2011 Father and Son Spring Break Bugout
Each and every year I take my son on a road trip during his spring break. Past years have included Utah & Northern AZ, six days in San Diego, NW New Mexico, and the Pacific Northwest. For 2011 we decided to return to New Mexico and hit several sites in the Western and Southern parts of the state.
Our original plans of spending two days in the Imperial Sand Dunes was canceled when my brother-in-law called and informed me his rail was broke and they were staying home. I did some more research and developed a new itinerary for our six day adventure.
Day 1-
We departed our home shortly after 7am on Saturday morning, an unusually late start for us, and made our way South of Tucson AZ to the Titan Missile Museum. The site, built in 1963, was an active Air Force missile site with an active 103 foot tall missile with a 9 Megaton W53 warhead up until 1982 when it was deactivated by President Ronald Reagan. The silo is underground with eight levels and underground passageways and walls as thick as eight feet.
1. Looking down at the missile from an observation deck
After doing the hour long tour which included visiting the control center and walking through the underground passageways we grabbed a quick lunch before heading to New Mexico.
My son wanted to stop at all the road side attractions for moccasins, rocks, and fireworks. I finally agreed to a stop to visit 'The Thing'. We paid the $1 admittance and walked through three buildings containing old cars, equipment, and wood sculptures before standing directly over 'The Thing'. We grabbed a few drinks and told my son we are not buying fireworks because we cant use them where we are going and he already as a bunch at home.
Our journey continued to Silver City NM and then on to Mogollon NM. Mogollon NM was developed in the late 1800's in large part to successful mining of Gold and Silver. Several large buildings remain in good condition and are open for tourists during the warmer months. On our trip we happened to meet one of the locals which gave us some information on the town and the mines. He pointed to a large white rock and informed us there was about 20 ounces of silver in that rock if you knew how to extract it. The boy of course wanted to load that rock in the car and bring it home with us.
2. Mogollon, New Mexico
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We headed back down into Glenwood NM looking for a place to eat. Of the two establishments in town one was still open. Over dinner i asked the locals about another near-bye attraction I was hoping to shoot during the super moon. My initial questions included how far is the hike, how difficult, and then moved on to my thoughts of shooting at night. The locals immediately informed me that was a very bad idea. They explained the area has a very high population of mountain lion, bobcat, and to top it off several foxes had recently tested positive for rabies. :huh I decided hiking the narrow canyon at night with my son was indeed a bad idea. We drove out to the canyon and settled into the front seats of the car for a restless, cold, and windy night.
Day 2
The super moon was indeed super bright which made it difficult to sleep and frustrating because I know the moon shots in the canyon would have been great. As day broke we strapped on the hiking boots and hit the trail in the canyon to our intended destination The Catwalk. The Catwalk is a trail that follows a water pipeline built in the 1890's to carry water to the town of Graham, NM.
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6. One of the waterfalls along The Catwalk trail
Video of the falls:
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The young protege working a few images (click for video)
Our original plans of spending two days in the Imperial Sand Dunes was canceled when my brother-in-law called and informed me his rail was broke and they were staying home. I did some more research and developed a new itinerary for our six day adventure.
Day 1-
We departed our home shortly after 7am on Saturday morning, an unusually late start for us, and made our way South of Tucson AZ to the Titan Missile Museum. The site, built in 1963, was an active Air Force missile site with an active 103 foot tall missile with a 9 Megaton W53 warhead up until 1982 when it was deactivated by President Ronald Reagan. The silo is underground with eight levels and underground passageways and walls as thick as eight feet.
1. Looking down at the missile from an observation deck
After doing the hour long tour which included visiting the control center and walking through the underground passageways we grabbed a quick lunch before heading to New Mexico.
My son wanted to stop at all the road side attractions for moccasins, rocks, and fireworks. I finally agreed to a stop to visit 'The Thing'. We paid the $1 admittance and walked through three buildings containing old cars, equipment, and wood sculptures before standing directly over 'The Thing'. We grabbed a few drinks and told my son we are not buying fireworks because we cant use them where we are going and he already as a bunch at home.
Our journey continued to Silver City NM and then on to Mogollon NM. Mogollon NM was developed in the late 1800's in large part to successful mining of Gold and Silver. Several large buildings remain in good condition and are open for tourists during the warmer months. On our trip we happened to meet one of the locals which gave us some information on the town and the mines. He pointed to a large white rock and informed us there was about 20 ounces of silver in that rock if you knew how to extract it. The boy of course wanted to load that rock in the car and bring it home with us.
2. Mogollon, New Mexico
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We headed back down into Glenwood NM looking for a place to eat. Of the two establishments in town one was still open. Over dinner i asked the locals about another near-bye attraction I was hoping to shoot during the super moon. My initial questions included how far is the hike, how difficult, and then moved on to my thoughts of shooting at night. The locals immediately informed me that was a very bad idea. They explained the area has a very high population of mountain lion, bobcat, and to top it off several foxes had recently tested positive for rabies. :huh I decided hiking the narrow canyon at night with my son was indeed a bad idea. We drove out to the canyon and settled into the front seats of the car for a restless, cold, and windy night.
Day 2
The super moon was indeed super bright which made it difficult to sleep and frustrating because I know the moon shots in the canyon would have been great. As day broke we strapped on the hiking boots and hit the trail in the canyon to our intended destination The Catwalk. The Catwalk is a trail that follows a water pipeline built in the 1890's to carry water to the town of Graham, NM.
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6. One of the waterfalls along The Catwalk trail
Video of the falls:
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The young protege working a few images (click for video)
"The Journey of life is as much in oneself as the roads one travels"
Aaron Newman
Website:www.CapturingLightandEmotion.com
Facebook: Capturing Light and Emotion
Aaron Newman
Website:www.CapturingLightandEmotion.com
Facebook: Capturing Light and Emotion
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After a few hours along The Catwalk we the sun was getting too bright and we decided it was time to head out. Our Expedition Vehicle was going to be faced with a water crossing on our way out and I was concerned because I had not yet installed a snorkel. We approached the water crossing with some concern, surveyed the situation, and decided to just use the skinny pedal and go for it.
(click for video)
After successful navigating that challenge we headed down to Silver City and checked into our small one room cabin which would be our accommodations for the next two nights. We spoke with the locals to determine how we would spend the rest of the day. Our choices were the City of Rocks or Gila Cliff Dwellings. Judging the time of day and time to get out to the cliff dwellings we figured we had enough time to make the trip and explore the area for a couple hours. Turning onto Hwy 15 the US Forest Service has a sign stating the distance is 48 miles and the expected drive time is 2 hours due to mountain grades and curves. Luckily our Expedition Vehicle is equipped for these types of roads and we thundered up and down the mountains making the trip in exactly 65 minutes. We could have been sub 60 minutes if it weren't for two vehicles which took some time to pass on the narrow switchback road.
In record time we reached Gila Cliff Dwellings and hiked the mile long loop to the ruins and back.
9. Approaching the Cliff Dwellings
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Just 1/3 of a mile down the road there is a picnic area with a short trail that leads to another two room ruin.
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The time was approaching 5pm and as we would come to find out- everything closes early in New Mexico. We hopped back in the car and headed back to Silver City via Hwy 35 thus completing the scenic loop road to the ruins and back. As my son would say- that road was just like the roads in his Rally video game. We didn't jump the car but we did come pretty close.
Day 3
This was a designated rest day. There wasn't a whole lot more to see in the area and my son was still recovering from a minor surgery a week before. We visited the local shops and did our part to support the local economy. We got a good nights rest and prepared for day 4.
Day 4
Leaving Silver City early in the morning we made our way to Alamagordo and White Sands National Monument. We stopped in at the visitors center of the National Monument to pick up our back country permit only to find out no permits were being issued. Turns out the missile range had rescheduled a launch due to high winds the previous days and this meant the park would close at 8pm and no one could return until after 10am the next day. This was most disappointing as we were planning to camp in the dunes and get some night shots of the dunes lit by the moon. Making the best of it I purchased a sled from the gift shop and we hit the hills for some fun.
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The wind had been blowing at a steady clip of 15 mph with gusts hitting 22mph.
14. The son using the disk as a shield from the blowing sand
Taking some time to hike out into the dunes looking for some decent photography compositions the boy yelled out- "Dad. What this!"
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and as a dad.... I had to show him the old man still knew how to have a little fun as well
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(btw- the 16-35L USM is not a very good sports action lens)
Aaron Newman
Website:www.CapturingLightandEmotion.com
Facebook: Capturing Light and Emotion
After filling our shoes with sand we ventured a little farther. He found a large dune to hide behind which blocked him from the wind and I found a few decent shots.
17. Blowing Sand
18. Walking the line
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(Video of the wind and blowing sand)
After the water crossings, mountain passes, and now sand dunes we retrofitted our car into a true Expedition Vehicle.
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Day 5
After an unexpected expense of a hotel room in Alamogordo NM we awoke and headed up Hwy 82 to Cloudcroft, over to Artesia, and then to Carlsbad Caverns National Monument.
Carlsbad Caverns is a pretty amazing cave. We decided to do the walk down which descends 750 feet in 1 mile through the cave. It was a unique experience and made me wonder about the early explorers of the cave and the amount of work it took to create the path through the cave. We spent several hours in the cave and were some of the last people to leave.
22. One of the many switchbacks while descending into the cave
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Day 6
I had let the boy stay up the night before as I was hoping he would sleep a good portion of the drive home. Thanks to an early start and making good time he didn't wake up until we pulled into a gas station in El Paso Texas. The rest of the day was spent just making the long drive home and keeping the boy entertained through stories and road games.
We arrived back at the house just before 5pm on day six and spent the rest of the night and following day relaxing. In six days we had driven 1667 miles, hit three states, three National Parks, a ghost town, a missile museum, and a space museum (New Mexico Museum of Space History in Alamogordo, NM). We had to adjust our plans a few times but still had some great bonding time as father and son.
Aaron Newman
Website:www.CapturingLightandEmotion.com
Facebook: Capturing Light and Emotion
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That's some pretty gnarly off-road action with the company Honda. Don't let your boss see it. :giggle
Link to my Smugmug site
Yes- tripods are allowed just have to be cautious about the rest of the people. Pretty tough shooting though.
I am the boss of the car so no worries there.
Aaron Newman
Website:www.CapturingLightandEmotion.com
Facebook: Capturing Light and Emotion
Aaron Newman
Website:www.CapturingLightandEmotion.com
Facebook: Capturing Light and Emotion
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Cuong
Hoping to do this with my kids when they are a bit older...
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Snorkel is for the air intake of the car not for our air intake.
Aaron Newman
Website:www.CapturingLightandEmotion.com
Facebook: Capturing Light and Emotion
Not sure how old your kids are but don't wait. My son has been camping since he was 6 months old. We started these week long father son trips when he was 4 years old.
Aaron Newman
Website:www.CapturingLightandEmotion.com
Facebook: Capturing Light and Emotion
Thanks Froch. We try to make every trip a great trip.
Aaron Newman
Website:www.CapturingLightandEmotion.com
Facebook: Capturing Light and Emotion
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