Tuesday, March 19, 2019

A walk around the park.....




Our Location:  Bosque Redondo Lake, Fort Sumner, NM

A very quiet night, we both slept well. After about 10:30 pm there wasn’t much of any kind of noise at all. Even nature seemed settled down to sleep. Morning was cool and crisp until the sun rose above the horizon and warmed up the air  to a pleasant 65F/ 18.3 C but with a slight breeze which in the shade was cool but in the sun was perfect. 
 
Starting out for my walking and looking back towards home.
 
We decided on a quiet day at home and spent a couple of hours just walking and enjoying the park area. We chatted with a few folks and learned a couple of things such as the pond is stocked with trout about once a month. In all other areas that are stocked there is a fee for fishing, here there is no fee, nor is there a donation box for the park. It is a busy spot in the summer with folks camping here but now it’s very quiet. Three times around the outer edge of the park netted me just about 3.5 miles of walking. It’s not smooth for walking but very doable after the desert hiking I did. A wonderful little spot for certain. 
 
I believe before the cat tails over took the area there was indeed a small lake here.
 
Today’s photos are all from my first trip around the outer edges and a few of things I noticed. The large cottonwoods here are just starting to show a hint of colour and will be greening up soon. The cattails or bull rushes or whatever you call them rustle in the breeze and are all brown with no hint of green. You can see that around the park area there has been a controlled burn to help keep down some of the problem areas I guess. The roads are roughish but not unpassable. A great many vehicles go through this park in a day or at least it seems to me they do. I would say easily about 15 vehicles entered the park area today. Some came to fish, some came to exercise, some came to picnic, some just drove through and kept going. The park is not ‘ crazy busy or noisy’ as such and the vehicles aren’t bothersome in any way. It just seems very busy for the small number of people that live in the area.
 
The road curves through some cotton woods along the way.
 
Tomorrow we will go into the little town of Fort Sumner for a few things, fuel, a bit of shopping and looking around. We want to leave a little something in town for the use of the park and also to figure out if there is a reason to return to this area in the future. The park is a wonderful stop, restful and rustically charming. It is however a long way to come if we are not going to be traveling in this area for some other reason. 


Some of these trees are getting to be quite large.

 Realwind Drive passes by the front of the park and is a fairly busy country road during the day time, some utility work going on just south of the park is also adding to the daytime noise. This is farming or horse country, with the odd moo in the mix as well. However I have not heard one rooster.


Even some dunes here.

 
I asked Riley what she would say the park has to offer to travellers and she replied with the following list: easy access, easy to find, nice folks, quiet, nice place to walk, and she feels very safe here. Negatives her only words were, ‘ the walking path is a bit rough’. The only thing I would add to the that list is the garbage cans located by each of the picnic shelters is a bonus.
 
The vault toilets are the cleanest I've ever seen.
 
A few rain drops fell this afternoon but not enough to wet a postage stamp, we only knew because we could see the drops on the window. We enjoyed a nice leisurely lunch today with mashed dill potatoes, beans and mushrooms, along with some meatloaf. Filled our hollow legs! 
 
Looking across the water towards home.
 
Thanks for stopping by, I hope you had wonderful day.

 
An interesting dam or water control device.
 


Until next time… take care, be safe,

 
 
Deb



10 comments:

  1. I really had to giggle at you today. You are starting to get my disease!!! You actually reported on a toilet!!! LOL LOL. Thanks!!!!

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    1. LOL. Riley says maybe it's better if we don't meet, you're already rubbing off on me and not in a good way. She's happy we don't buy bologna or I'd paper the windows.
      You are very welcome.

      Take care, be safe,
      Deb

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  2. Looks like a nice place to spend some down time from making miles towards home. Looking forward to your report about the area and town.
    Take care.

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    1. We have no complaints. I think, but I can't confirm that the car that circles twice during the night might be a police car. One came by yesterday in the day light hours and so I wonder if they are simply checking on things. It appears to me to be that kind of place.

      Today we head off into town and I'll let you know what we find.

      Take care, be safe,
      Deb

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  3. Looks like a wonderful spot to camp for a few days. enjoy your time there.

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    1. We are relaxing and getting ready for another drive. It's a great little spot to do that.

      Take care, be safe,
      Deb

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  4. I'll have to look up Fort Sumner to see where it is and if it would help us in our future travels. Like Deb, interested in hearing what else is in the area and town.
    Enjoy the peacefulness of the park!

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    1. It's a small spot so I'm not sure it has much to offer except some quiet time, some fishing and a better route than I-40.
      We are between I-40 and the road you folks took when you went through Lincoln. I believe that road joins this one a bit further down the road and we will be heading toward Clovis when we leave here. Like I mentioned yesterday there is a nice four lane divided highway that runs south east Vaughn toward Roswell but I think we'd most likely take that on the way west instead of the way east.

      Take care, be safe,
      Deb

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  5. Beautiful park you are at, love the covers and the lake being right thee. It would be fun watching people come and go and maybe catch a fish or two. How far is the park from Fort Sumner? Enjoy your day in town!

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    1. It is a wonderful little spot, the picnic tables, covers and grills all have a garbage can attached and there is no garbage in the park at all. Around the edges where it has blown and can't be easily retrieved there is a little but not much. We spent a great deal of time people watching yesterday, about a dozen Mennonites or similar stopped by for a picnic yesterday and used the swing set and possibly the slide, it was fun to listen to the giggles and laughter. At least 6 different folks showed to fish, I spoke with a couple of them, very friendly. We noticed at least 8 walkers in the evening hours. So it's a busy spot but not 'noisy busy' if you know what I mean. No one comes too near unless they are passing by on the roadway.

      We are about 2 miles out of town on the north side on US 60. It's a left at Realwind Drive/Road and not quite 2 miles along on that road. There is a sign on US 60 that says Bosque Redondo Lake and another at the first entrance to the lake. If you want to park across the water from the road, keep going until you get to the third entrance at the end of the water, and take that entrance, it's less rough than coming along the shore.

      Take care, be safe,
      Deb

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