October 15, 2021
Monday, 10/11/21, was the first day traveling in the Motorhome since arriving at CORA on May 5, 2021. I had planned to leave CORA on Saturday, 10/16/21, give or take a snowstorm. The weather forecast was for snow Tuesday and Thursday, so I decided to head out ahead of any snow. I spent the last couple of days winterizing the hot tub, moving stuff into the Moho and finally winterizing the cabin.
Monday morning I woke to 28 degrees. I triple checked that everything was secure in the cabin and then triple checked the moho and the tow bar and truck setup before hitting the road at 9:15 am. It was a gorgeous, clear. sunny day, most of the Aspens around CORA had dropped their leaves, but as I headed south from Hartsell to Guffy and on to Canon City, the colors were isolated but vibrate.
I expected some holiday traffic, but evidently I was ahead of it, that was until I pull into a rest area off I-25 at noon for lunch and there wasn’t any large parking spots left. Then next one was an hour down the road, so lunch was delayed. I’m always a bit apprehensive when the Moho has sat idle for any extended period of time, but it seemed to run fine. I was heading for Sugarite Canyon State Park, just south of Raton, NM, about 228 miles from CORA. The park’s website was a bit strange with regards to making a reservation, so I thought I’d wait until today and give them a call. The office was closed but the message indicated that all campgrounds except Lake Anna were closed and Lake Anna was first come, first serve. My luck was incredible. I arrived to find that only a few sites would hold a 40ft rig and most were occupied. I did manage to get a nice site and I settled in. Within the hour, four other large RVs came in and they took the remaining larger sites. NM state parks are pretty inexpensive, my water/electric site was $14. There were vault toilets in the campground and showers near the visitor center, albeit, not needed since I was in the Moho. The sites had a picnic table and a large bear box. There was zero connectivity, my choice to get any cell coverage was a 6 mile drive or a 3 mile uphill hike.
Tuesday, 10/12/21, it was cold, cloudy and rainy off and on. I went for short walks but it always seem to start raining after a short time, so I spent most of the day inside organizing the Moho.
Wednesday was a warm, clear sunny day. I drove 37 miles to Capulin Volcano National Monument, hiked a short 2.5 mile trail before driving to the upper parking lot. There is a very steep, paved 1 mile loop trail that goes to the top of the volcano’s crater rim. From the top I had an incredible 360 degree, 100 mile view. According to the placard, I was able to see as far as Oklahoma to the East and the San de Christo Mountains in Colorado.
The views from the top of Capulin Volcano
There was also a short trail that lead to the bottom of the volcano’s plugged crater.
I got back to camp relatively early and met my neighbor, George from Louisiana. We talked for awhile and then decided to hike the Deer Run Trail (2.5 mies one way) to the closed Soda Pocket Campground, 700 feet above us. Nancy and I had camped a few times at Soda Pocket Campground and we always enjoyed it, so I excused myself and scattered some of Nancy’s ashes. George and I really hit it off and when we got back to camp, he invited me for a steak dinner at his campsite. I contributed a salad and a bottle of wine. I had a great time, I’m usually not big on campfires, but it was rather cold after dark and George build a nice smokeless fire and then cooked the steaks over it.
Thursday morning it was 28 degrees, George was camping in a Van, so I had him over to the Moho for breakfast. It may have been 28 outside but it was 70 in the Moho. After breakfast, George went to break camp and head home. I headed out to hike to the top of Little Horse Mesa. It was another sunny, clear day which slowly warmed to the mid 60s. I drove a short distance to the trailhead and did a very nice 6.5 mile loop. Little Horse Mesa sits at 8,232 feet elevation, the highest point in the park. I was a little nervous, because there were piles of bear scat all along the trail.
I spent much of the time clapping rather loudly anytime I came to a narrow, blind section of the trail. I can’t ever remember seeing this much bear scat. I only saw one couple hiking and I met them on top of the mesa, said hello and never saw them again. I lingered on the mesa for about 45 minutes, it was just gorgeous.
I got back to camp about 1:30, hung out, but it was just to nice to stay in camp, so I headed down to the visitor center and did the 2 mile interpretive Coal Camp Trail. Sugarite Canyon produced 650 tons of coal a day from 1912 to 1941. There isn’t much left, but at one time the camp housed a 1,000 miners and their families, with 19 different nationalities.
During my short stay here I was able to hike 6 of the 12 trails in the park for a total of 14.6 miles over the two hiking days. I’ll be back someday to finish the rest and will do Little Horse Mesa again. My last night I was entertained by a small herd of deer, which I was able to watch through my windshield.
I'm glad that most RVers would rather park in RV parks, leaving these special places available to people like me. One of my neighbors in the campground told me that Monday night they couldn't get a site in any RV park in Amarillo. :)
Hi Larry! Feel good to be moving again? We visited Capulin 6 years ago, passed it again last month on our way home. Yup, awesome views! One more trip planned in a couple weeks, then likely time to tuck it away for the winter. Know where you're going to be for the winter?
ReplyDeleteI'll be in Benson, AZ for the winter, when I'm not traveling. Have an SKP Co-Op lot there, I sold the lot at the Ranch in NM.
DeleteNiiiiice. Ah the life of a retiree. Sheesh!
ReplyDeleteLooking good with the selfies, you're getting those down nicely :)
Thanks, I started using a selfie stickpin it really helps. And yes tough job being retired, but somebody has to do it. LOL
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