RIDERS ON THE STORM.
Day 162 – Beginning of Week 24. By the time we went to bed last night, we’d pretty much decided to get up early this morning and head southeast ASAP to beat the wind. We got up at 5 a.m. and Rob checked the forecast first thing. The weather had changed to a Winter Weather Watch with 4 to 8 inches of snow at 7,000 feet elevation and up to 16 inches of snow at 9,000 feet and above. (We were at 5,000 to 6,000 feet already, surrounded by mountains from 6,500 to 8,500 feet.) The storm was coming from the northwest, and wind predictions had increased to sustained wind above 30 MPH with 40-60 MPH gusts beginning around noon & lasting through the night.
63 miles
Chupadero Mountain View RV Park, 1523 Highway 1, P.O. Box 58, San Antonio, NM (a little south of the city of Socorro), (575) 518-8264 or (575) 838-2530, renajose@outlook.com, call for reservations – new Park, no website at this time. A short distance from the entrance to Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge on Highway 1. We’d originally planned to stay at the Birdwatcher’s Campground just down the road, but when we arrived we found they’d put the place up for sale. The owner’s uncle was in the process of setting up a Park to service the steady flow of visitor’s to the wildlife refuge. He has big plans for expansion; he & his wife own 10 acres of farmland which they plant with various rotating crops each year. They’d put in new gravel and around ten campsites with full hook-ups on a raised gravel bed at the end of a long driveway. It was the perfect place to stay for us. When we arrived, it had been raining hard for the first rain in four months. We weren’t the only ones seeking shelter from the storm & by the evening we arrived, the campground was almost full. Jose, the owner, was very nice and quite accommodating; a real talker. We had site #7, $25 per night. We would definitely come back and stay here again.
A couple of days ago before we knew we’d need to run from the weather, we’d picked up a brochure about the Valley of Fires Recreation Area. After reading about this area, we’d thought about coming here next. Located 4 miles west of the town of Carrizozo, NM, it was a little over an hour southeast of us, and it included a BLM campground sitting in the middle of a lava flow from the Little Black Peak volcano.
This volcano was not a minor event. This is what the brochure said: “This may be the youngest lava flow in the continental United States. Scientific evidence tells us that the most recent flow occurrred about 1,500 to 2,000 years ago. The lava spewed from volcanic vents in the northern end on at least two occasions and flowed south along the floor of the Tularosa Basin for 44 miles. As molten lava flowed southward, it covered the original valley floor of gypsum and stream gravel. Occasionally, it would surround areas of higher ground, forming islands. These islands or older rocks are kipukas. The recreation area’s campground is on one of the larger kipukas and is composed of sandstone and soil. Smooth or ropy-looking very fluid lava covers over 125 square miles. Scattered thoughout are a few small areas of blocky lava. The lava is more than 160 feet thick near the center. Little Black Peak marks the origin of at least one major flow and its cinder cone is the result of an explosive episode that interrupted the steady out-pouring of lava. The lava surface is so extremely rough and broken that it is impossible to cross except on foot. The lava contains pressure ridges, collapsed lava bubbles, extensive fissures, pits, collapsed lava tubes, and rock shelters. Little Black Peak (5,679 ft.) has some intact lava tubes radiating out from it. After the eruptions subsided and the lava cooled, wind-born soil lettled into depressions and fissures in the lava to create pockets where plants could gain a foothold. Animals and wind deposited seeds in the lava. Because the rain penetrates the porous lava readily, there are fertile patches of soil in crevices and depressions. As a result, many plants flourish here in greater abundance and luxuriance than on the adjacent valley slopes. More than twice the number of grass species live on the lava than in the outlying areas. Ferns grow in the bottome of some fissures and rock shelters where increased humidity and moderate temperatures exist. Mule deer live on the lava during all seasons, in addition to a small band of Barbary sheep. Predator specied seen on the flow include coyotes, kit foxes, bobcats, and ringtail cats. A high diversity of bird species inhabit the Malpais year-long or seasonally. Vireos, warblers, jays, sparrows, and shrikes are regular inhabitants. Turkey vultures and great horned owls concentrate on the flow for nesting and breeding. Golden and bald eagles perch or hunt over the lava during the winter months. An unusual aspect of some wildlife species living on the lava surface is their abnormally dark coloring (melanism). This evolutionary trait enables them to blend into the dark rocks of their environment. Twelve species have developed the darker coloration: six rodents, five lizards, and one snake. By contrast, the same species occur on the gypsum sands of White Sands National Monument and have an abnormally light coloration.”
Phew, that said, we knew where we wanted to travel to next and the fact that it was southeast of our current location was a huge plus. We departed Chupadero at 6:35 a.m., 48 degrees & still dark out, cloudy and light wind. We went north on Highway 1 to the 380 southeast to Valley of Fires Recreation Area, arriving at 7:45 a.m., happily getting off the road. The temperature was dropping and by the time we arrived, it was quite windy, and we knew we couldn’t safely travel much further. The drive was pretty as the sun rose and peeked through the clouds. Their were more rolling hills as we got closer and the skies darkened as the wind increased. SO glad we left early! As we came up over a hill, we could see a black landscape in the valley in front of us, and we knew we were close to the lava flow. Approaching the turn-off for the Recreation Area & campground, on both sides of the highway, large, tar-black rocks dominated the scenery.
Click on any picture to see a slideshow.
We were immediately impressed with the lay-out of the campsites: 19 RV sites were spread out by a small winding road overlooking the Valley of Fires & surrounded by mountains. Beyond the RV sites, there was an areas for tent camping. Several restrooms were located along the road, and there was a visitor’s center and bookstore which offered information about the area (we didn’t stop at either, we just wanted to get settled in). More than half the campsites offered water & electric hook-ups; the others had water spigots nearby and there was a dump station. Camping fees were $18 per night for hook-ups, $12 per night for no hook-ups, and $7 per night for tents. Minus 50% discount with the America-the-Beautiful senior pass. Having dumped tanks & filled up with water last night, it didn’t matter whether we had hook-ups or not. All sites had a picnic table under a cabana, a fire pit and a grill, and a trash can chained to the concrete. Most sites were already occupied, but we found a good one which was partially protected on one side by a hill. There was plenty of space between campsites. We chose site #17. The view was incredible in all directions. Dark, almost black clouds were to the north, south, and west & the clouds were moving rapidly. To the east there was still some sun over the mountains. The wind was blowing so hard we could barely stand up. We hurriedly set up and breathed a collective sigh of relief. 44 degrees, VERY windy, blowing rain.
Click on any picture to see a slideshow.
We sat around with our books and tried to read, but the howling wind was a bit unnerving. We killed some time by napping for an hour. Made lunch, etc., but it was WAY too windy to go out for even a few minutes. At 2 p.m. sustained winds were at 36 MPH; the temperatures were in the 40’s with a much lower wind chill. The RV was rocking back & forth when the gusts hit, and we could feel vibrations on the floor where the wind was passing through underneath us. Earlier we’d brought two of the three slides in because of the stress on their awnings. We knew we couldn’t drive the RV anywhere to get out of the wind; it was far too dangerous to be on the roads. And we certainly weren’t the only people here, hunkering down like us. Most of the 19 campsites were full when we arrived. No one was going anywhere. At times it was scary and the girls were nervous, huddling together when not pacing back & forth. It certainly wasn’t dull around here!
The dark clouds kept moving rapidly by, and the wind gusts continued into the night. We moved the third slide in when the wind shifted and started battering its awning. This makes it quite cramped in here but it’s still functional. At least we don’t have the noise from the awnings flapping in addition to the wind noise. The sunset was beautiful with the layers of clouds. The girls adjusted mostly, although they were still a little jumpy. They seemed to feel the best solution to the noise & rocking RV was to nap.
