Photo Blog with Waterfalls, Hiking, Outdoors, and other Adventures
The final destination for me completing my visit at Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument was at the Quarai site, located just 10 minutes north of Mountainair, New Mexico on NM-55 in the small unincorporated community of Punta de Agua. The visitor center / museum is currently closed for remodeling. This is a smaller site and … Read more
Two more sites to visit for Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument and both are a bit more remote. The next closest is a 30-minute drive south from Mountainair on rural State Road 55 (aka NM-55) to reach the Gran Quivira Unit. Again, the visitor center is closed today but that’s expected since it’s Monday in … Read more
Starting my return home now after enjoying a week with my family. I decided to head north and visit a few sites I didn’t have time for on the outbound trip. First stop was at Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument in Abó, New Mexico. This national monument consists of three separate locations with remnants of … Read more
The scenic byway along US-64 south of Wheeler Peak was a great drive, and Taos is an interesting town but due to all the road work it wasn’t ideal to stop and walk around. So I kept driving a bit further northwest to the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. There is a parking area but it … Read more
Another 20 miles east down the road from Chimney Rock you will find a pair of geological landmarks known as Courthouse Rock and Jail Rock. Look for the tombstone-shaped marker that says Seybolt Park for the entrance road. (Not shown here because I missed it: the Historical Marker found directly on NE-88 as you are … Read more
After getting skunked on my morning run across the Needles Highway and then dilly-dallying with breakfast and laundry watching some clouds grow in the sky, I finally said “screw it!” and drove up to Sylvan Lake to the Trail #9 trail head for Black Elk Peak. The clouds continued to build as I watched from … Read more
Eastern South Dakota is about as exciting to drive through as southern Minnesota, which is to say that if you enjoy long stretches of flat land and straight roads then this is your place. For the rest of us, any small diversions on a route like this are welcome to break up the monotony. Thankfully … Read more
My first out-of-state camping stop on this journey was at Palisades State Park in Garretson, South Dakota. I arrived well after dark and mostly just went to sleep, but the next morning I did some quick exploring. There are a couple trails here the run along the Split Rock Creek. I considered hiking them but … Read more
After locating zero elk from the north side of 16B we packed up camp & decided to move southward to check other areas. Heading west on NM-159 there’s a cool little mining ghost town called Mogollon, New Mexico. Evidence of the old mining operations are scattered about town and include mine/cave entries like this one … Read more
One of the lesser-known historical sites in our state, Copper Culture State Park is just a short drive north from Green Bay located in Oconto, Wisconsin. This is also one of the smaller state parks but does contain some short hiking trails and a volunteer-staffed museum inside an old farmhouse with relics and information on … Read more