Monday, April 27, 2009 - Valley of Fires BLM campground, Carrizozo NM
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Camped at Valley of Fires Recreation Area, site 15, April 27, 2009
From the department of best laid plans and all that
It only took me about 50 miles today to alter my course east. I had planned to head up I25 from Elephant Butte and catch US60 east at Bernardo NM and follow it east at least as far as the Mississippi. I like to travel by picking a route, generally on the old federal highway network, and follow it day after day without having to read a map. This is a holdover from my motorcycling days when it wasn't always so easy to consult a map while underway - especially in the rain.
But I didn't get far along with my plan today when on a whim I left I25 at San Antonio and headed east on US380 towards Roswell instead. I had never traveled this section of US380 and wanted to see some new country. All went well rolling along over the mountains and across the valley north of the Trinity site when I found myself so fascinated with the otherworldly landscape of the 5,000 year old Malpais Lava Flow I just had to grab the opportunity to stop for the night at the Valley of Fires Recreation Area when it hove into sight.
Night camp
Site 15 - Valley of Fires Recreation Area, Carrizozo NM
- This is a quiet, well maintained BLM campground with paved sites, some with electric & water
- There is good biking on the park roads
- Good Verizon cell phone service
- Good Verizon EVDO service
- Find other references to Valley of Fires
- List the nights I've camped here
- Go to Valley of Fires website
- Get a BLM map
- Check the weather
A Call to Nature
"About as far as from here to the station," went on Mr. Baca, "was a graveyard where the gang was supposed to camp out. I rode over to it and found where they had lunched the day before. There were {Begin deleted text}sardin{End deleted text} {Begin inserted text}{Begin handwritten}sardine{End handwritten}{End inserted text} cans and cracker boxes and one thing and another. Then I found where one of them had had a call to nature. I told one of my men to put it in a can. Saiz didn't know about this, and in a little while he went over behind some mesquite {Begin page no. 4}bushes and had a call to nature. After he came back I sent my man over, and by God it was the same stuff -- the same beans and red chili seeds! So I put Saiz under arrest and sent him back to the jail at Socorro with one of my deputies, although he kept saying he couldn't see what I was arresting him for."