Lake Huron and El Valdo and Canjilon

Just up the road from "The Guerin Ranch" is Lake Huron State Park and just down the road on Highway 112 is the El Valdo Dam, so a little exploring was on the agenda.  Highway 112 is a paved road that  parallels highway 84.  There are about 16 miles of dirt road and a dam crossing which  is not open to trucks or large motor homes.   Highway 112   forks and changes name and follows the shore of  El Valdo and eventually intersects into the dam at Lake Huron... according to the GPS that is.

El Valdo Reservoir

We followed the dirt road round the shore of El Valdo until it turned to mud, then to snow, and more mud before turning around.  We were slipping and sliding along the way and I was just a tad nervous before Joel turned the car around. The little Honda CRV did well, but was nothing like being in a Jeep. We ended up going back to the ranch and hosing some of the mud off before heading over to Lake Huron.

Rio Chama runs into and out of Lake Heron and eventually runs into the Rio Grande farther south.
Lake Heron

Lake Heron was partially frozen over and the park is open year around, and a popular place for ice fishing in the winter.  However, this winter has been mild and although there was ice, it wasn't thick enough for traditional ice fishing.  The lake is a no wake lake and a popular place to launch sail boats and kayaks.  There were numerous campsites that would work with big rigs. This is one place I will definitely coming back to.

This next day we decided to drive to Canjilon, a little tiny village south of Tierra Amarilla.  My son Conlan works out of the Carson Forest Ranger Station located there.  We decided to head up to the Conjilon Lakes which I had visited in the fall, but there was way too much snow to make it all the way up to the lakes.   Again, this will be an area worth visiting in the summer of fall.

Conlan and Gayle attend a Yoga class every Thursday evening followed with a potluck dinner.  I love Yoga and couldn't pass up the opportunity to participate.  Joel actually took part in the Yoga class, the teacher proclaiming he was a natural!  Hmm.... maybe he'll be the next yogi??

On Friday, we headed over to Los Osos to Tierra Wools.  Tierra Wools is the place to go if you are into weaving.  They have looms for rent and every type of wool yarn imaginable for sale, along with beautiful woven art work.  It was a feast of colors for the eyes. I wished I had taken some pictures.


The Guerin Ranch in the early morning

On Saturday morning  Elk were grazing  on new grass in the front pasture next to the house, a sign of spring. Gayle gets really excited when the Elk come down looking for the new grass because it means the pastures will start to dry out and spring and summer are just around the corner.

Well, we have been in this beautiful enchanting area for almost a week, and so as not to wear out our welcome, we pulled up the jacks and hitched upon and headed  to Santa Fe late Saturday morning.

 Santa Fe is only about 125 miles from the Ranch.