Los Alamos

Several months ago we went on a road trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico. We hadn’t been there in a number of years and we had never driven there via State Highway 285, a road that goes from Denver south until it ends near Big Bend National Park in Texas. We thought it would be a beautiful trip this time of year (late winter) as the mountains had lots of snow on them while the valleys had less snow or none at all.

The reason we decided to go was I had found a telescope mount for sale from a person that lived near Los Alamos, which happens to be near Santa Fe. The weather was supposed to be great and with all the excitement surrounding the movie Oppenheimer this past summer, we thought we would make a weekend of it and explore Los Alamos a bit as well as Santa Fe.

We left around 5am figuring we would pickup breakfast in Salida and lunch in Los Alamos as we were supposed to meet the gentleman selling the mount at 11 am. We lucked out with a full moon on the initial part of the drive through the Arkansas River canyon.

The moon was shining off the river which gave the river a shimmering, silver glow. It also softly lit the sides of the canyon and the higher mountains beyond. We’ve driven through this canyon numerous times and had never seen it like this. We were blessed with being there at the right time, with the right weather. Simply stunning!

After stopping for breakfast in Salida, we met up with Highway 285 and headed south where we started to climb Poncha Pass. This pass is only a little over 9000 feet in altitude which makes it one of the lower passes in the state. Luckily, all the snow had melted off the road from recent storms, however there were still huge piles along the side of the road, especially as we reached the summit.

For me, the best part of this pass is the descent into the San Luis Valley. You can see almost the entire Sangre de Cristo mountain range on the left (east) side of the valley and farther off on the right (west) side, the San Juan mountains. This is a high valley (around 7000 ft elev.) so it can get very cold in the winter and hot in the summer. There are hot springs here, Great Sand Dunes National Park and a number of eclectic towns. There are also miles and miles of empty land.

The Sangre de Cristo range, one of my favorite mountain ranges, stretches for over 75 miles, from Poncha Pass, that we just went over, south to La Veta Pass. Both the east and west sides can be easily accessed and are beautiful. There are a number of 14,000 foot peaks in this range including Blanca Peak which is the fourth highest peak in Colorado.

As we descend into the San Luis Valley, the snow slowly dissipates until it is only on the high peaks around us. At this point, 285 makes a turn west, which is a little out of our way, so we turn onto State Highway 17 which goes directly south to the town of Alamosa where we will meet up with 285 again.

Alamosa is the largest town in the San Louis valley. It started as a railroad town but has grown to much more over the years. Typically we stop here for a meal but today we were just passing through. Of note, the other thing that passes through Alamosa is the Rio Grande river on its way to the Gulf of Mexico. Its head waters are west of us in the San Juan mountains. Highway 285 more or less follows the Rio Grande south in this area. We were ready to start our adventure into new territory as Alamosa is the gateway to an area we have never driven through.

Highways 285 and 17 combine in Alamosa and stay that way as we head south towards Antonito where they will separate. Highway 17 will head west and then south and 285 will go south. The  interesting thing is these two highways meet again just north of Espanola, in New Mexico. Highway 17 is now Highway 84 as the number changes when it crosses the New Mexico border. Another fun option the next time we are in the area!

As we head south from Alamosa, we go through a bit of industrial area and that changes into farmland and the natural terrain of mostly greasewood bushes and various grasses mixed with a lot of dirt. Trees are few and far in between in this valley. This is truly a wild, empty area once we get away from the towns.

Speaking of towns, we pass through both La Jara and Romeo on the way to Antonito. Only a few miles separate each of these towns and both consist of several side streets filled with homes while the main street, the highway, contains several small open businesses, a restaurant, maybe a gas station or repair shop and the ever present Dollar Store. Most of the businesses though appear closed. The towns all appear to have fallen on hard times over the years. They are, for the most part, clean and you can tell folks care about their towns. These are farming and ranching communities for the most part. The clean part does change a bit after we enter New Mexico.

Antonito is a larger town than the last two. It has more businesses including a grocery store and multiple restaurants. The main reason for this is it is the northern end of the Cumbres & Toltec Railroad. We have never ridden it although my parents did many years ago and enjoyed it immensely. There are several steam trains that run in southern Colorado and this is one of the best! Since the train doesn’t run in the winter, we were able to see many of the old train cars and engines as we drove by. 

Just south of town is where we make a left and continue on 285 as this is where it splits from 17. The terrain is starting to change as we near the New Mexico border. The road is starting to ascend towards a lone mountain (San Antonio Mountain) off in the distance. On the right the ground slopes up to a small plateau while on the left it is mostly flat for miles.

The one exception to this is when we cross the Rio San Antonio river. Here there are many large Cottonwood trees with what looks like grass between them. Basically an open forest of Cottonwoods. It was almost dreamlike and looked like a great place to spend a warm summer afternoon picnic. Just amazing.

After crossing into New Mexico, we slowly made our way around San Antonio Mountain. It appears to be a large recreation area open to the public. For the most part the mountain is bare until Aspen and conifer forests appear about halfway up. The mountain is more of a gentle slope to the top vs. something rugged and rocky.

The topography now becomes rather consistent as we enter a forested area filled with small conifers. We are basically traveling on a high plateau. The Sangres are still on our distant left. We pass through several small, mostly empty towns whose names are lost to time (and my memory).

Eventually, the highway makes a sharp right and we descend into the Rio Ojo Caliente valley. We pass by a large regional high school on the right as we make our way though increasingly rugged country. Almost suddenly, we have arrived at the junction with Highway 84. We make a left and head into Espanola.

As I mentioned above, we are going to Los Alamos first, to pickup the telescope mount I am buying. We are supposed to meet the person at a grocery store parking lot in Los Alamos.

On the south side of Espanola we catch 30 south which will take us to 502 where we will head west. The turn onto 30 was a little confusing as it was really straight while 285 went left. I almost missed it. I got lucky because I was in the correct lane!

We had been on two lane roads the entire drive (until Espanola) so I was a little surprised when 502 turned out to be a main highway. It makes sense though as I’m sure traffic to Los Alamos on a work day can get busy.

As we started to get closer to Los Alamos, the road started to ascend rather quickly. I knew Los Alamos was on a plateau but I didn’t know just how dramatic the area is. Huge plateaus with deep canyons with steep rock walls all around. We had to climb one of those as the road went to a narrow two lanes for the last mile or two. We stopped at a pull out just before reaching the top and Los Alamos to take in the stunning view. The landscape was a total, wonderful surprise and one of the highlights of the trip!

We found the Smith’s grocery store on Trinity Drive where we would meet the person with the mount. We arrived a little early so we did a little phone exploring of the area. We wanted to grab a bite to eat and look around Los Alamos a bit before heading to Santa Fe. We only had a limited time as we wanted to make it to Santa Fe (around 45 minutes away) before all the shops closed.

After picking up the telescope mount, we headed across the street to Pajarito Brewpub and Grill. The food was great as was the service. Highly recommended!

After lunch we drove to Fuller Lodge which was only a few blocks away. This is a log building that was used as a gathering place during the Manhattan Project. I’d recommend watching Oppenheimer for a view of some of the places we saw. Oppenheimer’s house, for instance, was used in the movie. We also toured the Los Alamos History Museum which was very interesting.

There is a lot to digest and think about with this visit. Amazing technology and horrible destructive power. All rolled in one. One of the best books I’ve read on the subject is “Shockwave” written by Stephen Walker. He covers both sides of the story from eyewitness accounts. War is never simple and too often starts with only a few people wanting something that others have or simple hate.

In any event, a very sobering and interesting visit. We were only able to brush the surface of the place and want to go back one day when we have more time. One side note, there are lots of trails nearby which would also make this a great place to hike and explore!

From Fuller Lodge, we backtrack to 502 continuing on it until it intersects with 285. From there we continue south to downtown Santa Fe. We check into our hotel and walk around the downtown area enjoying the shops, main square and the other sights and sounds of Santa Fe.

Being a weekend trip, we headed home the next day after a great breakfast at Cafe Pasqual’s. We traveled the same route home with the exception of a short detour to see Great Sand Dunes National Park. This is one of our favorite places and we hadn’t been here for several years so it was great (pun intended) to see it again!

We made it home, a little tired but also greatly refreshed from seeing places both familiar and new. Places that really made us reflect on life and society and just how precious they both are. We also had the opportunity to meet many new people along the way and hear their stories. What a privilege! Life is a journey and this was one of the better ones!