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Before we departed the Southern desert, we spent several days outside Phoenix in the backyard of an upscale house in an odd subdivision of what they call small ranches. These plots range in size from 2-5 acres, most have a large house with outbuildings. Our hosts did not have horses but many neighbors did. We had a nice pool surrounded by beautiful desert gardens, I enjoyed the dry heat and lounged by the pool. The temperature went higher daily, peaking at 106, our camper was almost 125 inside, whew. The myth of comfortable dry heat is only true to a point, above 90 it’s just plain scorching hot. To top off our desert experience, we then suffered through an intense dust storm that lasted 18 hours, the wind blew 40 mph, at times the choking dust cutting visibility to 50 feet. This dirt storm was like experiencing a biblical plague, it was awful. Going outside was painful, your eyes immediately filled with dust, breathing was almost impossible, dirt and debris flew everywhere. The next morning the sky cleared, but our patio and pool furniture were covered in a layer of dirt. The pool was a mess. We’d had enough of the desert and headed North. By the time we reached our next destination, Flagstaff, the temperature had dropped almost 50 degrees. The cool, clean Mountain air was great. We really liked Flagstaff, a great college town. Those are Mule Deer in our backyard.

We had crossed the huge Navajo Reservation , the most desolate, empty barren land we’ve seen. The desert was mostly void of any sign of people. The only sign that humans were there was the occasional cattle gate with mailboxes, their dwellings hidden in the desert. This was open range, we had to keep a keen eye out for cattle in the road, we wondered what the poor animals were eating in this moonlike landscape.

The Navajo ( and ALL native tribes) were clearly given the most barren, dry, worthless land for their reservations. It’s as if those White Men 150 years ago studied the maps and made sure the “Indians ” got absolutely nothing of value. Shame on us.

We visited the Hopi tribe ( all photography forbidden) and throughly enjoyed talking with them. We stopped at houses advertising jewelry and pottery, Karen bought some nice crafts.

The pic of the arrow straight desert highway is approaching the Hopi Reservation. I clocked that laser straight stretch of road, 30 miles! It can be a bit hypnotic driving these long stretches were you can see your journey laid out out in front of you disappearing into a mirage.

Before the White man arrived, the Navajo and Apache accessed the Phoenix-Tucson valley through the ancient Apache Trail . This trail winds through the mountains east of Phoenix following a path used for over a thousand years. It cuts through dry mountain passes and hugs high rugged ridges. The early White trappers used it to take out their beaver skins destined for the East coast markets. As the pioneers settled this area, a wagon road was needed, and with great effort, the deepest gorges were bridged and narrowest paths were widened to accommodate a wagon. In the decade before the Civil War, after we grabbed this land from Mexico, the Pony Express started and soon after, Wells Fargo began regular stage coach service on this trail. Little has changed since then. The dusty trail through the desert wilderness is passable but rough, at times VERY steep, so narrow vehicles can only pass in occasional pull outs. The only thing keeping vehicles from tumbling down cliffs are the dirt guard rails. My truck is the absolute maximum size that fits this road, I barely squeezed by the rare oncoming vehicle. Almost 30 unpaved miles in length, this is the most spectacular scenery we’ve seen, also the scariest road I’ve ever driven, WHEW! We were relieved to reach civilization at the far end.

It was an all day drive across Arizona to our next stop at a ranch in the mountains. A Diamond Ranch is miles out a dirt road, nestled on the Gila River in the central part of the state. The 22,000 ( not a typo ) acre ranch is so remote that there is no cell/ cable/ land lines of any kind. We were glad to find electricity .

The fast flowing Gila River flowed right by our door, we could hear it lying in bed at night. The narrow strip of lush green vegetation along the river, in the midst of this very dry desert environment , has created a vibrant wildlife community loaded with 300 species of birds. We enjoyed sitting in the shade watching the exotic wildlife . The surrounding mountains have the most beautiful desert we’ve seen, the cactus are incredible. The towering Saguaro are iconic to the Sonora Desert, they are considered treasures of Arizona and it’s a Felony to harm one. The various Cactus have an almost Botanical garden look, as if they have been planted and arranged for display, amazing. Our favorite desert tree is the Palo Verde whose brilliant green bark stands in contrast to the tan desert. We went hiking early to beat the scorching heat.

Our converted ” bunkhouse ” is in the middle of a large horse corral, the horses mostly ignored us except one who joined Karen on the porch while she enjoyed breakfast coffee . Dogs and cats wandered around periodically stopping by to say hello. We loved this place and hated to leave .

We arrived in Arizona late in the day, careful to stock up on supplies and water for our remote location. We rented a wonderful cottage with sweeping views of high desert and distant mountains marking the Mexican border. I had estimated the border to be10 miles away, my Airbnb host said the mountains were almost 25. With the clear Desert air and lack of visual cues, judging distances here is hard.

Although the actual border is of course heavily guarded, we are in a strategic area for the Government to stop the drugs and illegal immigrants before they disappear into America. This zone is heavily patrolled and under constant surveillance from tethered massive white dirigibles hanging in the sky at around 2,000 feet. We passed thru an intimidating checkpoint where every vehicle is stopped and surrounded by several armed Border Patrol agents wearing body armor. Dogs carefully circled my truck sniffing as nervous agents watched. They are determined to catch those who made it across the border a few miles South. Our Airbnb host said the Cartel controls the Mexican side of the border here. The whole scene is deadly serious, this is not the Canadian border.

Our Airbnb hosts were very kind and generous, he’s a local Minister, she works at a school. Our cottage was spotless and the view went on forever, we won’t forget this place. We had planned to hike the Southern tip of the Arizona Trail ( much like the Long Trail) but smugglers and illegal immigrants have rendered the trail unsafe. We opted for a nearby State Park. The Desert hiking was great despite the usual scary signs. The Cactus were beginning to bloom as were the wild flowers, a great time of year to visit. The dry desert air is void of any moisture. Karen hung a load of wash outside at 9 o’clock at night, it was completely dry at sunrise. Bread left out will dry out in minutes, so different from Vermont!

After spending a couple of weeks wandering around Northern New Mexico, we headed south towards the Mexican border ( and warmer weather ) . We drove diagonally Southwest across this huge state, it seemed to get dryer the further south we went. After an all day drive, we stopped for the night in Hatch, New Mexico . Our Airbnb Adobe was recently fully restored after being in the owners family for generations. The 2 bedroom house is a series of one room additions added to the original one room ancient Adobe. The result is a maze of interconnected, beautifully decorated rooms, nice ! The neighborhood is 100% Mexican American, a vast majority of the vehicles are pickups and many are new. This farming town ( chile peppers) seems prosperous.

Massive wind power projects are common across the Great Plains and the Rockies but the one shown had several square miles of Photovoltaic panels stretching to the horizon, impressive.

We love shopping the local markets, Karen carefully scans the huge varieties available, local salsa is always a treat too. The freezer section always has various Mexican dishes which we stick in our freezer . Off to Arizona tomorrow.

We rented an Airbnb near the Old Plaza so we could park the truck and walk around. Santa Fe is a really nice town that clearly has a lot of wealth, the streets are lined with pricey galleries and shops. We enjoyed meeting the local Indians peddling jewelry on the Plaza. They were very friendly and inquisitive about where we were from. They were impressed we showed up in a vehicle from such a great distance ( most tourists fly here ). They were primarily members of the Pueblo tribe.

This is one of the more expensive places we’ve visited, the moderate climate, beautiful architecture, and scenery have attracted quite an upscale group, this is a great place to visit but not cheap.

I’ve included a photo of our Adobe near Albuquerque with its huge old Cottonwood tree shading the walled yard. Our Santa Fe Adobe has a wonderful private walled courtyard too. We’ve really enjoyed the South Western organic architecture, the Adobes seem to blend in so nicely to their surroundings with their ever present earth tone colors. They seem to be snug and warm, and they tell us cool in the summer. The structures would never survive our Vermont winters and wet summers.

We again drove out into the desert to visit the Valles Caldera near Santa Fe NM, a new (2016) National Reserve just opening to the public. The 100,000 acre Park encompasses an extinct volcano with a collapsed dome that has formed the largest Alpine meadow in the world. The vast 9,000 acre meadow sits at 8,700 ft elevation surrounded by almost 12,000 ft peaks, The higher peaks were recently burned off by a forest fire ( 2015) leaving bald peaks with skeletons of the old forests.

We hiked across part of the huge meadow, it’s 10 miles across, and had a picnic at an old abandoned ranch. Those are Lodgepole pines . The area abounds in Elk but they proved elusive that day. We hiked along a stretch of stream that drains the park , a rare sight in this dry land. As always we were cautious about potential predators.

We drove 2 1/2 hours out into the desert to visit these ancient ruins, the drive there was through dramatic landscapes and breathtaking. The seemingly endless last 19 miles were gravel roads. Just when we started to really question the whole thing, the road went from bad to worse, the final 2 miles was the WORST road we have ever traveled on any where in the world. After fording a small river ( which was fortunately not deep) , the dirt track became badly rutted and wash boarded, I crept along at 5 miles and hour, The dusty road was littered with occasional hub caps and miscellaneous car parts shaken loose by fools driving too fast. We finally made it.

The ruins are vast, the Indians

, who were Master stone masons, abandoned this site almost a thousand years ago during a prolonged drought. There were hundreds of Petroglyphs (ancient graffiti) on a nearby cliff base.

There were perhaps 40 tourists wandering around , the tough access keeps the crowds away. Chaco is considered one of the best preserved sites in the South West. A worthy bucket list candidate.

We got up early and drove an hour north to a Bureau of Land Management ( BLM ) wilderness area along the Rio Grande river 60 miles from the Colorado border where it drains out of the mountains to the north. The Federal government has forever preserved this section of the river allowing it to flow freely through virgin wilderness. We approached the 800 foot deep canyon thru an ancient Pinion Pine and Juniper Forrest, the stunted trees are over a 1000 years old. These old survivors are clinging to the thin soil, with little water and harsh conditions in this high altitude desert climate . The path is a major game trail, lots of prints and numerous piles of bear droppings which Karen found disconcerting. The bears had been eating Pine nuts. We carefully avoided logs/brush/ rock crevices which could hide Rattle snakes. We saw no creatures . The canyon rim trail was a bit precarious, not for the faint of heart, a slip could end poorly. The views were breathtaking , especially where the Red River joins the Rio Grande, The convergence swells into a big Rio Grande, hard to believe not a drop reaches the ocean, all the water used in irrigation. The climb up and out of the canyon was tough in the high altitude thin air. It was a great day.

We arrived in Taos New Mexico after a long drive across the last stretch of Great Plains. The snow covered Rocky Mountains finally peaked above the seemingly endless pancake flat plains. We approached from the south, winding up first the foothills, then finally crawling up the steep pass at 10,000 feet. The mountain drive approaching Taos was beautiful, the sizable town nestled in a valley at almost 8000 feet. The towering 12000 snow covered peaks frames a scenic backdrop to this mountain town. Our Airbnb is on an impressive estate surrounded by fenced pasture and looming Mountain View’s. Our Adobe is a part of a larger compound of attached buildings surrounding a wonderful inner courtyard. The buildings date back 150 years. The massive old cottonwood trees shade the entire place. Although we met the owner, it seems like we are the only ones here. It’s the nicest place we stayed so far. I could happily hang out here for a month or two.