Pony Inn Northwest Tour

We have just returned from a couple of weeks in the Northwest, 9 nights in the trailer, 3,997 miles.

TLDR: Great camping (in a great trailer), lots of mountains, canyons, and desert.

-Camped 3 nights on my brothers place in rural New Mexico.
-Camped at Bandelier National Monument, NM. Nice quiet campground though parts are under construction. Very cool Indian cliff dwellings.
-Camped in the northern section of the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument. Decent campsite on top of the bluffs above the confluence of the Red River and the Rio Grande. It is a significant hike to the river and back.
-Took an incredible trip on the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad. We got on at Antonito, CO, had lunch in Osier, and on to Cumbres NM for a night in a B&B. We retraced the route the next day. The train winds around in the mountains along the New Mexico/Colorado border, crossing it 11 times, going above 10,000 feet, through hand dug tunnels, canyons, and lots of wildflowers, elk and antelope. Very spectacular and a cool steam train.
-Camped at the Aspen Glade Campground in the San Juan National Forest in Co. Nice camp next to the Conejos river, but a lot of mosquitoes.
-Visited the Great Sand Dunes National Park. Amazing dunes with a wide river to wade in, but very popular with lots of others enjoying it too.
-Camped at the Big Blue Campground in the Ucompahgre National Forest. 12 mile dirt road over a 10,000 foot pass down a spectacular valley. Camped near the Big Blue creek, very nice, only one other site occupied, but many mosquitoes.
-Camped at the Juniper Campground in the Colorado National Monument. Spectacular drive up from Grand Junction. Campground nice but weather is very hot. We plan to come back another time, but in spring or fall.
-We had a reservation at the Bowery Campground in the Utah Fishlake National Forest, but we arrived there at 1:00 and there wasn't much to do there. It was a decent camp site but we just had lunch there and blew off the reservation and went on.
-Camped in the Baker Creek Campground in Great Basin National Park, NV. This is a beautiful place and our campsite was great, isolated, creek access, lots of trees and wildflowers. Definitely a place to come back to.
-Now back at home, washed the trailer and sheets, and put away stuff. It's good to be home, but we are planning our next trip.


Donkeys in Oatman, Arizona


Outside Holbrook, Arizona


Cactus flowers, New Mexico


At the Lewis Auto Museum in Moriarty, New Mexico


Bandelier National Monment, New Mexico


Rio Grande Del Norte National Monument


Wild Iris, somewhere in New Mexico


Aspen Glade Campground, San Juan National Forest, CO


Parked at the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad station in Antonito, Colorado


Steam Engine!


Going 'round the bend


Aspen Glade Campground, SanJouan National Forest, Colorado


Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado


Big Blue Campground, Ucompahgre National Forest, Colorado


Colorado National Mounument, near Grand Junction, Colorado


Sunrise at Colorado National Mounument


Capitol Reef area, Utah


Great Basin National Park, Nevada


Baker Creek Campground, Great Basin National Park, Nevada


Baker Creek Campground, Great Basin National Park, Nevada


Mount Wheeler, Great Basin National Park, Nevada

 

Your first outing sounded like a dream trip. I've been on the Silverton / Durango railroad, but never the one out of Antonio, but it's on my bucket list.

Colorado would have made the mosquito its state bird, but I think Minnesota claimed it first. HaHa

 

Not only is the train ride from Chama to Antonito nice the drive on 17 between the two is beautiful.

You were lucky to catch a year where the river is flowing between the parking lot and the dunes - doesn't happen every year. Nothing like catching sunset and sunrise over the dunes.

You took in some of my favorite country - nice trip.

Bob

 

It's really nice to see your photos and read your travelogue! Thanks for sharing!

 

Guys: You have reinforced my desire to visit Colorado again - this time with the Teardrop. Thanks for the photos and the trip description.

Pete

 

beautiful pics..... keep posting