Last year at this time many State Parks and National Forest campgrounds in the mountainous areas of New Mexico shut down for a period of time due to extreme drought and fire risk.
They decided to shut these parks down within days of the 4th of July; leaving many folks scrambling to find a place to camp during this summertime holiday. We were told by an elderly couple that we met that they were camped at Eagle’s Nest State Park when Cimarron Canyon was shut down. Rangers came by and asked campers if they could double up on sites-they would appreciate it greatly. Well this elderly couple was approached by a younger couple and upon introducing each other and thinking this would be a good thing-they allowed this couple to double up with them. The younger couple went and got their unit from Cimarron Canyon-along with 5 of their children!!! Can you imagine the look on the elderly couples face-specially when they have not been around children?
Well anyways, rumor has been flying around now for weeks both by campers, volunteers and even park rangers that once again with the drought in place they may shut down these same parks down once again this year.
So not knowing if we would have a camping spot in the mountain areas of Northern New Mexico over the 4th of July, we decide to just chill out this summertime holiday. We knew by researching that we would be “safe” at Storrie Lake State Park just outside of Las Vegas, NM.
We arrived here at Storrie Lake, leaving Santa Barbara Campground in the Carson National Forest and the mountains the last week of June. We hated to go for the weather was perfect with plenty of hiking and lots of area to explore.
We felt like since arriving here we went from beautiful trees to blah dead prairie grass. Before arriving, Brian called the park ranger to make sure that they would not shut down at anytime. His response was-they have never shut down-ever….we now see why…
The dead grass and what our site looks like…we sure need the rain!
We had plan on making the best of it here-even with the heat. We thought, lake-swimming. After getting here we didn’t know if we should laugh or what, because the “lake” is smaller than most ponds we have seen! Between the muck and all the goose poop, it was not wise to get in this icky water!
This is what’s left of the lake and where the green grass is-should be more of the lake. We are told that the lake is down to 20% or less…..
We got here on a Sunday, as we were driving along on Hwy 518 from Eagle’s Nest, we came across flashing red lights. Upon slowing down we soon discovered we would be traveling the last 5 miles with those involved in a triathlon! For most some bikers were courteous and traveled along the recently cleaned shoulder, while others would not share the roadway with us travelers. Therefore we had to be extra cautious of oncoming traffic, those jerks that were impatient and wanted to pass both us AND the bikers-in a no pass zone, mind you.
We were so thankful when we finally arrived here at the park-not realizing that the start AND the finish line was here in the park! What a mess we had gotten into!!! There was not a campsite available and was told to just park anywhere until something opened. We were not even allowed to walk or drive around until the event was about over.
After all was said and done, we manage to find a nice primitive site. What we didn’t realize was how hot it really was down in this lower elevation. The temps were reaching into the 90’s. Just thankful the humidity levels were very, very low; this made it more tolerable.
Our first night was disrupted with a loud party down along the water; where they allow anyone to park and camp. Apparently the so call party was shut down sometime after 2am.
The next day while walking Leah, we had an altercation with these same people about their dog being off leash and coming after us. Long story short-I got threaten to be “popped” by a gun; therefore involving park rangers and state trooper. No one was hurt-the guy was fined for having a gun on state property and escorted out of the park.
Then the winds kicked up something fierce-blowing lots of dust and dirt our way. We had one gust so strong that poor Leah actually jumped the wall and onto the other side! poor girl!
our primitive spot-and where Leah jumped over the wall
Our second night there, we had to put up with the camp host dog barking nonstop and no one doing anything about it. We decided that we have parked in a very noisy area! At the other end of the park there is a small circle with only 4 spots and one being another camp host, it would be probably much quieter. Only thing is the sites are electric. So for $4.00 a day-yeah it would be worth our sanity to have.
There is a small community just behind the hill from us. They seem to allow their dogs to bark through the night-but it’s tolerable; until the Coyotes join in. We seem to have a pretty good size pack of coyotes that is residing not too far away from us. We laugh for the young pups we hear them trying their best to sound like their momma in howling and they just can’t get the pitch just yet.
Monsoon season has come early this year-so that’s good news. The much needed rain is falling in the mountains. We hope it’s enough to keep the parks open. We know they probably won’t lift campfires and we are completely fine with that-so long as they don’t shut down the parks.
The night skies-as it tries to rain here…
With Wal-Mart and the town just a few miles down the road-we have made a few more trips in. We were also told about some hot springs that once belonged to a resort. The resort is no longer there, but the hot springs are. They are now owned by the college. Well we thought that we would go a few times and do some soaking. After getting there, we were turned off by all the algae floating around as well as the smell.
It’s been nice to just chill out in AC and watch a little TV, but both of us are ready to head back to the mountain for some peace and tranquility. We should know soon if they will keep these parks and trails open.
Upon talking with rangers from both Hyde Memorial and the National park their theory was if enough rain has fallen they will keep the parks in the mountains open-unless a fire broke out. If not-more than likely they will close them come the 10th of July.
The moisture is out there-but it’s still not enough. The good news is the fires are way down compared to last year. In New Mexico so far there has only been 3 fires-one is 100% contained and the other two are close to being contained-after causing devastating destruction to the areas. The big concern now is the flash flooding in these scar burned areas.
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