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Mon Oct 14, 2013 4:36 pm

Introduction

This is to be a report on a camping trip around New Mexico. I have not seen a report like this here on TS but they are very common on the motorcycle forum I frequent (www.advrider.com). They are presented as “ride reports” so I guess this will be a “drive report”…..?

The plan:
My 13 year old daughter (Madi) and I to take a 3 day 2 night tour through Northern New Mexico, leaving on Thursday morning and returning Saturday (hooray for 2 days of no school). Other than that there was no real plan. This trip was about the journey, not a destination.

This turned out to be a good thing because when I woke up on Thursday, the forecast for the North was calling for 30-50mph winds with snow and overnight lows of 26*F………this called for a change of plans.

I opened google earth and checked locations against weather and it seemed like South was the way to go. The forecast was still for wind but calming in the evening with an overnight low near 40*F. I crudely devised a plan, or at least an idea of where we would head.

Our conveyance:

My daily driver 1970 Baja Type 1 VW with a 1955cc engine, ghia disk front and type 3 rear drum brakes, boxed in stock trailing arms, dual rear shocks, 225/75/15 Hankook Mileage Plus tires all around, bolt-in roll cage (dual rear shocks tied into it), no rear seat, suspension front seats, and everything else is stock for the most part. And of course no heat.

All of our camping gear fit in the car without much issue.

Up in the frunk went the tool box, firewood and most other fire related things.

Preparation

The last oil change and valve adjustment was around 300 miles prior to the trip. I checked that all the lights, turn signals and brake lights were in working order. I checked air pressure in all tires including the spare. I packed my toolbox including all the tools I thought I could need without being too excessive. I took along a Gazetteer of New Mexico, our Garmin GPS, both of our smart phones and my SPOT device.

The later has a tracking feature that I planned to use so friends and family could keep up with where we are as well as rescue, should the need arise. My buddies Seth and Dave were both added as contacts for my “help” button on my spot with my message reading something like, “Here I am, need help, no rush.” And of course there is always the red “SOS” button that I have nightmares about accidentally pushing. It could be life saving if ever needed but probably just really expensive if not.

Left gathered at home was everything needed to come tow the bug home: tow bar, tow lights, truck hitch and hitch pin, and the keys to my Tundra.

Mon Oct 14, 2013 4:39 pm

DAY 1

We head out around 10:45 and the weather had already started showing some gnar.

Winds were blowing! This is while heading south on Unser Blvd. while still in Rio Rancho. Madi was glad we weren’t driving (sandblasting) a nice, new, fancy car.

We made our way to I-40 westbound and seemingly straight into the storm. I drive my bug daily but I don’t generally drive on interstates. Not that it can’t keep up or is unsafe but I prefer 60mph to 75mph as the driver so I am sure the car appreciates it too.

The wind was now a cross wind mixed with head winds and we even had some rain. I had the bug more loaded down than I ever have and I was still having to rudder it hard with constant varying gusts and of course the thrills one gets from the swirls created when getting passed by any other vehicle.

It was also in this time that the SPOT stopped tracking us. I later discovered that the batteries had died. I didn’t even think about it because a buddy that borrowed it recently said that he had replaced the batteries……. No worries, this is why I carry extra lithium ion AAA and AA batteries but it didn’t receive them until the next morning.

We couldn’t get off the interstate fast enough, I was tired from wrestling the steering wheel and just general body tenseness for the past hour. Our plan was to take NM hwy 117 South, just East of Grants, NM but I had a hankerin’ for some KFC. We made a quick trip into Grants for that and in hopes of cheaper fuel. Fried chicken was a success but the cheapest fuel was actually back at the exit for hwy 117.

My odometer read that we had covered 100 miles since my fill up the night before. My speedo is about 20% off so we had really covered around 125 miles. Also my fuel gauge does not work so I use my mileage to keep track of when I need gas. Usually I refuel after 200 miles on my odometer. I didn’t record mileage or gas purchased but I kind of kept track of gas mileage and this was the worst mileage I had ever gotten with this engine at 25mpg. In my daily driving I get 32mpg but I was fighting winds and was fully loaded so I was not surprised.

After gas we make our turn South on hwy 117.

We had some awesome sandstone features on our left and El Malpias lava flow to our right. It was still windy but at lower speeds it is less violent and easier to control the car.

The first real stop to take some pictures.

My co-pilot and navigator. Did I mention it was windy?

Then we came to the El Malpias Natural Arch, I think it is called, La Ventana but can’t find that right now.

Just a great shot of New Mexico windscape.

This was our next turn, onto NM hwy 36 South.

We didn’t stay on that for long before we turned again onto NM hwy 603 South, headed to Pie Town, NM. It was a fairly decent gravel road. The only scary part was the beginning when a FedEx truck came flying around a corner, neither of us expecting to see the other, but he was for sure going faster than me.

Our next turn was in Pie Town onto US hwy 60 West towards Quemado.

Had to turn around to take a pic of the sign.

We headed to Quemado, NM where we stopped once again for gas. Another 100 miles on my odometer and we seemed to get better mileage than at the last fill up.

Leaving Quemado we went South on NM hwy 32 but only for a short time before we turned onto NM hwy 103 headed towards Quemado Lake.

The Quemado Lake in its glory.

This was the first time we got a look from the locals, here they were fisherman, “What the hell are you doing here?”

Just past the lake, the road changes from hwy 103 to Forest Road 13. Some nice shots while we are stopped and letting the GPS acquire our location. We were looking for the Continental Divide Trail which is the main reason I wanted to take this route. We decided we weren’t there yet but close.

After another couple of miles, we fly past some posts with a recognizable marking. I back up so we can take a look.

I wanted to take the bug up the trail but Madi urged strongly against it….

A little while later we stopped again for a picture with some fall colors.

Here I got Madi trying to run back to get out of the picture….tra la la.

Here’s me.

We are really happy to get out each time and stretch our legs. The seats are comfortable but really lock you into one position the entire time.

Forest Road 13 ended at Forest Road 214 which we took South to NM hwy 12 turning West. This was the first time we both had a moment of, “Ahhhhhh,” upon hitting pavement after the bumpy and rattley dirt roads. Hwy 12 in the distance.

It was past 5pm at this point and we were both getting anxious to find camp for the night so that is what we did. I had picked a spot on google earth that morning that I wanted to shoot for and so we did. Traveling West on hwy 12 to Apache Creek, NM where we turned North back onto NM hwy 32. We then turned onto Forest Road 856 headed East and started looking. I knew it was elk season or about to be so I didn’t want to venture too far from the highway, figuring hunters would trek further in.

It didn’t take long for us to find a camping spot. All we were looking for was a little bit of sunlight and an established fire scar.

Government shutdown with all the National Forest Service campgrounds closed……..no problem here!

Even though it was after 6 pm I think it was perfect timing because the winds were starting to die down. Any earlier and the winds would have been unbearable.

We started a fire and got to warming up some frozen left over tri-tip chili for dinner just in time for the sun to set. We also made some hot cocoa and coffee to help warm us. We were too tired for smores.

Please allow me to preface my next comments by saying that I am an avid hunter and love the taste of elk meat. But about the time we started cooking, some morons with what must have been brand spankin’ new elk calls, started going to town with them. It was like these guys’ wives kicked them out of their house because they were playing with them too much and their solution was to go raise hell on the first forest road they could find. Let me tell you, they needed the practice but I would have preferred they went and shoved them up each others’ butts! I could see headlights from the highway so I thought we were close enough to civilization to avoid hunters but I guess not. In their defense, they probably had no idea we were there but I wasn’t about to advance towards a hearing impaired hunter that was trying to call in a mentally challenged elk. As the hunters had to be deaf, having never heard an actual elk ever make a sound before and the only elk that would respond to his calls would have to have been the window licker of the species. I also only had 8 rounds in my noise maker and wanted to hang onto those but a couple of warning shots in rapid succession would have probably done the trick. Finally the nonsense did stop just in time for us to turn in for the night.

Day 1 went well and was basically what I expected. We were both really tired at the end of the day. It seems like maybe we were tense a lot of the time or maybe it was the cold, I’m not sure but we were tired.

The car performed really well despite all the wind. It was loaded down and for the first time I found myself having to downshift or keep it in a lower gear in order to have the throttle response I wanted.

Understeer on the dirt and gravel roads was an expected problem. I did have the front tires inflated to the same as the rear (27psi) so I could have dropped them 5lbs or so and it would have helped but……eh. I found that in understeer situations I could punch the throttle and get it into an oversteer situation. In the oversteer slide I find I have much more control turning the car with the throttle than with the steering wheel in an understeer slide. Its tough to say which Madi prefers but I think its neither. And I always say, “When in doubt throttle it out!”

Now understeer in combination with washboards is just no fun at all. The throttle doesn’t work here because the contact with terra firma is sporatic and short lived. Forget about front end traction, it is so light and once again has contact issues. I found that here the best thing to do is creep along and enjoy the bumps.

Another note is that I have a speaker shelf wedged in my roll cage, under my rear windscreen and falls from time to time in town when I hit a bug bump. While on the dirt roads it seemed to fall all the time and then….we couldn’t hear the music and that was unacceptable. I found my self getting really annoyed with having to fix it every time we stop. I knew it was a problem before I left and didn’t fix it, I will now.

Mon Oct 14, 2013 4:40 pm

DAY 2

I am an early riser so I was up before the sun. It was a cold night and a frosty morning. We both slept very well in our 4 season tent and double layers of sleeping bags.

“Good day sunlight, I’d like to say how truly bright you are. You don’t know me but I know you see, you’re my favorite star. Follow you, I will, so let’s get moving…..”

It was a slow morning thaw and we were not speedy at getting going. Breakfast was pancakes and bacon. We were shocked when we finally turned on a phone and saw that it was 11:00 but at least it was a relaxing morning.

Back to hwy 32 we went and south towards Apache Creek again. Then East (actually Southerly) on hwy 12 towards Reserve, NM where we stopped for our next gas fill up. We had gone another 100 miles on my odometer and mileage was near 30mpg.

There we were shocked to see a former neighbor of ours who is a hunting guide, it was a random occurrence for sure. He let us know that the next day was opening of elk rifle season and to be careful. I let him know that we were heading out of the area.

After gas we went across the street to the general store to get a gallon of water because I thought we had used over half of our 5 gallons and wanted to be safe. While I was in the store Madi was sitting in the car, inspecting the map and checking out our planned route. She says a lady asked if she was lost and if she needed help. To which Madi replied that she was just passing through and did not need any assistance. To which the lady asked, “Are you sure?” At which point I’m sure the lady got a sarcastic confirmation in return.

Leaving Reserve we took NM hwy 435 South, which soon turned into Forest Road 141. It was a fun road with lots of twists and turns through the forest. It was paved but had giant potholes and rough sections throughout.

Here is what it looked like when it was still hwy 435.

We took a video so here it is, good, bad, or otherwise here it is.

Then we stopped again for pictures along FR 141. These are my favorite of the trip.

We saw a bunch of hunters camps set up, getting setup and driving in to set up. We saw some the day before but now people are everywhere. And they all give us the “what the hell?” look when we drive by, they clearly don’t expect to see our car there. I slow down as to not dust them, wave and then once a safe distance away, roost outta there. I am certain I made some of them rethink the $10k+ they spent on their 4 person ATV, Razor things that required trailering there and if they obey the law, can’t take them off the forest roads anyway.

We took Forest Road 141 to Forest Road 28 that then connected us to Forest Road 30.

Here you can see the forest is getting left behind as we are heading into grassland.

We were constantly getting bombarded by these guys which seemed to be eating the dead one I just ran over…..

This stretch of road seemed to be the worst yet. Near the O-bar-O ranch it was super rough and slow going and didn’t get much better until we turned North onto NM hwy 163. Even there it wasn’t much better but it was better. We saw more hunters heading in and a few cattle ranchers tending to their herds.

We did get to see these and thanks to Madi’s quick camera work, we caught them. There were three, these are the front 2 which seemed to be the kids as they were almost racing each other, egging each other on to go faster, up the hill and away from us.

I stopped for this shot because of the moon in the background.

Then when we were stopping for lunch, we looked over and happened to catch these 2. Yes there are 2 but its hard to tell. They ended up bedding down right there and paid us no never mind.

Lunch was smoked venison summer sausage, some smoked ale marbled cheese, triscuits and baby carrots.

We carried on until NM hwy 52 where we turned North headed towards US hwy 60.

Hwy 52 was a fun and fast road, probably averaging 50mph except for when passing oncoming traffic.

It was here that was came upon a truck with trailer and a second truck. The trailing truck had a flat tire. I stopped to make sure all was well and they had what they needed. Their spare was flat so they were pumping it up with a small 12V compressor. He let me know I could be of no help unless I had a “compressor in that thing?” I explained I did not. He didn’t seem too keen on the idea of needing help from me anyway, like even if he needed my help he may have not accepted in on principal. His redneck buddies would never let him live it down: getting rescued by a VW.

It was also in here that an oncoming truck did not slow as we approached each other. It was raised and clearly had a redneck asshole behind the wheel. Somehow a rock managed to fling its way into my vent window. I don’t know how one of us didn’t get hurt or at least crack a window but there was no damage…..carry on.

Then we came to the Very Large Array. We stopped for some pictures, I had never been here and thought it was very interesting.

A better shot of the VLA.

You actually drive right through it.

Then it was East on US hwy 60 towards Magdalena, NM where we once again stopped for gas. This time it had been 130 miles on my odometer. I was worried through the past stretch that I wasn’t going to make it to the next gas. Why? I don’t know, I guess I just needed something to worry about.

In Magdalena there was no premium gas to be found, only regular unleaded. Just like Snake says of Little Bandit, “Premium dude! She needs premium!”

I have always ran premium in this engine as I have the compression ratio fairly high and I didn’t want to have to worry about it but I had no choice and got the 86 octane. This was a good experience to make me think about carrying a bottle of octane booster along on these trips.

It was nearing 5pm when we left Magdalena headed North on NM hwy 169 towards Alamo Navajo Reservation, NM and through some Cibola National Forest where we would camp for the night.

We pulled off onto Forest Road 128A heading West and started looking for camping. The first spot we stopped was covered in goat heads, I started to worry. We went up to the top of the ridge and it was much better. We were able to find an established fire ring and set up camp there.

We were over an hour earlier to camp than the day before which we were both excited about. We got a fire going right away and got briquettes started for the cooking. This night the menu called for smoked beef sausages and a can of zucchini in tomato sauce, all cooked on the fire. We were even able to save room for smores. Our fire was fueled by a bunch of juniper tree leftovers laying around from what looked like firewood cutters so we had plenty of wood to burn. I forgot how hot juniper burns and the smell reminded me of winters growing up in Alturas.

Madi spent some time talking with the local coyotes. They would repsond to her but not me. This got me thinking back to our elk caller idiots and how I wish I had borught some of my animal calls. They would have really scrathced their heads if in response to their aweful elk calls they heard a coyote, a turkey or maybe even a distressed jack rabbit!

Here we are in our only together picture and it took us forever to figure out how to take a delayed picture.

There were plenty of flowers blooming in October.

Mon Oct 14, 2013 4:41 pm

DAY 3

The start of this day was way easier than the previous day. It was much warmer and we were eager to get an earlier start. Breakfast was fried smoked beef sausage and egg scramble. We were able to break camp and leave before 11:00.

We made it back to hwy 169 and headed North. Not long after entering the Alamo Navajo Reservation, there was a stop to traffic. Initially I could see the front of the line of cars and there was what looked like a parade of some kind. Then as time went on, the line in front of me grew and I ceased moving for the most part.

It took an hour to go less than a half a mile. In the end it looked like there was some sort of event happening in the ‘town’ of Alamo and all the cars lining the roadside for the parade were then let into the line of cars as the parade proceeded. It was very frustrating but we got lots of thumbs up and waves in the bug. And at one point we were even able to pick up some leftover road-side Starburst. It was a 2 piece pack and one was red and the other was pink…..talk about luck!

Once past all that mess the road is paved for a little while longer. The pavement is very rough and sometimes missing through sections. At one point there was one really sharp hump with tire marks all over the other side, in every direction, so it was certainly a road to mind the 45mph speed limit on.

The road eventually turns into Indian Service Road 54 and the pavement ends. This road was pretty boring and uneventful. There were rough sections, smooth and fast sections, red dirt, white dirt, grey dirt, silt, it had it all. It was the most unfriendly stretch of road too. I waved at every oncoming truck and the only one that waved back was a young woman that looked more out of place than we did. Just a note but no waves and I found it interesting.

Another shot of Madi not wanting to be in the picture.

Indian Service Road 54 intersected with NM hwy 6 with I-40 in sight so we turned North for a mile then got onto the interstate headed East towards home.

The rest of the drive was very uneventful and we were happy to make it back, the journey was had.

Mon Oct 14, 2013 4:41 pm

Conclusion

It was a great trip and I can’t wait to do it again. I was a little worried not having a concrete plan when leaving but it ended up working out just fine and made it so we could adjust our route on the fly and choose where we wanted to go and what to see.

Here is a link to a page where you can view the SPOT tracking for the entire trip, except for where the batteries were dead. But beware that it only stays live for a week past the event: http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0PtOqTgZgeAyhB3OggSvRKpn1Nftph29r

The bug performed flawlessly and I was very happy with it.
**Update: I went to leave for work this morning and the bug sputtered up with a loud knocking sound then died, I tried it again and it started and had oil pressure but the loud knocking noise was still there. I walked away and got in my Tundra. I am not sure what is going on exactly, there were no obvious signs of damage, it has oil and it didn’t smell burnt, and there was no oil spot under the engine. Yesterday when we got home I unloaded and then washed the bug and then drove it back into the garage without incident or knock…….. I am hoping it is not something major but I won’t know more until I investigate.**
***Update: Update: Engine is on my garage floor and the knocking is coming from the internals, I am guessing a connecting rod bearing but I'm just guessing.
I am really close to finishing a winter engine with heat so I am turning my focus there and will work on this one over the winter. Or I may sell off the 1955 bits and go Subaru power!***

Our camping gear all worked out and we planned properly for the weather conditions and primitive camping, away from the closed campgrounds.

I can’t think of anything I would have changed or done differently, I just want to go do it again.

I hope that others can use this as guidance in any possible future adventures in the same area. Or maybe give someone the little extra nudge of encouragement to go on a similar adventure of their own. Planning and preparation is key, prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

Thanks for reading along and if anyone has questions or needs clarification on anything, PM me anytime……especially if you want to bash, flame or just be a general douche as I would like to share this with my friends and family and avoid them be subjected to that type of TS BS. Thanks--Larry

Tue Oct 15, 2013 8:32 am

Very cool bug, and even cooler that you explored with your daughter. I took my girl for her first father-daughter camping trip this summer in my '93 VW Eurovan. Good times.

Tue Oct 15, 2013 9:29 am

Very cool. Thank you for sharing.

Tue Oct 15, 2013 7:43 pm

Selaznog! Missed you at beers tonight.

Didn't realize you were on TS but it makes sense.

Have fun rubber chickening it!

Tue Oct 22, 2013 12:20 am

I have to say I do miss NM great outdoors! Your trip is almost the reverse of the MT Withington Snow Adventure that I was able to attend while in ABQ.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=490963

Some of those locations look familiar too!

Sorry to hear about the rod, at least she got you home!

Tue Oct 22, 2013 12:59 pm

^^Super cool. BBMike ran it though so I don't know if I would take part in that. I'm still pissed he called me a crack smoker because I reported that a dude at the shop where he worked (at the time) told me a 94mm p/c set was $700. And that alone was reason enough for me to never walk into that shop again.....then he PMs me about being a crack smoker....so no, even though he isn't there any longer, I don't go to that shop unless FORCED to. And I would not follow that dude anywhere!

But I would love to get other VW's to tour along as well in the future. I may put it out to the local club (in which I am not involved) next year when the stars align and my daughter and I have a long weekend alone for adventuring (not that the SO isn't invited, its just that the Baja only has 2 seats....and her being busy with an annual family trip is one of the aligning stars) and see if any want to tag along. But really I think my ADV buddies on their dual sport bikes would be much more our style and kind of folk.....have you been to busses and balloons? =P~

Yes, at least she got us home and we are thankful for that. I have to say this is the least upset I've been about a motor going. It went after an awesome trip, I already have a replacement in the works, and really its just a machine and it can be fixed.

I must say it has been hard to look at the 1955 on the garage floor and not tear into it to sooth my curiosity. But my free time and energy is better spent focused on the new motor.....but man am I curious. :-k

Tue Oct 22, 2013 1:24 pm

I noticed a lot of internal strife with the clubs in town. AAA seems just to be concerned with the buses and baloons that just happened and most members just dont seem to drive their cars far let alone off road.

Participation in the 1st Withington trip seemed to have better attendance from AZ and CO.

It seems "dirt" folks put more miles than "street" folks, is there a baja club out there?

Tue Oct 22, 2013 2:43 pm

No Baja club.....maybe I should start one...hmm. I lurk on AAA's website and I attend Buses and Balloons because its the only game in town. But like I said, they really don't seem to be my kind of people.

I don't go to the meetings because they are once a month on Tuesdays and if I have a free Tuesday, I go to my ADV gathering in Santa Fe for Tues=Brew at the SFBrewery.....and I get to be a "Happy Camper"<---an awesome IPA.

Well hell, I know nothing about website design or anything like that so if I start a Baja gathering group, I will probably leach onto this or AAA's website. And I'm not a natural leader....or follower for that matter so I don't always play well in large groups.

Maybe I'll just throw it out there for a spring trip and see what happens....a test to see if others will join....and if I would want them to again.

^Man I sound like a dick, but really I'm not, I just don't make time in my life for BS and it seems the more people, the more BS.....I choose my friends carefully and my adventure companions even more carefully.

Tue Oct 22, 2013 3:16 pm

pow_rider17 wrote: I choose my friends carefully and my adventure companions even more carefully.

Words to live by

Is no one organizing a fall colors cruise this year? Might already be too late. The people I met on the snow trip were the best Ive met in years, I wish there were more people like them out here in So Cal. Down to earth, willing to help, willing to get dirty, just good people.

I always say: Be wary of someone who wont take a shit in the woods.

Fri Dec 06, 2013 12:58 pm

nice trip report and camping trip through NM

Fri Dec 06, 2013 5:11 pm

Very Nice trip...have been on a few of those roads myself. The VLA is interesting.
Did you let her drive any of the back roads?