Day 16 (Fri, 11 Apr)

I rode from Taos, NM to Ft Garland, CO today.  State #4!  It was definitely a day to see big mountains essentially the entire ride and typically on both sides of me.  Cool. The ride was 80 miles with 3,000 ft of climbing – most of it within 20 miles of Taos going up and down and over river valleys coming off the mountains, and then generally flat for about 50 miles.

Weather:  The weather was nice.  In the 40s this morning and then in the 60s throughout the afternoon; Sunny in the morning with gathering clouds in the afternoon (a storm is brewing for central CO this weekend…).  There was a mild 10 mph wind in the morning picking up to 15-18 mph in the afternoon – typically a tailwind with some cross winds.

The Roads: The ride was essentially all on the same highway – NM 522 which became CO 159.

On to the pictures!

Downtown Taos this morning - a town known for its artists and writers.  Another crisp/clear morning - weather is cooperating so far!

Kit Carson park.  I didn't have time to check this or the other Carson sites out this morning - next trip!

Just outside of Taos, looking east at the Taos Mountains and I believe Wheeler Peak, which is the highest peak in NM at 13,200 ft.

Check out the sign - really??

This is something like 70 miles northeast of the Valles Caldera that I rode in yesterday.  The caldera (the base of the collapsed, old volcano) spans from the peak on the right to the next peak over - both are at about 9,100 ft and form the sides of the volcano that was here 1 million years ago.  If you extrapolate up from the edges it seems like the top of that volcano must have been something like 20k ft high - huge!!

First view of the CO Rocky Mountains!  Looking north about 60 miles to Blanca Peak - 14,300 ft high!.  Blanca Peak is the highest peak of the Sierra Blanca Massif at the southern tip of the Sangre de Cristo Range in the U.S. State of Colorado. It is the fourth highest peak of the Rocky Mountains, and the eighth highest peak in the contiguous United States.  The granite that makes up the Blanca massif is pre-Cambrian in age, dated at approximately 1.8 billion years old. The major part of the Wet Mountainsto the east and the Front Range to the northeast are also pre-Cambrian, also about 1.8 billion years old. In contrast, the Sangre de Cristo Range to the north and the Culebra Range to the south are Permian rock between 250 and 300 million years old.

State #4!!

Panorama with Blanca Peak on the left and the mountain range to the east that I've been following for the last few days (starting east of Sante Fe).

Oldest town in CO...

The small creek that runs through San Luis in the middle of town - quite scenic with the mountains to the east in the background.

Pictures a little out of order but this is just as I was riding into San Luis (from the Southwest).

Lot's of homes and ranches between San Luis and Ft Garland, CO.

Blanca Peak - starting to look really large here - about 10 miles south of Ft Garland.

The Ft museum - I hope the actual fort back in the day had higher walls.

Home for the night...