too bright to get the best pics, but I always love walking out onto the bridge. You feel so little and fragile compared to the gorge, whittled out of the earth over millions of years.

I picked up some beer on the way to the house and enjoyed some QT with my mom and pop that evening before the rest of the crew arrived from Dallas.