Taos New Mexico High Country Desert

We stopped in Taos for a few days to see the area and cool down from the extreme high temperates of Texas summer heat.  Taos is a tourist town located in the high desert of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.  Several snow ski areas are located in close proximity to Taos: Taos Ski Area, Angel Fire Ski Area and Red River Ski Area.   

We visited what locals call "The Gorge".  This is where the Rio Grande cuts through this high desert on its way to the Gulf of Mexico.  A bridge that goes over the gorge is 650 feet above the river below.  I tried to get pictures that show the depth, but my "partner in travel" was having a "sort of panic attack" (her description) when we were on the bridge.  I beleive the height made her nervous, but when heavy vehicles went over the bridge, the entire bridge would "vibrate", meaning you could feel movement in the bridge.  Well, that was enough for her.

While I was walking towards the center of the bridge, a woman from a couple in front of me stopped and turned around saying "she could not do it".  The bridge was high, but come on girls.

What is hard to see in the picture is the "death grip" she has on the railing.  She did not like the bridge height, but was not going to give up.  Go Girl!  Notice under her right arm, the Rio Grande River, 650 feet down.

This picture of my lovely wife may show a calm person, but what the picture does not show is the "death grip" she has on the hand railing.  She was soo funny!  She would not give up on being on the bridge, but clearly was glad to be off the structure.  One has to love a person with her stamina.

She was so nervous when she took this picture of me, she sort of cut off my head in the picture.  She is so funny!

Taos is a very nice town.  The new is mixed with the old throughout the city.  All buildings in town were adobe style.  Must be a city ordinance.

The view as we drove into town.

Note all the adobe styles.  It was hard to tell the new construction from the old construction.

More old town architecture.

Taos has its own motorcycle shop.

We toured the "Enchanted Circle" drive in Taos.  The 84 mile loop provides excellent scenery as you drive the high country of Taos, Red River, Angel Fire and Eagle Nest.  The high country valleys were beautiful.  The Rio Grande watershed goes through this area.

Notice the truck down grade sign.  This is an area that exercises your downhill braking capabilities.



The high coutry valleys were beautiful.  With an elevation of over 9000 feet, the air was fresh and clean.  Abundant grass grew in the high coutry valley to feed the many fat cattle.



A view from the road.  It was a very pleasant drive.



We stopped for lunch in Angel Fire.  Angel fire is a ski town.

While we visited Taos, we stayed at the "Taos Valley RV Park".  The RV park is the best game in town, but far from an RV resort.