Who left the north door open?

Wait!  What happened?  The 10 day forecast suddenly changed!  Cold fronts arriving from the east.  The east?  At first, it appeared that these cold fronts would only touch northeastern New Mexico, but the forecast changed.  Jet streams changed and changed the forecasts.  Dynamic weather!

And change it did!  Suddenly the ski areas were cold again.  Wolf Creek was cold again and it was snowing!  Over the weekend, Wolf Creek received some 34" of snow in one day - Sunday!

What to do?  What to do?  Our first thought was go abandon Plan B and go back to Plan A.  But Winter Weather Warnings and Winter Travel Warnings started appearing on the weather reports.  At first, we thought perhaps Wednesday, February 25th might be the best travel day.  That is, until Chama received 2" of snow on Tuesday, roads were reported to be icy, and overnight temperatures were forecast to be in the teens.  Somehow, pulling a 19,000 pound fifth wheel behind a dually pickup all the while watching for icy patches and slick roads . . . no!  And the forecast after Wednesday?  Terrible.  Snow, sleet, and below freezing temperatures everyday for the next 7 days in Pagosa Springs.  Now we were kept out by weather!  Decisions!

Another problem was that by the time the weather was to clear enough to travel to Pagosa Springs, Spring Break would be upon Wolf Creek!  Not the time we wanted to be on the slopes!

OK, stick with Plan B.  Stay another week in Santa Fe, then head to Farmington and beyond.  Oh well, get caught up on this and that, and maybe even start doing taxes.  Ugh!

Back in Santa Fe

We returned to Santa Fe and Trailer Ranch RV Park on a sunny, 60+ degree day (Wednesday, February 18).  The 10 day forecast did not bring any change to the temperatures.  Ski season for us was over.

The truck . . . again.  On Thursday we headed off to Chalmer's Ford in Albuquerque.  Ah, there was one "tiny" problem . . .  on the way back to Santa Fe, the engine brake had worked perfectly!  But John said bring it in, and they would check it out!  John even gave us a loaner car this time!  Because there would probably be a "diagnosis" within an a couple of hours, we stayed in the Albuquerque area.  We headed out west on I-40 to Camping World for a few items, and then up Coors Boulevard to the Petroglyphs National Monument.

Petroglyphs National Monument is literally inside the city limits of Albuquerque and Rio Rancho.  Basalt flows covered this area some 200,000 years ago.  As the basalt weathered, a weathering patina developed on the surface.  The Ancient Ones carved images into this patina, and thus the petroglyphs.  However, "modern" man has also carved images into the patina also, and though technically these images should be known as petroglyphs also, they are more commonly called "illegal graffiti".

Of course, Bootsie came along on the trip also.  And in the background on the rocks, one can see both ancient and modern petroglyphs.

Click on the pictures to enlarge them and look to the left side for petroglyphs.

But our trip to Petroglyphs National Monument was interrupted by a phone call about the truck.  So, off to Chalmer's Ford!  And the verdict?  Nothing.  That's right, the service techs, and even a visiting regional service tech who happened to be in the shop, could not find anything wrong.

Get the truck and head back to Santa Fe.

Off to ski at Wolf Creek! On second thought . . .

The alarm clock ran early Thursday morning (February 12)!  We hadn't set the alarm since my last day at work!  A good breakfast,  walk the dogs, load up the ski gear, and away to Wolf Creek we went.  We went out to Wolf Creek on Wednesday afternoon to pick up our season passes and to "learn the ropes for Gray Wolf members".  But now, we were ready to ski!

Outside of the holidays and spring break, Wolf Creek never seems that crowded.  We donned our new ski boots (that was a chore), snapped on the skis, skied into the Raven Lift queue and right onto the loading position.  The view from Raven Lift was both beautiful and sad.  Sad because one can see that there has just not been the normal snowfall in the Rockies.  It seems that the Northeast has been punished by blizzards (expecting a Mumf note here), and the West has been punished with little to no precipitation.  On top of that, I suddenly realized I am sweating while sitting on the lift!  It was too unseasonably warm. 

It has been about 10 years since our last ski trip, so for the first run of the day we chose the easiest green.  It was around 10 am in the morning.  The top of the run was wet snow . . . heavy wet snow that had been groomed the night before. As we skied downslope, the wet snow turned to wet snow that had a growing number of water puddles formed on the surface.  Suddenly our snow skiing turned to water skiing!  There were so many water puddles that we left a wake as we progressed downhill!  Of the 21 years of skiing Wolf Creek, this one single run was the worst we had ever seen at Wolf Creek.  

By the time we reached the bottom, stowed our skis, and walked back into the Base Camp Lodge, our shirts were wet with our own sweat.  We talked with a few others in the lodge, and finally made the decision to call it a day - after only one run.  We gathered our "stuff" and headed for the truck.  Once in the truck and headed down the mountain, we learned that the temperature was 51!  At the ski area!  No wonder we were sweating!  

Friday came, then Saturday, and Sunday . . . and each day brought warmer temperatures and no snow.  Each day, the ski report showed a decreasing base due to melt.  It just came more and more apparent that this was not the year to ski.  A cold Monday and 1" snowfall only brought more bad news - "spring skiing conditions exist".  

That's it; that was the end.  On our way to Pagosa Springs, more truck problems - the engine brake stopped functioning.  A call to Chalmers Ford in Albuquerque, and an appointment was made for Thursday.  A call to Trailer Ranch RV Park in Santa Fe, and we had a spot.  Ski season ended as suddenly as it began.  We will leave Pagosa Springs on Wednesday, February 18, head to Santa Fe, and return the truck to the shop.  

Nope, ski season is over.  Plan B goes into effect.  Our plans now are to head off to Farmington, spend a few days and re-explore Chaco Canyon.  Might even take in Salmon Ruins and Aztec.  And maybe I can get around to tell the story associated with Chaco Canyon and Salmon Ruins from 1974 - it will bring a chuckle!

On to Pagosa Springs!

With the truck repaired . . . hopefully . . . we packed up and set out for Pagosa Springs on the morning of Tuesday, February 10.  As you might imagine, we had a certain trepidation thinking about the miles of nowhere we were to drive and a truck that had been acting up.  Every shift on every hill brought a quick glance to the control panel for the dreaded red wrench light!

But, the truck performed well!  It pulled the fifth wheel with absolutely no problems!  No red wrench light!  No wildly shifting gears.  And no "limp home" mode!  We left Santa Fe around 11:30am and by 4pm we were setting up camp at Happy Camper RV Park west of Pagosa Springs!  And the drive was beautiful!

Now, Happy Camper is definitely not a RV resort.  It is a small park west of Pagosa Springs, but it is one of two campgrounds open during the winter in the area!  Basically, it is a gravel lot with hookups and very small RV spaces. Our 38' fifth wheel with four slides fully occupies the whole camping spot!  If someone was to camp next to us, I think our slides would touch and we could probably step from our door into their door!

But it is winter, and not many people camp in Pagosa Springs in the winter.  So, we actually occupy two camping spots!  One for the fifth wheel, and one to park the truck and set out the dog fencing.  When we arrived and set up camp, we were the only "transient" campers in the park!  Yes, believe it or not, there are some "permanent" campers even in Pagosa Springs!  About a dozen permanent camping spots are occupied.  But again, this is a bare bones campground.  No picnic table.  No concrete pad for the RV or patio.  Right next to the highway.  But, it is open 12 months a year!  Besides, we are not here to enjoy the campground, we are here to enjoy Pagosa Springs and the area - and ski at Wolf Creek!

Bandelier again!

While the truck was getting fixed, we visited Bandelier National Monument again.  When we visited previously, we did not have the time to take the trail to Alcove House.

The unseasonable warm weather made the hike and climb to Alcove House easy and enjoyable.  This is not a trail to take in July!  And did I mention climb?  It is a 140 vertical feet up ladders and very few stairs to reach the alcove that holds a kiva and some caveates (carved hollows in the tuff).

You will need to click on the image to enlarge it to appreciate "the view".  

Off to Pagosa Springs . . . ah, maybe not.

As the early February snowstorm passed, we decided to stay another day to let the roads thaw "just a bit more".  Especially let US 84 between Chama and Pagosa Springs thaw just that little more!  So, Wednesday morning, February 4 found us in a flurry of activity getting ready to leave with thoughts of skiing at Wolf Creek running through our heads and discussions!

Last minute details delayed us until a noon departure.  We turned right out on Cerrillos Avenue and headed to the Santa Fe by-pass NM599.  About half way around Santa Fe . . . the truck started shifting up and down the gears, the dreaded red wrench light appeared, and the truck went into "limp home" mode!  I have to admit, a little panic hit me . . . followed by relief.  Why was the truck acting up again?  And thankful that it started acting up while still within the Santa Fe city limits and not out on the road between Espanola and Pagosa Springs!

Maureen called the campground in Pagosa Springs and cancelled our reservations.  And as I turned around at an intersection, Maureen called Trailer Ranch and asked for our camping spot back.  We limped back into Trailer Ranch RV Park to what seemed now to be "home".  Another call to Don Chalmers Ford in Albuquerque, and by 5pm the truck was back in the shop and we were driving a Prius.  (Note: Going from driving a F350 dually pickup to a Prius is quite the monumental change!)

We settled back into exploring Santa Fe and the surrounding area.  Late Friday afternoon found us sitting in the cantina at La Fonda drinking wine and marveling at the history of the lobby and hotel.  My phone rang and gave us both a start!  Of course it was Chalmers Ford, and we had a very sick truck.

John, the service advisor, told me that the new programming did help, but transmission parts had to be ordered.  There had been so many diagnostic codes generated that it took them almost an hour to look all of them up!  Turns out that there were three solenoids and associated parts in the transmission that were bad.  And our sick Beast of a truck would stay in the shop until at least Monday.

And Monday it was, February 9, before that magical call came . . . "Your truck is ready"!  And I was just getting familiar with driving the Prius!  But we sped down to Albuquerque to get our truck!  Thankfully, the extended warranty covered everything, so a quick exchange of $100, and we were driving back to Santa Fe with high hopes of leaving for Pagosa Springs on Tuesday . . . and no further truck problems!

Bandelier National Monument

It might have been a little cool, but the sun was bright.  Basically it was a beautiful day to visit Bandelier!  (Sunday, February 1)

I knew Bandelier from the archaeomagnetic samples that we had in Dr. DuBois' archeaomagnetic dating lab at the University of Oklahoma.  Doc had visited Bandelier several times during their investigation periods during the 1960s and 1970s.

There are several theories about the settlement of the Frijoles Canyon area where Bandelier is located.  It is well recognized that the Frijoles Canyon with its constant flowing stream served as a camp and/or planting for the roaming groups before the BasketMaker culture.  As my own Master's Thesis area was Chaco Canyon, I have my opinion as to the origin of the "permanent" inhabitants.  As it appears that the Frijoles Canyon started being "permanently" settled around AD1150, I agree with the thoughts that the inhabitants who built the circular pueblo and the pueblos along the Bandelier Tuff cliff were immigrants from the Chaco Canyon, Mesa Verde, Hovenweep, etc. areas.  As the climate changed in the western area, the Ancient Ones moved further east and southeast, eventually becoming incorporated into the Pueblo Indians who live along the Rio Grande River rift.

The Ancient Ones discovered that a certain layer within the Bandelier Tuff was easy to carve, excavate, and form into bricks.  As one project, they used bricks of tuff to build a circular pueblo with three kivas.  However, against the tuff cliff, the Ancient Ones carved rooms and caveates, then built long pueblo-type structures in front of the cliff.

This is such a great place to explore!

The pueblo from the cliff face.

Maureen in doorway of carved room.

Standing on the bridge above Frijoles stream.

Bandelier Tuff cliff from base of bridge.  Notice the carved rooms

 and the carved log supports in cliff face, plus the reconstructed

pueblos at the base of the cliff.

Face of Bandelier Tuff cliff from across the stream.

Los Alamos

The road from Espanola to Los Alamos if most interesting . . . geologically interesting.  As one starts up the flanks of the Jemez Mountains, one starts seeing the Upper and Lower Bandelier Tuff and basaltic lava flows.  The lava flows primarily came from volcanoes to the south and southeast of present day Los Alamos.  However, some 1.4 million years ago, a large volcano exploded west of present day Los Alamos.  This eruption was some 600 times larger than the 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens.  Huge pyroclastic clouds and flows were associated with the eruption to form the Lower Bandelier Tuff.  Most likely, a caldera was formed a this time and eventually secondary volcanic vents formed until some 1.1 million years ago, another explosive eruption, again some 600 times larger than Mt. St. Helens, that sent huge pyroclastic clouds down the slopes to deposit the Upper Bandelier Tuff.

Tuff View

Upper and Lower Bandelier Tuff

The final eruption was the last big eruption.  The Valles Caldera was formed which is the basis of the Jemez Mountains.  It was on these steep volcanic slopes that the Los Alamos Boys Ranch and the Los Alamos Lab and city were established - an isolated, sometimes harsh environment located tens of miles from "anywhere"!

This is not the first time we have been to Los Alamos, but it is the first visit in more than 20 years.  The Norris Bradbury Museum has changed but yet still maintains some of the past history.

Los Alamos basically exudes history.  The Bradbury Museum has one room devoted to the past of Los Alamos during World War II along with a theater with a 15 minute film, but one needs to read every exhibit to understand the basis of Los Alamos.  Other rooms provide interactive exhibits for spurring young minds as to the realm of science.  And then another room exhibits the warheads, bombs, and technology of "explosives".

Such as the model of "Little Boy" which was dropped on Hiroshima.

Little Boy was a Uranium-235 bomb which used the "shotgun" method to create a critical mass for a fission explosion.

A model of "Fat Man" was right next to "Little Boy".

Fat Man was a Plutonium-239 bomb which used implosion to create a critical mass for a fission explosion.  The test of "The Gadget" at White Sands near Alamogordo just some three weeks before the "Fat Man" was dropped on Nagasaki.

Then just a short distance down the road is the museum that documents the years of the boys school turned into nuclear lab.  Fuller Lodge and the Guest House are the only remaining buildings from the Boys Ranch and the early Los Alamos times.

Years ago, the museum at The Guest House centered only on the Boys Ranch and School which the Manhattan Project took over.  However, today the museum not only incorporates the Boys Ranch, but also the Ancient People of the Frijoles Canyon and the times of the Manhattan Project.  It is an excellent museum for the Los Alamos' area and its past.