Day 3 – Albuquerque
to Farmington/Shiprock , 298 miles
 |
| The Start of My Ride up RT371 |
 |
| Continental Divide - Elevation 7530 |
I chose
to take route 371 north through Crownpoint and the Bisti badlands rather than
the 4 lane. Tony Hillerman mentions the
highway in his books and his descriptions were accurate. This is a desolate part of the state that has
more livestock than people, and the cattle & sheep were not always on their
side of the fence. This is Navajo land. It was clear that these people are
living on very little. The theme for this entry could have been “Move to New
Mexico & never mow your lawn again”.
I did not see one piece of green lawn today only hardscrabble.
 |
| I wonder where this one goes? |
This is
high desert with elevations over 5000 ft. "Real" trees were rare, horses were
not. The vistas were vast, subtle and fascinating. The road is lined with fences and the “slot” gates. The cattle will not cross the gates. Sometimes the dirt track leads to a
residence, sometimes it has a road sign, like RT7250 but we would not recognize
these tracks as “roads”. The thought of
a dual purpose bike and time to explore crossed my mind more than once.
After the
wild beauty of the high desert came the “Walmart/Chili’s/Taco Bell/Motel 6/Cheap
Gas” of Farmington – back to civilization – yeck. The trading post I had planned to visit
closed at 5pm sharp but I found one that was in the process of closing and was
not in a hurry. I purchased an inexpensive Navajo rug. The good ones were $2500. The one I purchased
had one less zero on the price, but a hand woven Navajo rug nonetheless. It
will be a great addition to the wall in my study.
Shiprock is situated in the middle of a vast flat plain but I just don't see a "ship".
 |
| Shiprock |
No comments:
Post a Comment