The Santa Fe and Carson National Forests have implemented Stage 3 fire restrictions, which means that we aren’t allowed in them, at all. Not even for hiking or climbing, let alone camping. This deprives us of all nearby camping and outdoor recreation. This weekend we decided to explore the Rio Grande NF north of Chama, which is in Stage 2 at the moment: no campfires, but camping is allowed.
We wanted to scout some new areas. On previous trips while driving the road between Chama and Pagosa Springs, we noticed a number of promising turnoffs that might lead to some remote and beautiful camping. So I downloaded some satellite maps to the Gaia app and we packed up for just one night of camping.
Before we had kids, Karen and I would often head off into an unknown region, armed with some vague campsite prospects from the satellite imagery. If all else failed, we could always sleep in the back of the xterra off the side of any road. We would often drive many hours more than we expected, not finding a satisfactory spot until well after dark. We had quite high standards for a site. It had to be well away from any paved road and decently far from any dirt road that was well traveled. It had to be sufficiently high altitude for cool, or, even better, COLD, sleeping. It needed to have flat areas, shade. A view earned bonus points. When the road started to get rough and difficult, we grew enthused—rough roads turn other people away, leaving prime spots for us. It became a running joke, that finding a suitable site before dark was a rarity.
Obviously that sort of time in the car, often well after dark, isn’t tenable with kids in the backseat. They can annoy us even on relatively short drives, even when we know our destination and exactly how long it will take to get there. So heading off for a night of camping without a clear destination was somewhat adventurous–not because of the camping aspect, but rather the car-time-with-kids aspect.
We drove for an hour off the pavement up the Navajo River valley, and were stopped by some asshole private property signs that were posted on a road through the national forest. Including “Are you bulletproof or just stupid?”. Never saw such aggressive and threatening signage before. I don’t know how they can get away with that on a road through the national forest, I’m still pretty pissed about it. Even if there’s private property on both sides, the road is still supposed to allow public access, I think. I’ll have to check on that, though I don’t know if there’s anything I could do about it even if they are breaking the law with their signs. (if anybody can help me find this information, please comment—this site, though admittedly buggy, also claims that it is Rio Grande NF). Anyway, I erred on the side of caution… there are some crazy assholes in this country that might shoot at my family even wrongfully on public land… and turned around, and we explored a side road into some national forest to the west. There were some spots in which we could have camped, but it was a bit low, a bit hot, a bit buggy, and since it was only 2:30 we figured we could do better.
So we drove another hour and a half back east through Chama and then north and then northwest again, up the Rio Chama valley. Incredibly beautiful, up that valley, with the river winding through the bottom. That, too, had nasty private property signs posted, but I knew that the road itself was public and led to National Forest after passing five miles of private property to either side, so we persisted. Apparently it wasn’t a secret, either, as there were more than a dozen parties with horse trailers and four-wheelers camped out just inside the NF boundary. It really was an idyllic place for riding horses, one of the most beautiful places I’ve been in New Mexico – because, Karen tells me, it was actually in Colorado, but only 5 minutes across the border. Unfortunately, there was only a mile worth of National Forest road before a dead-end at a trailhead and it was a bit crowded. If we were headed off for a backpacking trip it would have been great, but there were no spots for kid-car-camping.
You win some, you lose some. Our time was up, so we fell back on a known location another hour north in the Rio Grande NF near Trujillo Meadows. Which is a fantastic spot, don’t get me wrong. We were just hoping for something new. Anyway, it worked out great for us. We ended up in the spot next to a stream, which the boys of course loved. The sound of the stream was wonderful to sleep to as well.
Regarding the four extra hours in the car spent scouting new spots: yes, the boys complained, but not terribly. It wasn’t nearly the casual, completely unconcerned and relaxing car-time that Karen and I enjoyed pre-kids. But it was still worth it. And, like many things we do, we’re establishing expectations. With us two as parents, they should expect a certain amount of adventure, even if it is somewhat contrived. They should expect that we won’t necessarily know where we’re sleeping the night, that we might end up driving much longer than planned–all night if necessary–and that where we end up might be improvised. Deal with it, Holmes boys.
Below is the map of our wanderings. The west-most leg is the failed Navajo River valley attempt, the middle leg is the failed Chama River valley attempt, and the northernmost leg gives away our secret spots out past Trujillo Meadows (if you go up to our special spots, take good care of them!).
Get Directions
Here’s a clip with almost no content, but it will take you there:
As we were driving back down the pass, we happened to catch sight of the train on the way up, and had just enough time to pull over and get the kids out (Bodie and Jasper are each only wearing one of their sandals).
GPS downloads:
20180701_ChamaScouting.kml
20180701_ChamaScouting.gpx
