Sand and Dark Skies

 September 24, 2025

    We have arrived home safely after 10,200 miles across 50 days, 12 states, and one Canadian province.   Once again, we are grateful for our health and innate curiosity to complete another adventure.

    Since our last posting, we enjoyed a few more days in Colorado and dipping in and out of New Mexico . . . literally.  We rode the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railway from Antonito, CO to Chama, NM.  The train crosses the CO/NM stateline 11 times.  It is the longest and highest narrow-gauge railroad in North America.  We left sagebrush country with roaming pronghorn and climbed up to Cumbres Pass (10,015 feet elevation), passed through pine and aspen forests, and looked out across wide valleys.  The descent into Chama with all the noise of the train breaks made the motorcoach ride back to Antonito quiet and peaceful.  At the midpoint of the route, we had a layover at Osier Station for a delicious buffet lunch.  I couldn't stop taking photos.

The steam engine is coal-fired - stops were necessary to take on water.

one of the creek crossings on a trestle

        Our next destination was Great Sand Dunes National Park.  We have visited this park many times and hiked to the top of the dunes twice in our younger days.  The last time one of our kids agreed to a road trip with us as a teenager was with the condition that we visit this place.  The dune field is enormous and the night skies are spectacular.  One evening, we settled into our camp chairs on the sand flats in front of the dunes to watch the sunset.  After a short nap in the van in the parking lot, we emerged at 9:00 to view the stars and Milky Way on a moonless night.  

        While hiking uphill in sand is beyond our physical capabilities these days, we did venture just outside the park boundaries into the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains to hike to Zapata Falls - more our speed - except for the last 100 feet or so when we had to tread carefully in a rocky streambed through icy water.  Trekking poles were a must.

the dunefield in the distance

You can't see the falls in the curved gorge without walking in the streambed.

        One last destination before returning to Texas - Capulin Volcano National Monument - for a Dark Sky Festival just before a new moon.  Telescopes had to be put inside because of lightning in the area, but we enjoyed the presentation by an astronomer and park rangers.

Capulin Volcano is in northeast New Mexico in the Raton-Clayton Volcanic Field.

We have driven up to the vent and hiked the rim several times over the years.

We arrived after regular park hours and the road was closed with storm debris.

The timing of this event was factored into our itinerary.  There were clouds, but we did get to see some stars.  

(not Brian, by the way)

        While waiting for darkness, the volcano was glowing in the sunset.  It doesn't have the distinctive profile when you are this close, but it is unmistakable from the highway three miles away.  We drove past it early the next morning and saw it against the glow of sunrise... perfect bookends.

        Two more nights of camping at Texas state parks to go.  We decided to stay off the interstate (of course) and drove the scenic route between Claude and Silverton in the Panhandle, crossing the lower part of Palo Duro Canyon.

State Highway 207 from an overlook

Concluding thoughts about this adventure:

        We are not as young as we used to be (who is?)  I think the weeks of physical therapy prescribed by my neurologist prepared me well.

        We do NOT want to quit exploring this wondrous continent we live on.  We accept our limitations, but are still out there giving it our best.

        We revisited places that I know I will never see again, but there are plenty more I want to see again, or for the first time.  (Channel Islands, for sure.  We have had to postpone that adventure twice already.)  We wish to spend more time in the western states.

        We love our public lands (those protected by the National Forest Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management), and they need our protection.  We need them, as well.

        I must quote John Muir (again) to end this . . .

"Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home, that wildness is a necessity, and parks are fountains of life."

                                                                                        - John Muir, 1909

                                                                                           Our National Parks