Ghost Ranch, etc. Saturday, 7/4/26

 

Happy 250th Birthday, America! 

Look at ol' Tergel, happily squeezed in beside a Juniper in the Ghost Ranch campground.  We were somewhat surprised that the campground wasn't full, but - then, again - most of the sites don't have electricity, though we made sure ours did.  With the daytime temps in the 80's, having A/C is much appreciated.  At least by us!

I trudged up a hillside path to capture this pic of Tergel after the sun dipped below the mountain.  Think everything inside and outside might be covered in reddish dust?  Yup.  That's the bathhouse behind Tergel.  This is a pretty site/sight in every way.

Two nights in a row we were privileged to see skies like this.  Rain was falling, but sorry to say, not much landed on the ground.  We got maybe 16 drops on the windshield.

This old log cabin is the first thing you see upon entering the Ghost Ranch property.  Wait ... it appears old, but it was made expressly for the movie "City Slickers!"  See below.  The "road" into Ghost Ranch from the highway was one of the worst ever -- total washboard -- and it was looooong.

Some basic info: Ghost Ranch is a 21,000-acre retreat and education center.  A dining hall, library, tours, trail rides, two museums, swimming pool, lodging, camping, group meeting and celebration facilities are available. It's owned by the Presbyterian Church.  And its elevation is 6,500 ft.  We spent six days/nights at the campground, going out daily in Smartie on excursions of our own.  We really enjoyed our stay here.

In 1975 Ghost Ranch was designated as a National Natural Landmark by the National Park Service.

Of course, Georgia O'Keeffe figures largely in the area.  She had a villa/studio at Ghost Ranch (off limits), as well as a home in Abiquiu, roughly 15 miles south.  She fell in love with the geography and much of her work was inspired by what she saw here.  We stopped by the Welcome Center in Abiquiu and watched a short film on her life.

Wowzers!

The ranch is also known for its concentration of fossils, most notably that of the dinosaur, Coelophysis, of which it's been estimated that nearly a thousand specimens have been preserved in a quarry at Ghost Ranch. So, on one of our days we visited the anthropology and paleontology museums, both well worth going into. Just so much to see!

Coelophysis -- but maybe it wasn't green and white striped!

On Friday, the 3rd, we drove south to Los Alamos to do the downtown historic sites walking tour, stopping first at the Manhattan Project VC. I was expecting more than just a small room, and the volunteers there simply steered us to the walking tour.   Okay.  BTW, Los Alamos is situated at 7,200 ft on the Pajarito Plateau, and its location was chosen for its relative inaccessibility to help protect the Manhattan Project's secrecy.  (think:  up high, middle of nowhere)

Most of the Manhattan Project (atomic bomb) era buildings are gone.  Fini.  Replaced by new and modern buildings, so if you're looking for historical evidence from the 1940's, you won't find much.  Nevertheless, we walked to all the sites and were glad we came.

Creased and in a pocket or purse at one time or another during the day, this gives you a hint as to the walking tour.  The pond at the bottom of the picture from the WW II era looks a whole lot different than the pond today, photo below.

Our first stop was the museum (above) named for Norris E. Bradbury, the second director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, and not Ray Bradbury, the author!  And talk about overwhelm!  The best part for us were the two 16-minute movies -- Racing Toward Dawn tells the story of the Los Alamos National Laboratory’s beginnings and the challenges/successes of the Manhattan Project, and Mission: Stockpile Stewardship covers the work the Lab does today to ensure the safety, security, and reliability of the U.S. nuclear deterrent.

A ton o' info to take in!  Several rooms' worth!

I bees standing next to a replica of "Little Boy,"

the bomb that decimated Hiroshima.

"In 1943, the government built a secret laboratory at Los Alamos for a single military purpose -- to develop the world's first atomic weapons."

We also walked past this ancestral pueblo site.

The Oppenheimer house wasn't open,

it was being renovated.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, so to speak ...

Look who stopped by!

I believe this is an Ash-throated Flycatcher.

The Train, The Train! Sunday, 6/28/26

 

Oh yay!  We're here in Chama, NM, arriving Saturday at Rio Chama RV Park, and our campsite is right next to the river AND the train tracks.  It's a nice park, filled with tall shade trees, but everything looks so dry.  The wind has been fierce and still is.  Saturday's drive was no fun with the wind pushing ol' Tergel around like a toy.  I see online that the west is on fire and, by gum, that nasty wind is a real factor in those fires.  Anyhoot, we seem to be smoke-free in Chama.  We are grateful.

This is why we've come to Chama, to ride the scenic train!

A short walkabout at the RV park meant testing the Chama River's water temp.  The short answer is:  It's cold.  Clear, shallow and cold.  I didn't fall in.

After our walkabout, I was talking to Nannie on my cell when we heard the train whistle.  Of course, Jimmy and I ran to the trestle to watch 'er coming 'round the curve.  Here she comes!  We waved.  Oh heck, you know everybody waves!

Chama's elevation is over 7800 ft.  Luckily, we're not having any problem with altitude stuff, as this is our third or fourth day this high.  Living at 3200' helps, too.  I can tell you that moisturizing cream soaks in as though you've forgotten to use any for twenty years, and a half hour later your skin looks dry!

We were ready!  Jimmy sits at the Chama train station (photo op) Sunday morning, awaiting our friends, Sharon and Randy, and their son, his wife, and two little ones.  Our morning was chilly, 45 degrees, but the day will warm, and the sun is a-shining!

Randy had reserved a table for the four of us and a table for the kids in the Chama Limited.  Drinks and snacks were provided, and lunch will be served in Osier, Colorado.  The Cumbres & Toltec Scenic RR has two options.  Our choice is riding up and back 25.7 miles from Chama to Osier.  The other option is riding the train all the way to Antonito and taking a bus back to Chama.  We didn't want to do that.  Randy said the most scenic section is from Chama to Osier.

You'll have to trust me when I say the scenery is over-the-top spectacular.  I took a million pictures, but you only get to view a few.  Hah, as soon as the train pulled away from the station, Jimmy and I left the reserved table for the open cattle car, where we spent all our time.  It was too beautiful to stay inside.

Yes, uphill's produced some ugly black smoke, but the steam train is powered by oil, not coal, mainly due to coal embers being fire starters.  It's America's longest and highest narrow-gauge railroad, the line built in 1880.

We tried several times to line everyone up for a group photo.  Didn't happen.  Herding cats is easier.  I did manage this shot of Sharon and Randy and grandson, three-yr-old Christopher, who's wearing a train outfit and hat.  Randy is a true train buff.  I mentioned in my last post that he's volunteered/worked at this RR for two weeks every summer, for the past ten years.

This guy is another train buff! 

A road of sorts (or maybe more than one) meanders near the train tracks, and occasionally we'd have to cross the road, with the whistle a toot-toot-tootin'!  The tracks wind up, wrap around and over, do an almost complete turn-about, and continue up-up-up.  It was grand!

Till finally we achieved the summit!

Jimmy and Randy and Randy's daughter-in-law in the cattle car.

Look at that sky!

I laughed when I first saw what I called a "little putt-putt car" following our train.  See it, above, on the tracks as the train maneuvered Tanglefoot Curve?  I thought it was cute.  When I found out it always follows the train as a fire spotter, with a water tank behind, I changed my mind about it being funny.  If a spark occurs, the guy aboard the putt-putt car can take care of it immediately.

Randy and his son, Andrew (foreground).

This is one of those places where railroad families used to live through the winter. Fierce winter storms would leave snow drifts of 20 feet or more.  (no thanks)  Mostly no one lives full time up here. 

We were told a family reunion was going on where you see the vehicles upper left.  Jimmy and I couldn't figure out how they got there, although I see a dirt road in this picture.  They'd need four-wheel drive for sure.  The paved road was nowhere in sight.  The water is either Cascade Creek or Rio de Los Pinos.

Dudes.

Oh boy, a trestle!  This one is Cascade Trestle, highest bridge on the track -- 137' above Cascade Creek.  Everyone was hanging over the cattle car taking pictures.

Osier, Colorado, elevation 9,637', was our turn-around point.  And lunch -- a nice array of food, with turkey or meatloaf as the main course.  We picked turkey, and the lunch was actually quite good, including the tortilla soup.  Before the RR built its tracks here, a toll road (which was still faintly visible) connecting the Chama Valley with the San Luis Valley ran through this area.  After the RR was built, Osier continued as an important operating facility for coal and water.  And lunch.

On our return, after lunch, we got a better view of little putt-putt and his water tank.  You see he's following the train -- Tanglefoot Curve is quite a feat.  RR builders had to lay track in wide loops to gain 39' of elevation.

Jimmy and I have been to and inside the Donner Pass snow sheds in California.  Above is what's left of the C&T snow shed system.

We saw fields of Corn Lilies in bloom.  Whenever I've hiked in the Sierras, I've tried to catch glimpses of Corn Lilies and I'm either too early or too late.  Here, in all their glory, were thousands of blossoms.

Speaking of blooms -- how about that Yellow Columbine?  Also having a heyday are Green Genetians, aka Monument Plants, above right.  We saw LOTS.  Bottom left is another acre of Corn Lilies and at right are copious amounts of Lupines.  All, except the columbine, were taken from a moving and bouncing train.

I managed a few videos.  Give a listen to the one above and you'll hear how strong the wind was.  But listen to the end, please.

Haha, about the time the docent in the cattle car suggested we hold onto our hats at Windy Point, Jimmy's cap flew off into the Colorado landscape.  I hailed our car attendant and told her (jokingly) that Jimmy'd lost his hat, "and you know what that means."  She immediately went to the conductor and relayed the information so his hat could be picked up!  What I meant was that Jimmy would have to buy a new (RR) cap.

At the Chama station, the conductor approached Jimmy with his found cap!  He nearly fell over.  I think the message was relayed to the putt-putt guy who located his hat in the bushes of Colorado.  How cool is that!

The tall white stalks are the Monument Plants.  At a couple of places, the train journeyed through Aspen forests.  We mused about how stunning an autumn ride would be with golden Aspens decorating the hillsides.  The C&T RR operates from Memorial Day to Labor Day or thereabouts.  That's the other reason we're traveling in summer (not our usual MO).

Crossing the Lobato Trestle, second-highest bridge on the line at 100' above Wolf Creek.

Looking back at the trestle we just crossed.

Two very happy riders.  We did get too much sun, even with sunscreen on.  And we were exhausted when we rolled into the Chama station, probably from the sun and wind.  Randy and Sharon's grandkids seemed to love the ride and were no problem.  I told Jimmy that it didn't matter what else we did on this trip, and he agreed, "It don't get no better than this."  

Hah!  I captured a shot of Tergel just before the station, all snug in the tall trees.  Well, and that was our ride, from 11am to 5pm/ish.  Everything we hoped for, plus seeing friends -- worth its weight in gold.