South to The Land of Enchantment

After a cold but awesome powder weekend spent in Arapahoe Basin,  I was ready to head south.  Another friend was going to join for about a week while on his way to Austin, TX.   The conversation went something along the lines of - "Lets go south today, I don't care where we go, but lets go south".   So we fired up The Betty and headed to New Mexico.

The Betty ticking off passes.

You can tell in the next couple pictures we wasted no time in this decision.  Most photos were taken  from the captains chair, en route to the land of enchantment.

Dodging storms.

There is certainly a beauty to the simplicity of southern Colorado and northern New Mexico.  The flat plains rimmed by mountain ranges, asphalt splitting east from west.

"Under the Watchful Eye". Just across the border of NM,

We arrived late that night in Taos.  The architecture had changed from mountain cabins to stucco walls and earth tones.  We pulled into a Wal-Mart where they allow RV parking overnight(about the only thing Wal-Mart is good for) and settled in for the night.  Our hopes of warmer weather were quickly dashed.  We stepped out of the RV to chilly temps, the local weather was reporting record lows tonight! 

Rio Grande Gorge Bridge

Well we survived the night and awoke to a beautiful morning.  I guess record lows in New Mexico are a lot different than record lows in The Rockies.
The night before we had driven over the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge.  With a quick search on the mountain bike trail "app" we discovered there was a trail that followed along the rim.  The day was spent exploring the gorge  and taking in the views; the depth of the Rio Grande was breathtaking.  A quick ride turned into a full day, covering nearly 25 miles.  A solid day on the trail, returning to The Betty was a welcome sight.

The clearest water you'll ever see.

Now I wish I had a cool story on how we discovered this gem of a hot spring, but I don't.  I can only thank Google.  Sore from a full day of riding we were in search of one of the hot springs that the area offers.  There were plenty of fancy resorts and day spas, but we weren't interested in a tourist trap.  With the help of the smart phone, we were guided to a hand made pool along the Rio Grande.  Manby Hot Springs is located just outside of Taos, down a minimally maintained dirt road.  The Betty has now officially been through her first creek crossing.  It was dry, but glad I wasn't carrying any fine china, haha.  Another half mile hike down to the gorge and you are there.

Refreshed from the springs, we were prepared for the next leg of the trip.  Angel Fire Bike Park was opening in two days.  Only about 25 miles and one pass away, The Betty was poised for a long weekend of gravity riding and bumping elbows with some other "adventure rigs".